//------------------------------// // Big Trouble in Little Town Pt 2 // Story: From Order to Chaos // by Neoandermcd //------------------------------// The next day, My PoV: The sun began to rise from the horizon as I finished the journal. Closing it I mulled over what I had read...and my assumption were spot on. There were many things that the Mayor had neglected to inform me about. He certainly didn’t lie about Luck being an avid gambler as most of the entries described him and his gambling habit, but he neglected to inform me of how much of one he was. Most of the entries describe him taking loans or running away from loan sharks as he’d lose the bits that he’d borrow or, in the event he won and made triple his profit, how he’d not pay them back and use it on drugs and hookers. Bender would be proud. Later on it does describe him bumping into that mule though the Mayor once more neglected to inform me on how he actually got the information by taking the mule into a dark alley and beating the living hell out of him for the information. Once he gathered the information instead of keeping his end of the deal of letting the poor sob go he killed him and left him to rot. Afterwards he did go to people to inform him of the location with the gems, but instead of friends; though I guess they could be considered that;  they were a bunch ponies in debt to the local casinos that were hiding out and were coerced into leaving with him. Then taking the available money that they all had left he went into the bigger casinos and robbed them blind in big stake games where he used his good luck to win. After that it just describes the journey they took to get there and some tidbit of information such as dirty secrets the ponies in the group kept or who he ranked as the hottest mare he’d shag with. The next few pages are just the same, but things pick back up again as they arrive at the base of what will be Solitude. It describes the first meeting between the dogs and ponies which is that the dogs were literally on death doorstep when they arrived being unable to get a steady stream of water to their area causing them to be dehydrate, but more importantly unable to defend themselves. As the ponies were just about to kill them all off Luck decided to use them as slave for digging the mines and gathering the gems for them. Talking everyone into agreement they portrayed themselves as saviors who wanted to live with the dogs in peace and harmony. The dogs being a bit lucid, stupidly believed them and agreed upon working with them. Then it just describes how they barely gave the dogs food and water to sap them of their strenght to make sure they’d be unable to fight back if they saw through their plans. Afterwards it describes Luck’s life as Solitude started to become livable were he then settled down and raised a family. Normally that’d be the end of the story, but it continued. It seemed that once Luck died his journal was passed on to the father of the Mayor today, which by the way is still a stupid name to name your kid, to a pony named Smooth Lips who was the mayor not to long ago where he died in a terrible construction accident. During Smooth’s reign as mayor some of the younger generation found it to be wrong to enslave the dogs and tried to help/tell them what was going on, but were quickly silenced. After the fifth time it happened the adults agreed that they’d keep it a secret until their kids grew of age were they would then be just as much at fault as they were forcing them to continue the tradition. I looked at the cover of the book with cold malice. Just the sight of the book made me want to puke my guts out while shredding it into pieces though I refrained myself deciding to keep it for later use. Shoving it into the recess of hammer space I stood up to my full height and stretched my tired limbs. A yawn escaped my lips as I blinked the tiredness out of my eyes. It hasn’t been the first time I’ve lost sleep like this and something told me it wouldn’t be the last. Taking my first step into the new day I began my journey towards the mountain though soon enough I was not going to be doing it alone as the sound of hoof steps accompanied me. Without turning to see who it was I asked her “Don’t you have two others being more important/dangerous than I to be keeping an eye on?” “No” Silver said as she caught up and matched my pace. “One will behave while the other will miss behave though the one that will behave will make sure to keep the other in check meaning it’d be pointless to watch them” was her reply. I couldn’t help but smile a small smile at her response as we continued our journey in silence. Minuette’s PoV: I was always an early risers though I guess it did help that my cutie mark represented being on time. Waking up I could see the sun coming over the horizon. Shifting out of my sleeping bag quietly I stretched my limbs and made my way over towards Derpy. Though I didn’t make it as far or as quietly as I was hoping to as I tripped over a bunch of pots and pans that were hazardously placed near my bag. “AHHH WE’RE UNDER ATTACK”  Derange cried out as he clinged to the ceiling “PROTECT THE GUMMY BEARS!” he cried out ludicrously. Everyone just stared at Derange while he continued to breath heavily. “Well that is one way to wake up” Jyggalag said dryly while looking towards me. “Sorry, but in my defense somepony left these here” I said apologetically. “AHHH THE CHOCOLATE BUNNIES ARE INVADING GUMDROP HILLS! RETREAT! RETREAT!” Derange continued. “Look what I found” Dinky said as she brought out a note from behind my back. “Minuette figuring that you’d help these ponies here so I empty most of our cooking and food supplies for you to use tomorrow-Silver” Derpy read out loud. “AH GUMMY WORMS IN THE TREES! GUMMY WORMS IN THE TRE-” he continued his shouting though was silence by a well placed pan to the face. “Give it a rest already!” we all shouted at him. Derpy as if noticing something turned the paper around and said “P.S. Derange was the one who probably moved the pans next to you causing you all to wake up early”. “...” We just stared at him while he replied back with a sheepish smile though thanks to the recent blow to the face it looked...odd. As if waiting for a good explanation as to why he’d do this to us he said with that same damn smile “I did it for the lolz”. Resisting the urge to bash my or his skull against the wall I gathered up the supplies instead, making sure to split it up evenly between me and Derpy, and placed my bag on my back. “Come on Derpy let’s give these ponies a proper breakfast for a change” I said to my friend. “Right” she replied back with a happy chirp and placed her own bag on her back though it was placed upside down. With a roll of my eyes the five of us made our way towards town hall. Drake PoV: It was a little after four now as Silver and I continued to watch the warren go about its day and I had to say it was a rather effective method. The ponies were split into two groups consisting of one group entering the mines and bringing out gems or precious ores, that could be crafted into metal like iron and steel, while the the other group separated the piles by gems and types. About every two hours or so the groups would rest for a minute and then switch places allowing those who did the heavier lifting in the beginning to, relatively, relax for a spell by doing a simpler task. Of course the dogs kept an eye on both groups with the occasional whip being used, but other than that they were mostly there for the intimidation factor. Silver remained by my side throughout the whole ordeal of spying on them though her anxiety of wanting to help the ponies flared up as she would tap the ground in a rhythmic pattern. I was able to keep her in check reminding her that we’d be sorely outnumbered, though something told me she could take them all on, and acting rashly could lead to terrible consequences. A few more hours passed by when the ponies eventually ran out of materials to gather up. With their work done for the day they returned home while the dogs milled about for a few seconds, but then returned to their duties. With no one to observe or watch I scuttled away from our observing spot and lied down on my back staring at the sky mulling over what I had learned so far. Silver joined my side once more though she opted to laying down on her stomach. As if reading my mind she said “Usually D-Dogs work their slaves to death rather then work them methodically like this to the point of exhaustion where they can’t fight back”. “So this is odd then?” I asked her. “Technically yes. There have been rare reports of D-Dogs treating their slaves...decently, but nothing of this scale”. We sat there in silence for the next few minutes: Silver observing/keeping an eye out while I continued to wait for something. I don’t know why, but the feeling I had when we arrived was much stronger here causing me to assume something was going to happen, but nothing did. After a few more minutes I grew tired of waiting for it and realised that if it wouldn’t come to me then I’d go to it. Closing my eyes I felt my chaotic magic flow through me. Having magic is still pretty foreign to me let alone being able to utilize it so quickly like I’ve been doing, but I guess that’s just one of the perks of being a Draconequus. Gathering enough magic I then felt my mind separate from my body leaving me in an astral like plain. Opening my eyes the world around me was a shade of dark gray that highlighted mostly everything. Taking a glimpse at my body I saw that I was surrounded by a whitish gray aura while Silver had a light green surrounding her. The way that I was perceiving things felt familiar, but I ignored it for the time being as I scoured the area for anything noteworthy. After a few minutes I was left disappointed once more as nothing appeared abnormal. ‘Must be losing it. Note to self: Seek help’ I thought with a slight chuckle, but soon took it back as I looked down. Down way below the earth’s crust was...something beyond extraordinary. White lights weaved about below the earth’s crust in an intricate pattern that lead to the base of the volcano. Though I couldn’t look at it too long, since it was brighter than the sun itself, forcing me to turn my gaze towards where it was coming from. The way it lead to the volcano reminded me of how a tree roots grew and spread apart though the difference being that it seemed to stretch on for miles upon miles as I could still see it going far and wide beyond what my keen eyes could see. My time was up apparently as I felt my astral body being forced back to my physical body. Re-opening my eyes to see everything dark, wow time flew by, I mulled over what I had saw. I believe what I had just saw is called a leyline the thing that connects every living thing to magic or something...What? Science was never my expert field of study and when you throw magic into the equation then I’m totally lost. Anyways the thing that concerns me about it is the fact that so much is gathered in one place. Could this be the reason why this mountain never runs out of gems? But what could cause this to happen? Unless it’s normal for leylines to collect a huge amount of magic into one spot though I don’t think that is the case. My thought continued to try and piece together this puzzle, but it still seemed I was missing a few pieces to complete it. Sighing in defeat I stood up, Silver following my motion, and we began our journey back towards the town. It didn’t take us long to return back to the town hall. It was about nine o'clock or so when I took a glimpse inside to see ponies lining up to eat. Minuette and Derpy look tired, but continued to cook food for the town. They were serving a soup of some type with garlic bread probably going with the quantity idea rather than the quality to help maximize the amount everypony could get. At first I was going to go in and see if they needed help, but I chose against it. It was good that the girls were able to regain the trust of the town, but as for me I was quite certain they’d still despise me being there for quite some time regardless of what good I did. Just as we were about to leave I could feel a pair of eyes staring at me. Unnerved by the action I turned towards the source to see Hunt’s sister standing a few feet away. She stood there with an even expression and said “I need you to come and take a look at something...It may be important”. Not even waiting for me to respond she turned the opposite direction and began walking towards what she wanted to show me. Normally I wouldn’t agree to something like this without really thinking about it first...actually scratch that. Being here now the first thought that would pop, involuntarily, into my head would be- ‘Bow chika bow wow’ Well yes something like tha-Dammit Derange! ‘Tee hee’ Derange giggled like a madman. ‘Do you literally have nothing better to do than screw around?’ ‘No, but you are doing a better job of it than I am. Fist Silver and now Flower, talk about a player’ he praised me. ‘....Go buck yourself’ I said too tired to deal with him at the moment. ‘Already tried’ he said matter of factly. ‘I could have sworn we promised never to bring that up again’ Jyggalag chimed in and continued ‘Also no I was refering to him wanting to masterbate back to back’. ‘I don’t know why you refer it to back to back when we are the-’ ‘NOPE’ I thought and disconnected just in time to avoid hearing anything else. Waking up from my inner monologue I decided to humor her and see what was so important. Silver my ever faithful companion followed along with me as we trailed behind Flower towards the outskirts of Solitude. Derpy’s PoV: ‘And that’s the last of it’ I thought as I put the finishing touches on cleaning the dishes. Setting it off to the side to dry I then used a  towel to dry it off as well as dry off my hooves. Hoofing the last dish to Minuette she put it back in her bag and placed it off to the side. “Man am I tired, but damn if we didn’t do a good job” Minuette said while stretching though the way in which she was could cause most ponies into thinking she was being...alluring. I turned away with a slight blush on my cheeks but soon felt the aches and pains of todays work as well. Stretching my sore limbs, though more aware than Minuette, I could feel the relief immediately as the sound of popping filled the small room. Looking outside I could tell it was way past Dinky’s bedtime. “Hey Minuette I think I’m going to go to sleep” I told my friend and soon after released a low yawn. She nodded her head in understanding and said “Yeah we really should stop making this a habit”. Exiting out of the kitchen we made our way towards where everypony else was only to walk in on a strange scene. “MWAHAHAHAHAHA” Derange laughed while wearing a black cape with a cheesy curly mustache giving himself a cartoonish evil look. “HENCHMAN BRING ME THE TOYS!” he cried out pointing one hand at Jyggalag while the other was used to twirl his facial hair. Jyggalag stood there with an unimpressed look while holding a couple of the childrens toys. “Henchman? I thought we agreed upon this being a partnership?” he asked. Derange rolled his eyes and said “Come on man just roll with it the audience is getting impatient” he said breaking the fourth wall in their...play I believe. The two continued to banter back and forth causing the audience to laugh at their antics while a group of six children, who were playing the heroes, stood there and laughed as well. It was nice to see the town smiling for a change rather than being all gloomy and depressing. Scouring the area I found my little muffin off to the side in the front row enjoying the play. Making my way over towards her I laid down next to her and immediately got her attention. “Hi mommy” she said giving me a quick nuzzle, which I returned, and looked at me with bright eyes “You're just in time too the play is just starting”. “Oh and what is it about?” I asked her. “Derange is an evil sorcerer who stole toys from an orphanage so the Princesses charge six brave knights to go and defeat him while retrieving the toys for the foals” she said with a hint of excitement. “Oh~” I replied back with a hint of interest. “AH Henchman number 2 I’m so glad you finally arrived” Derange said and with a snap of his fingers Minuette appeared on stage. She was surprised to say the least as she tried to politely decline the spot though Derange wouldn’t have any of that as he had a comical side conversation with her which lead to the audience laughing up a storm and convincing her to stay up there as well. “Mommy?” Dinky asked trying to get my attention. Looking down at her she asked “Where’s Drake and Silver?” I thought about it for a moment and said “I’m not too sure muffin, but they’re probably working really hard” though I didn’t want to tell her that Drake would probably be unwelcomed here. “But there going to miss out” she said with a little pout and added on with a cheerful smile“Plus Silver would make an awesome guide for the heroes or maybe even a mentor!” “I’m sure she would muffin” I said to her and then a thought crossed my mind. ‘I wonder what they're doing and why it is taking so long? What if they’re in trouble though I highly doubt that, but still we haven’t seen hide nor hair of them for quite sometime’ I thought. After mulling over it some more I decided to at least go check up on them. Getting up I didn’t even get a chance to turn and leave when my daughter said “Where are you going Mommy?” “Just going to go check up on them muffin” I said. Without another word she got up ready to head out “But muffin don’t you want to stay and be a part of the play?” I asked her. “At first I did, but after seeing all of the other kids so...sad looking I thought it’d be better to let them have fun” she said with a smile. Giving her a quick hug I said “That’s very considerate of you” and then we both made our way outside. Exiting the room I thought about where they could be until I bumped into somepony. Shaking the stars out of my eyes I looked over towards the stallion “I’m so so sorry about that sir”. “Oh, uh no it’s okay reckon ah should have been looking where ah was going” he replied back. He was short for an earth pony stallion barely an inch taller than me with a white bluish mane and dark green coat. Helping me up I thanked him and began my way outside again when he said “Uh miss?”. “Yes?” I replied back as Dinky climbed onto my back. “You wouldn’t happen to be going out to look for your friend would ya?” “Actually-” I tried to say but my daughter interrupted me. “Yes we are mister” she said with a chirp. “This play is going to be the best play in the history of ever and it’d be a shame if they missed it”. “Dinky it’s rude to interrupt” I scolded my daughter and then return my attention to the stallion “But what my daughter says is true”. “Well ah guess it’s your lucky day since ah just saw them heading towards the eastern fields not too long ago”. “Really? I wonder why he’d go there?” I questioned out loud though Drake was prone  to do seemingly random things that had a way to connect to the problem at hoof. “Not to sure miss said somthing about ‘finding the truth’” he replied back with a shrug. I shrugged back as well and gave a short bow “Thank you very much” I said and left the building. “Hope you enjoy the show” Dinky cried out as I closed the door behind us. He just gave wave of his hoof before turning and leaving towards the main hall. Spreading my wings I took off into the air and made my way towards the eastern field though about half way Dinky correct me and pointed in the right direction. Better late than never we arrived at the field though some clouds made it hard to see it didn’t take me long to spot Drake and Silver standing near one another as they observed the field. Landing a few feet away from them I began walking towards them to join them. “Hey you two what...are you doing...?” I asked though the closer I got the chunkier and more distorted looking they looked. Straining my eyes to get a better looked a sense of panic rose in me as their true shapes became noticeable. Standing there and taking on the appearance of my friends were two crudely made statues. Realizing now that it was a trap I spread my wings and took off though didn’t make it far as something caused me to fall back to the ground. Hitting the ground and shaking the stars out of my eyes I saw a red paw gripping my back hoof accompanied by a Diamond dog with a smug grin on his face. Looking down the hole he created he yelled out in triumphant “Ha told you pony fall for statue” though when he turned his gaze back to me it was meet with a hard buck to the face. Crying out in pain he released me and held his nose now as blood began to pour out from it and dyed his red coat a darker shade. As I was about to take off I didn’t feel a familiar weight on my back. Scouring the area I found Dinky a few feet away probably falling off from the sudden force earlier. She looked no worse for wear and slowly got back up. Making my way towards her quickly I soon put it into high gear as another D-dog appeared next to her this one a dark blonde. With a quick flap of my wings I rocketed over towards her and used the momentum to slam into the dog knocking him out of his hole and away from my daughter. “Dinky Run!” I cried out. “Bu-” she tried to say. “RUN!” I screamed as the orange furred dog I was laying on top of pushed me off of him. Without another word she turned and ran as fast as her little hooves could carry her. Getting up I barely dodge the dog from before as he tried to pin me down. Keeping an eye on Dinky all the while I saw the dog I bucked earlier catching up to her. Dodging the dog once more I then raced over towards the red one. About a few feet away I used my wings once more and tried to slam into him though he was quick as he ducked out of harms way although now he was focused on me rather than Dinky. He tried to lunge at me like his fellow brother, but was easily dodged as I took to the sky. Looking as to where Dinky was I could see she was well out of reach of them. Getting ready to fly back towards the town a vial was thrown in front of my path. Raising my hooves to protect my face the glass broke against my hooves,leaving me in a small cloud. Instinctively taking a breath I found myself growing tired by the second. Trying to stay awake long enough to make it to the town I pumped my wings hard to help. Though after a few second longer I began to lose the will and strength to stay awake and crashed towards the ground hard. Barely staying awake, thanks to the pain from the crash, my vision was too blurry to see though I did hear one dog say “Small pony got away” and then everything went black. Drake’s PoV: ‘I guess one's definition of interesting does play a part in this’ I thought as I looked over a field though to be fair it was more like a big garden rather than a field of wheat or apples. The ‘field’ consisted of a variety of different vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuce, carrots and etc. with a few fruits such as apples and pears. I guess the ‘interesting’ part about it was the fact that they looked shriveled up so either ponies don’t know how to grow food;which I doubt; we have a Bunnicula running about; which I also doubt; or there’s *put on shades* more than meets the eye. “Why are you wearing sunglasses and where did you get them from?” Flower asked confused. Before I could answer that Silver said “Trust me don’t ask” effectively ruining my chances to make a joke. With a sigh I casually threw my shades away and said “So this is it? What special about it? Given the environment it isn’t a stretch to say that the heat caused this”. She just gave me a thoughtful nod and plainly said “This is just the eastern field” and soon began walking towards, using my college level of education with a bit of Doctor Who/ Sherlock Home deductive reasoning, the western field. Raising my brow as she left I felt like humoring her some more and followed after her. Silver, being the ever faithful companion, joining us on this wonderful night stroll. A few minutes later and we arrived at the other filed though the difference was that all of the fruit and vegetables were picked clean leaving it barren, but the plants also looked quite healthy. “Uh huh I see very interesting” I said laced with heavy sarcasm with a side of snarkiness. She didn’t react to it at all and plainly said “Any minute now” while eyeing the field with a bored expression. A few minutes passed and I grew bored of this game. Without saying anything I turned and began my journey back to the town. Not even a few steps away I felt a spark of chaotic energy flow through the earth and towards the field. Turning towards it I was meet with a dried up field like the eastern side though the difference was that it look like the sands of time ran up as it looked all greyed and worn out. A simple breeze was all it took to cause the entire field to fall apart as the dust spread out amongst the ground. As the breeze continued to cool the evening the dust was picked up by it and began to float away into the night sky until it stopped causing the moon’s light to be blocked out casting an ominous shadow to cover the land. As if watching an old vhs recorded rewind the previous scenes played back in full detail. Reaching the end, or technically the beginning, the plants looked the same before the only difference was the abundance of food sprouting out were they weren’t before. Silver looked at the scene with a mild curious stare, but said nothing while Flower looked at the scene as if it was a normal occurrence. She turned to me and stared deep into my eyes “Is this interesting enough?” she asked with a slight annoyance in her voice. I continued to stare at the field with a childlike innocence as a smile splayed across my face. Wait I was smiling? Why would I be smiling? I wasn’t too sure as thoughts began to swarm about in my head like a bee hive trying to find the answer. “Oh very interesting indeed” I said with a hint of excitement in my voice. Closing my eyes I felt the familiar feeling of chaotic magic flow throughout my body. Once more I felt my consciousness slip out from me and brought me to the astral plain wor-Assassin’s Creed Eagle vision that’s why it looked so familiar! Ahem anyways. To explain what I was seeing would be rather difficult to do so, so I’ll be laz-I mean efficient and just explain what was happening. A loop, but not just any kind of loop but an *pause for dramatic effect* infinite loop. I didn’t realize it back at the volcano because of how bright it was, but now much farther away from the main source I was able to ascertain that this area was caught in a loop being forced to repeat the same day over and over again. It explained why the fields to the east were forced to be dead or not existent since farmers tend to let one field rest for a period of time to allow the nutrients in the ground to regain it’s potency while this field though suppose to be dead is full of life and fresh food. This could also explain why the mountain seems to have an endless supply of gems, but the question remains is that could order and chaos really cause this effect. I’d like to think not, but with these two fields being rarely study; if any at all; then who’s to say that it isn’t the reasoning behind these events. I guess I was smiling because I was able to put the pieces all together, but it now laid a problem before me one that I had already knew was going to happen. This place was in harmony and not as in friendship and magic plus the other things the ponies preach about, but as in this place both consisted of order and chaos following throughout the area. Even the slightest action could cause the scales to tip in eithers favor which would be bad either way. I sighed a tired sigh as I plopped to the ground while rubbing my tired eyes with my index fingers. “Nothing can ever be simple can it?” I asked no one in particular. “Of course not” Silver said doing a piss of a job of cheering me up. “I mean you are a Draconequus after all. Master of Chaos and Disharmony awhoo” she said in a silly voice. I looked at her oddly and said “Who the fuck are you and what did you do with Silver?” “You already made that joke a few nights ago” she said flatly. “Who said I’m kidding this time?” I said with a shit eating grin. She just slapped me upside the head and even though I was in pain I did feel a bit better than a few moments ago. I just smiled at her and said “Thanks”. “Don’t expect this to often” she said with a stern yet soft look “I mean it’s saying a lot when I’m the cheery one in the group”. “Point taken” I nodded my head and stood back up. “Speaking of which we should head back now” I said gesturing to the town with my head. “Thank you for showing this to me. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have been able to figure it out let alone come to a decision so quickly” I said to Flower followed by a small bow. “And given by that look it means you aren’t going to help us” she said with a sad expression. I tried to search for a word any at all to comfort her or show her that it was going to be okay, but nothing came to mind. I just nodded my head, turned towards the town and began walking back. As if remembering something I paused and said “We’ll at least let the guards at Trottingham know about the situation”. “Heh like they’ll help us. Outside of Equestria’s borders and being...slavers ourselves they’d have no reason to spend resources on us”. “Well they do say that money makes the world go round and I’m sure with all those gems you’ve been collecting they’d at least be interested” I mused. “Wrong” she stated and continued “The Alpha has been either feeding it to the clan or spending it on supplies to keep his operation going”. “That may be true, but if they were to be informed about an endless supply of gems and the only thing stopping them from getting to it was a bunch of D-dogs I'm quite certain they’d reconsider.” “I’m guessing you never been to Trottingham before have you?” she asked me rhetorically and continued “That place is filled with nothing but greedy selfish scumbags that only look out for themselves”. “What is that all?” I asked mockingly as thought of home came rushing through my mind. Ignoring them for the time being I continued “In any case that’d give them even more reason to be the first to ‘help’ out”. “Or maybe you could stop being selfish for once in your life and help” she sneered at me. The change in her demeanor threw me for a loop, but I quickly recovered. “Selfish?” I asked mockingly placing my eagle claw against my chest as if she wounded me. “Oh pray do tell how selfish I am” I said giving her the stage. “Gladly” she responded back venomously. “You who holds great power uses it selfishly for your own personal gain instead of others. Spreading order and chaos to bring balance to the world” she laughed mockingly, also note to self don’t talk out loud anymore because everyone tends to hear what I say, and continued “What makes you so knowledgeable in the idea of a balanced and fair world. Probably from your own biased subjective point of view” she glared at me. Taking a deep breath she resumed once more “Going back to your power you refuse to help innocent ponies because of your damn pride or beliefs and that you’ll let them die before lifting a finger to help them even if they’re in arms reach” she spat at me as her rant came to a halt. I mulled over what she said for a moment and said “I’ll concede to one point that you said in that I don’t have any fair, reasonable or certainty that I can bring harmony to the world. However I’m not blind like most who seek perfection believing that the world can be full of peace and harmony where people don’t die and no one ever has to suffer. That being nothing more thans a fool’s dream at least I try my best in seeking a path that is plausible where a system can be place to help prepare and react to most situations at hand making it so the least amount of people have to suffer”. “Now about using my power selfishly I disagree. It is that I haven’t found or seen any good reason to use it for besides my friends and myself because most if not all of the inhabitants of Equis have shown me no reason to do otherwise. Racism amongst one another, slavery and worse of all discrimination not only amongst one another, but to ones own kind. Don’t give me that look and deny you haven’t felt more superior to say a unicorn for having more stamina and the ability to tend to plants and the earth better than they ever could. Just like how the unicorns hold themselves so high in that they can use magic of various kinds while you and the Pegasia cannot.” “And last but not least refusing to aid those near me and the ‘innocent’. Please don’t make me laugh. You of all ponies know how ‘innocent’ you really are. Stealing, lying, deceiving and the icing on the cake slavery” I said letting the word hang in the air for a moment. She flinched in response though valiantly held her ground as I continued “The only innocent ones here are the children and though slightly malnourished are perfectly fine. *snorts* If anything that’s one thing I’m glad about this Alpha in that he knows not to cross that line, but back to your point. Is it selfish of me not wanting to help people, who not only deserve no help whatsoever, but to also risk the lives of my comrades as well. To possibly put them into harms way or if we were to fail put them into slavery as well. Especially to those who chose for this inevitable outcome”. “Chose?Chose!?” she snapped at me tears threatening to pour out. “I didn’t-” “THERE’S ALWAYS A CHOICE” I roared at her effectively shutting her up. Glaring at her worth a thousand suns she balled up in on herself to escape my gaze. Continuing to stare at the mare I eventually eased up and waited for her to come out of her fetal position. A few more minutes passed as she continued to hide shaking like a leaf all the while. Eventually she dared to take a peak and was meet with a less harsher, though rather angry, glare from me still. “There’s always a choice” I started my voice filled with malice. Lifting her head towards me to listen I could see tears and snot streaming down her face as they fell to the ground forming a puddle of snot, tears and shame. “You could have chose to tell the truth to the dogs, the residents of nearby towns or even to the princesses themselves via letters and accepted the reward/consequences of set actions. You could have chose to fled with your younger brother and lived a new life altogether away from this vile place. You could have chose death then and there when they revealed the truth to you rather than submitting to their will like a slave. You could have chosen many of things, but you didn’t and instead of blaming others for your terrible choices you should instead live up to them. Instead of seeking help because you’re too pathetic to face your own problems you could embrace it and willingly accept it or grow a pair and deal with it because life is not fair and it will never be fair” I finished off as I turned my back to her. Beginning my walk back to town I could hear the sound of crying, stopping and looking at her over my shoulder I said softly “I promise to do everything within my power to convince them to send aid as soon as possible”. And with that said and done Silver and I left heading back towards town hall. We arrived back at town hall around three or so in the morning. When we walked in I was surprised to see ponies milling about since they’d have to get up early and work. They were all in small pockets of groups talking and what looked like celebrating something that their child did. Confused I decided to just ask one of my clones what we missed. It didn’t take long to find them as they were on the stage in the way back. Making my way over there the ponies didn’t even bat an eyelash as I passed them by either completely ignoring my presence or no longer angry at my proclamation earlier which was probably the former rather than the ladder. Though apparently I learned, listening in on conversation, that a play had been held here explaining why everypony was so cheery. “Ah welcome back” Jyggalag said as we joined his group consisting of Minuette and Derange “I hope that it was rather productive”. “What are you talking about don’t ya remember our mind conversation from earlier?” Derange asked berating his other half. “He’s been scre-” he tried to say but a quick bonk on the head shut his mouth up “OW! eh bit me tongue” he said while his tongue lolled out. “Yes it was Jyggalag” I said though took notice that we were two ponies shy of completing our group “Where’s Derpy and Dinky?” “I think she went to bed. She said she was tired from toda-” Minuette tried to say. “Yesterday” Derange corrected. Minuette gave him a flat looked and continued “She said she was tired from YESTERDAY'S work and probably went to bed”. “Though that doesn’t explain Dinky since she was more hyped up than Pinkie Pie”Jyggalag stated while rubbing his chin in thought “I could only imagine how upset she was about going to sleep and wonder how Derpy could have put her to sleep to begin with”. “Well they both left I remember that much” Derange decided to be useful for once. “When was that?” Silver asked. “Ohhhhhhhhhhhh around the very beginning of the play so about a few hours ago”. “And I don’t recall seeing them outside” I mumbled to myself. Looking towards Silver she nodded her head in agreement knowing already what I was thinking. “I’m going to go check up on them” turning to head outside with Silver tailing along. But before I could leave I felt a pair of hands grab my shoulder, spin me around like a top and forced me to sit down “Ah quit being such a worry wart” Derange said with...concern of my well being? “I’m sure they’re fine. Probably dreaming of a field of muffins” he said while Minuette tried to hold back a snort of laughter. “Anywho you’ve been working too hard and need to learn to take a breather now and again brochacho”. “Derange is, surprisingly, right in that they are fine and that you really must stop overworking yourself” Jyggalag added on. “Yeah Derpy may be a natural disaster waiting to happen, but she’s smart and tough enough to handle most situations” Minuette chimed in and continued “Plus you look dead tired. So just take a load off and quite worrying.” Derange and Jyggalag then transformed back to their original sizes and rested on my shoulders. “You really should rely and trust your companions more” Jyggalag lightly scolded me. “Yeah I mean they’re more than eye candy” Derange said agreeing with Jyggalag fully though earned dubious looks from us. “What? They can cook can’t they” he stated with a trollish smile. We just shook our heads in disappointment though we couldn’t help but smile at our internal antics. “Yeah you guys are right...except Derange naturally” I said with a small smile. “Naturally” Silver said with a nod of approval. “So anyway back to the matter at hoof” Minuette said drawing a confused look from me. “It’s way past the time of when you were going to tell everypony your final decision”. I gave a look of realization as I nodded my head “Yeah you're right and now would be the perfect opportunity to do so”. “But” Jyggalag and Derange began for me. “But as you can see these guys actually look happy right now so to tell them that I’m not helping them would really kill the mood” I said. “You’re not going to help us?” asked a young female voice. “Well it’s not like I can’t help you it’s just that...” I stated nonchalantly, but soon realized I wasn’t talking to anyone in my group. Turning my head towards the voice ever so slowly I saw a small white furred filly with a light pink mane and garden green eyes. Behind those sad hurt eyes were the eyes of everypony in the room some staring at me in anger others in sadness while a couple gave me sad yet understanding expressions. I tsked at my own stupidity and really planned to now stop talking out loud from now on...though a part of my mind knew that was probably never going to happen. The filly looked at me with those sad little eyes and asked “But why?” It sent a pang of guilt through my heart causing me to briefly change my mind for a moment, but then I came back to reality and steeled my heart for what I was about to say. Also side note why have we not weaponized this yet? I mean can you imagine ‘I’m sorry mister, but I brokeited your toy’ heart attacks everywhere. Getting down on one knee to be on a somewhat same level I looked at her with a soft look while patting her head “I’m sorry sweaty I want to help I really do, but I...” I thought about my next words carefully and continued “I’m just not the Draconequus for the job”. Not entirely true I suppose since it’d be an easy task to get rid of the dogs via either diplomacy or violence I wouldn’t mind ending a few lives. Don’t get me wrong killing is very unpleasant and I wish such a thing could never happen, but I will not shy away from it especially if set individual deserves no less than such. But what I’m not ready for and incapable of doing is watching the aftermath of saving this town and what could/would happen. “What a bunch of horse feathers” cried out one pony in the crowd soon electing a chorus of agreement. I ignored them as I was now scratching behind the filly’s ear since apparently they love a good scratch. It’s not like I was being forced to unless you account for those puppy eye’s they use when they don’t get what they want...but other than that total self control over my actions. I didn’t care to listen to what they were saying probably nothing good or noteworthy anyways. Tired at having to pretend to listen to them I reached into hammer space and quickly threw a ordinary dagger at the closest stallion. “EEEEEEEP” he scream like a girl as he backed away from the dagger. Everypony became silent as I stood to my full height and glared at them. “You ponies keep asking and telling me to save you because of how much you have suffered or how it is my responsibility when I don’t care and it is not” I stated in a cold voice. “Do you even have any idea how I’d go about saving you to begin with or were you just hoping that I would already have a plan?” I asked them mockingly when I already knew the answer. “In the end it wouldn't matter which route I take because it would just end in violence and DON’T try to tell me otherwise” I glared at the brave soul who wanted to speak up, but then watched as he shied away. “I can’t try negotiating with them since YOU brought this upon yourselves and even if I were to they are surprisingly equally as stubborn as you so the only means to do anything would be to beat their Alpha in a duel and seize control over the clan thus allowing me tell them to leave, but that would be unfair since they were here first and as the old saying goes ‘The early bird get the worm’”. “Now I bet you're thinking ‘Well then why don’t cha just beat him?’ because they don’t just fight till one gives up, well even if they did it wouldn't matter, since they usually fight to the death meaning that I’d have to kill him in the process or in the event I spared him the other members of his clan would likely just kill him off, force him into slavery or banish him”. “And so what!?” cried out the pony I threw the dagger at. He was a unicorn with a dark blue coat, shiny black mane and dark shade of yellow eyes. The crowd parted ways to let him speak as he stood there with his own glare“They’re a bunch of flea ridden no good slaving mongrels” he snarled at me and continued “They were the ones who began all of this since the beginning of time and deserve nothing less than death”. I just looked at him with a bewildered expression ‘How...how can they act and be so clueless. So...irresponsible to the action they've done yet ask for justice when it happens to them! They’re like children who cried to their parents after a kid stole their toy yet have no problem whatsoever in stealing someone else’s toy’. I just...you know what no just...no. Without batting an eyelash or showing emotion whatsoever I grabbed the filly I was scratching not too long ago by the scruff of her neck electing a cry from her. Everypony gasped in surprise though most of them were ready to bombard me a simple glance was all it took to make them back off. Walking towards the brave yet naive stallion with the filly in tow ignoring the cries of pain she wailed out I continue my emotionless journey towards him. He didn't move either though was shaking in the knees. Getting down to his level I held the filly in front of him and simply said “Kill her”. He looked at me dumbly and said “W-w-what?!” “If it’s so simple then kill her” I replied back evenly and continued “Kill this filly right here and right now and i’ll go do as you ask”. Everypony was dead silent including my own companions as they watched this scene with horror. He tried looking for help, support or even an answer but no pony dared to say a thing or even breath in fear of me bringing my wrath down upon the filly. His eyes began to dilate and shift back and forth while his breathing became rampant. Then a light grayish aura surround the dagger as it hazardously began to wobble up into the air. Reaching about eye level with the filly his magic began wavering causing it to almost fall to the ground, but persisted in holding it up. His breathing remained the same as his chest would rise back in forth in short fast burst while his eye adopted a sad yet desperate look. “I’m sorry” he blubbered out as tears began to streak down his cheek “I’m so sorry” he said one last time before he willed his magic to send the blade towards the filly. As the blade made it’s way towards her everypony’s eye clamped shut not wanting to witness the bloodshed that was about to happen. A slick slicing sound filled the air followed by the pitter patter sound of blood falling to the ground. “You know it’s funny” I said as pain shot through out my hand. Everypony dared to take a peak and gasped in surprise. Only a millimeter away from the fillies’ skull was the dagger and the only thing stopping it was my eagle claw halting its trajectory. I watch with no care as my blood began to form a small puddle of blood. Interestingly enough my blood was rainbow colored and not only that, but it had the effect of blowing in the wind like the princesses manes. Initially it hurt like no tomorrow. Hell I almost allowed it to continue with it’s path, but after a few moments I could feel the pain subside as Chaotic energy flowed towards the wound halting the blood from leaving my body but not healing the wound since it’d leave the dagger in there and let me tell ya that would hurt even more. “Usually people think I’m the monster because of what I am and what I can do yet it makes me wonder who the real monster is in this world” I said with a calm demeanor while taking out the dagger lodge in my hand with my tail. The moment I took it out my wound began to close up leaving me with a scarless hand and a bloody up dagger. Tossing the dagger into hammerspace I turned my attention back to the crowed. As if it dawned upon the stallion he realized what he almost did and began crying hysterically. As he curled up into a ball I set the filly down gently and tried to apologize, but before I could she ran. Ran as fast as her legs could to her family and when she reached them she cried. “How could you!?” the father cried out and before he could say anything else I shouted “ISN’T THAT WHAT YOU WANTED ME TO DO TO THE DOGS” they backed off from the volume of my voice, but I pressed on “Didn’t you want me to go into their din not a few minutes ago and kill every single one of them!” Pointing at the stallion I shouted “The Fathers!” then towards his wife “The Mothers!” then to the sob on the ground “The Fools!” and finally towards the filly “And the Children!” The room was silent once more as it finally dawned upon all of them as well what they had asked me to do. No one dared to speak or moved as they processed what had been said and done. So I was the first “I’m done with this place and its people” I sneered at them heading towards the back door. Turning back to give them one final glare I said “Be grateful that I’m heading towards Trottingham and am willing to let them know about the situation to begin with”. Satisfied that I had said everything that needed to be said I continued to leave my friends taking a few second to register what happen but soon fell in line as we were about to leave. Only for the sound of the door being flung open to break the silence. Standing there breathing heavily was Dinky. She was covered in dirt, bruises and a cut or two around her legs and torso. Scouring the area frantically she soon found us and quickly made her way towards us tears streaming down her face all the while. Minuette was the first to act meeting her more than halfway and embracing her tightly while the filly bawled and spoke incoherently to Minuette. A sense of dread came over me as I guessed what had happen. Every fiber of my being tried to deny it but no matter how hard I tried I knew deep down what had happened. “Shhh, Shhh it’s okay I’m here now” Minuette said like a mother while stroking Dinky’s mane. It calmed her down immensely, but tears continued to stream down her face. “There we go” she said with a calm yet kind smile wiping the tears away with her hoof. Dinky continued to cry and sniffle, but it wasn’t as bad as before. Continuing to hold her tight like a newborn foal she asked “I know this will be hard, but what happened and where's your Mom?” ‘Please don’t answer’ “*sniff* She...” ‘Please don’t say it. I don’t want to be right’ “*hiccup* she...” ‘Don’t say it! Don’t say it! Don’t-’ “She was taken by the Diamond dogs” she cried out and resumed bawling her eyes out into Minuette’s coat. We all stood there and tried to process what she said. I didn’t want to believe it, Minuette didn’t want to believe it, nor did Silver, but the fact of the matter is...it happened. My claw clenched in on itself as I gripped as hard as I could. Every pony was silent as well not daring to make a sound. Derange and Jyggalag disappeared back into the recess of my mind seeing that it was not the time to make any jokes or comments. Silver was the first to act as her wings spread out ready to fly she was about to say something, but I beat her to the punch “Minuette stay here and look after Dinky. Silver and I will handle this” I said in an eerily calm voice as we both headed towards the exit. “Buck no she’s my friend an-” she tried to say, but stop as I glanced back at her. Her eyes dilated to pinprick and were unable to turn their gaze away from mine. Her breathing altogether stopped and she looked like a deer just as it was about to be hit by a vehicle. “Stay here and look after her” I said neither commanding nor as a friendly suggestion as I tore my gaze away from her, the sound of her breathing rapidly could be heard, and we headed towards outside. Neither sprinting nor walking we began our rapid pace towards the din though dark ominous clouds loomed over the area. There were two things that I knew at this moment. One a storm was brewing and it looked like it was going to be a big one. Two I was not mad nor angry at what had happened. My grip on my claw clenched even tighter as I felt droplets of blood leak out from my fist. Our pace picked up even faster as the sound of thunder was heard in the distance accompanied by lightning arcing across the sky. If I could say anything I was beyond furious.