//------------------------------// // Ch. 4. Chaos and Contracts // Story: Through Storm and Snow // by Phoenix Quill //------------------------------// Ditzellia felt as though her heart would explode from her chest, as she tried desperately to kick Rock Steady off of her body. He leaned down and whispered in a commanding tone, “Come on, show me some of those famous moves.” Ditzy reared back her hooves “You asked for it!” She bucked the stallion in his groin as hard as she could, causing him to writhe in pain. “THATS IT! No more mister nicey nice!” Ditzy flapped her wings to try to escape, but it was to no avail. With Ditzy still flat on her back, she was an easy target for him to land on with all his weight, and slap her across the face. “Now I have to punish you.” “No, it can’t end for me like this. Stuck between a violent stallion and the floor.” Ditzy felt her eyes water, and the tears streamed down her face. As she turned away, she saw the tears were quickly absorbed by the cloud floor beneath her turning the puffy white clouds into a darker grey color. Suddenly Ditzy felt a light bulb go off in her mind. She turned to look above, Rock Steady leered over her with a maniacal grin. Either prepared to force a kiss out of her, or do something much worse.  Ditzy closed her eyes and breathed in. Then, faster than her oppressor could react, Ditzy slammed her skull into Rock Steady’s, followed quickly by several hard jabs into his muzzle, temple, and wings. He stumbled, and fell to the ground as he tried to shake the dizziness away. Ditzy quickly punched the floor with a hoof and fell into the kitchen below her, leaving him behind to piece where she had gone. Ditzy opened her wings and slowed her descent, she looked up, and sure enough the hole that she had punched in the cloud floor was already sealed up. Quickly as she could, Ditzy scanned the room to see that she was in the kitchen to defend herself with. As she did, Rock Steady finally shook the last of the confusion from his mind. He tried to flap his wings, only to find them useless. “WHERE DID YOU GO!” Ditzy’s ears swiveled to the source of the sound. Her eyes glued on the ceiling above her, waiting for the stallion to come after her. She grew silent, hoping that he wouldn't find her before she could find something, or make an escape.  “Ditzellia! Where are you?” The shout sounded as if it was on the move. Ditzy couldn't help but panic as she began to open drawers for anything of use. “Come back here! I can show mercy and forgive you, if you come out before I find you.” Ditzy shuddered, the sound of his voice was much closer than before. For a few moments, her eyes lingered on the knife in a drawer. “Come on Ditzellia! There’s no door in here, and the walls, and floor are all enchanted to keep heavy objects in here! Only escape is the living room and he’ll see you there! Grab the knife and bluff your way out!” “Wonderbolt! Come on, I was only having some fun with ya! Come on back to me. Don't make me find you.” This call came from just outside the kitchen doors to the living room, and Ditzy felt her heart nearly explode. She shook her head, and placed the knife back in the drawer. “I can't kill him, I’ll have to think of something else.” That’s when she grabbed onto the handle of a frying pan, and snuck her way to the only door into the kitchen. She waited with her hooves wrapped around the handle of the frying pan. Her breath was held as she listened for any sign of the pursuing pegasus. Sure enough, the rattle of a stallion trying to silence his breathing came from the other side of the door. Ditzy felt her heart flutter and waited by the kitchen door. The door suddenly flew open, and the grey stallion charged into the room. Ditzy swung with all her might and bludgeoned the stallion with a five pound chunk of iron.The stallion’s eyes crossed as he fell to the floor. “Frying pan, who knew that would actually make a good weapon?” Ditzy looked at the knocked out pegasus, and noticed that the grey washed out of his coat and mane, leaving him a bright yellow with blue mane and tail once more. “How curious,” Ditzy mused out loud to herself, “Maybe it means he is back to normal. Then again, a girl can never be too safe.” She opened a drawer and began to look for one of the things that no home should be without. Rock Steady felt as if an anvil had landed on his cranium. “Ow, my head. What happened?” He tried to lift a hoof up to soothe his head, only to discover that it was restrained. “Oh I am going to hate this! What happened? Come on, open your eyes and see what happened.” Slowly, Rock Steady opened his eyes and let them adjust to the light, and wished that he never had.Rock Steady looked up and saw that his captor was none other than Ditzellia Doo, and he was duct taped to the refrigerator. “What’s going on?” “Oh look who’s awake.” She replied with a sneer as she looked down at him. “Thought that you could take advantage of me? I think you’ll think twice before you try that again!” Rock Steady tried to tilt his head in confusion. Many thoughts ran across his mind, and he tried to come up with a response, only for his eyesight to be interrupted by a bright light being flashed in his eyes, “So tell me again, you said that he had been in shades of grey when he attacked?” Ditzy nodded to the officer, “Yes, that is correct.” The blue pegasus nodded at this statement as he wrote something down in his pad, “And you never met this pony before?” “No just earlier today, he was helping me carry my shopping when I was called in to work. I went upstairs to change when he suddenly came up and attacked me.” Rock Steady struggled against the tape binding him to the fridge, and it suddenly dawned upon him what was going on. “What are you talking about? I never could do a thing like that!” Ditzy started to argue the point, only for the police officer to hold a wing up to silence her. He looked at the bound pegasus with a frown, and looked him in the eyes. “Please enlighten us then. What do you remember?” The yellow pegasus looked up as he tried to think past his headache before speaking, “Last thing I remember, she let me in and I sat on the couch, then I fell asleep. Next thing I know I’m tied to a fridge!” The police officer looked at the two ponies for a few moments before writing something else down on his notepad, “Miss Doo, may I look at your eyes for just a moment?” The mare tilted her head, “Whatever for?” “Please, this might help out with the case.” The grey pegasus gave off a sigh as she lowered her flight goggles down to her chest. Rock noticed from where he was that her flight suit was ripped all over, as if she flew through tree branches. The officer picked up a flashlight in his mouth and aimed it at Ditzy’s right eye, “Hmm your eyes are gold, correct?” “Of course, what else would they be?” the mare said with a slight hint of annoyance in her voice. “Well, if I did not know any better, I would assume that your eye color has faded.” The officer scratched at his chin for a few moments before shining the light in the other eye. “But, I suppose that it is only my imagination.” He dropped the light into a pouch on his side before turning back to the notepad. “There have been calls all day about ponies suddenly changing behavior, always accompanied by the changed personalities is a distinct loss of color.. Since your coat is grey I wanted to check your eyes, but they seem to be alright.” She thought about it for a few moments, how he was grey, strange events around Equestria, how her own eyes had lost their color. Suddenly, it hit her, the one common event that must be behind everything. “I need to find a way to contact Discord! He must know what’s going on,” she thought to herself. “If that’s the case, then I’ll drop all charges, if he can’t pay for the hospital, send me the bill. Now, please excuse me. I need to get to Wonderbolt H.Q. as quickly as possible.” The police officer raised an eyebrow at this, but simply nodded to himself. “Alright Miss Doo, I know that you're going to have a very busy ahead of you. Go on ahead and report for duty. I’m going to untie mister,” “Steady,” He interjected for the officer, “Rock Steady.” “Mister Steady, and take him to Cloudsdale Medical Center. They'll take a look at his head and make sure he’s alright.” Ditzy nodded numbly and left the kitchen, even as the officer cut the duct tape and helped Rock Steady up. “There, can you walk on your own son?” “I think so,” he replied. As they made their way out of the living room, Rock Steady turned back one last time at Ditzy, eyes watering as he came to grips with what he did, even if he wasn't himself. “Miss Doo, I am so sorry.” Ditzy did not look at him as he and the officer headed out the door. Instead, she continued to look out the window and watched as a pig flew by, chasing a singing ice cream cloud cake. “It’s alright. Go to the hospital, I have business to take care of.” The two stallions exited the front door, and as soon as it slammed shut, she looked up at the clock on the mantel and frowned deeply. “I need to hurry!” Ditzy galloped through the house as quickly as she could to the bedroom, and grabbed a fresh Wonderbolts uniform. “I can’t believe I am almost an hour late, how did this manage to take an hour!” She kept yelling out loud as she stripped down and started to suit up in the fresh outfit. “All this random stuff going on, ponies suddenly changing personality? I have to find Discord, I have to know if he’s behind everything!” “Really Ditzy Doo, is that how you thank me for my bountiful gift? By insulting my good name and pointing hooves at me?” Ditzy turned to the voice just as she finished pulling on the flight suit. “Who else could it be? You have to know, I have to tell the other Wonderbolts!” Discord grinned as a piece of paper appeared out of thin air before him. “Well let’s see here, Star Swirl the bearded could have, but being dead kinda limits ponies on what they can do. Celestia could wreak chaos of this magnitude several times over, but we all know she’s too good for any fun like this.” Ditzy looked the draconequus over, “The short list, who is doing all this?!” Discord paused and looked Ditzy over with a smirk, “Oh it’s me.” He paused and picked up a book from the shelf to thumb through it. “I just don’t like it when I’m under accusation.” Ditzy looked at Discord with a look of shock, “Why? Why are you doing this?” “Frankly my little pony, I don’t know! Mostly because it’s fun! Oh but wait until you have seen my latest work!” Everything disappeared in a flash of light, and when Ditzy looked she was somewhere else, somewhere she has never seen before. “Where are we?” “Isn't it wonderful?” Discord asked as a bright fuchsia paper hat appeared on his head, like some sort of cheap crown. “Such a lovely chaotic gift that we have brought forth! This used to be just, boring old Ponyville but now look! The chaos capitol of the world! Oh but why settle for listening to me talk, please explore! Have fun, there’s plenty to go around! I even made you a special hat.” Discord then placed a turquoise paper hat over Ditzy’s head. “I hope you like it, it’s a special hat. Why, without you, none of this would be possible!” Ditzy backed away from Discord as she threw the hat on the ground, only for it to become a swan and fly away. “How is any of this my fault? I never wanted this!” Discord’s grin grew ever wider, as it wrapped around to touch behind his head. He quickly grabbed a cocktail sausage from a galloping side table and popped it in his mouth before continuing. “Oh how easily ponies forget their own dreams!” With a snap of his fingers, Discord brought forth a familiar file. “Let’s see here, AH! Here we are, Nightmare number 467, this one was truly a doozy! A world where everything is backwards from how it normally is. Kind ponies become cruel, the strong become weak. Up is down, and short is long.” Discord then snapped the file closed as it disappeared. “And everything you used to think was so important doesn’t matter anymore because everything you know is wrong!” Ditzy stood in shock as she backed away from Discord. “No, this isn’t me, I couldn’t have done this!” “Well, not all of it’s you. I mean, I did add a few touches of my own.” Discord said with a smirk as the sun quickly disappeared, only to be instantly replaced by a moon with an image of a face with a loupe in it’s eye. “Oh, and I made sure to handle those ponies for you, your so called ‘friends’ that showed no remorse for making you so upset. Ditzy looked at the madness around her, and sunk as more guilt filled her like an overfilled water balloon. “Oh yes, I couldn't believe my luck when I found you. Such anger, and chaos just waiting to be released! But wait, there’s more! You knew the ponies that control the Elements of Harmony! Oh, I knew if I made my grand entrance without a good plan, Celestia would call on those goodie four shoes to do her dirty work. But thanks to a combination of your emotions, and a naturally chaotic mind when you dream, I've become unstoppable!” Discord continued to laugh as he watched a pony run away from a rampaging building,, only for it to swallow her through the door and run away to gobble up another pony. Finally, Ditzy spoke, “Discord, this is wrong.” “If this is wrong, then I don’t want to be right!” He said with a chuckle. “What are you going to do? You can’t stop me! I am an old god! I've seen this universe’s creation, and I’ll be here at it’s destruction. You are just a wall eyed mail mare, and that’s all you will ever be without me!” “He’s right, I’m nothing!” Ditzy thought as she began to turn away. “That’s right, fly away Derpy. Go back to the Wonderbolts and live the dream! Everypony in Cloudsdale thinks it’s all real, but someday, you’ll come back! I’ll be here, waiting for you to join in on the fun!” For a moment, Ditzy froze as she heard Discord call her by that name. She turned around only to find that he was gone. After a few moments she shook her head and took off in a random direction. “I just don't know what I am supposed to do.” Ditzy’s mind kept looping that thought again and again in her mind as she watched a tub of pudding devour a literal gravy train. “Where would I even go? Or turn to? I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to my old life, can I live with the guilt of this new one if I just sit back and do nothing?” She continued to wander around the remains of, what was until recently, Ponyville. As she looked into the distance, she noticed that farther away, things became slightly more normal. However, the illusion would be shattered whenever something strange would happen. Despite everything, all she wanted to do was continue walking, somewhere, anywhere that would let her pause and make sense of things. That’s when she spotted the Library, a shining beacon of normalcy in the randomness around her. “Maybe that’s what I need, advice from Twilight. She would know what to do.” As she got closer she noticed something was off. The lights were out, and curtains drawn as if nopony were home. She came up to the front door, and lightly tapped on it with a hoof. “Hello? Anypony home?” No response. Ditzy waited for a few moments before trying again, harder this time. “Anypony here? I need to speak with Twilight!” Suddenly, a series of clicks emitted from the other side of the door, and it flew open to reveal a small purple dragon. “I’m not exactly a pony you know.” Ditzy looked down at the dragon and tried to give her best smile. “Well hey there, you must be Spike! Twilight told me all about you this morning.” Spike looked her up and down with a frown as he leaned the mop against a wall. “I thought that she helped a mail mare this morning, not a Wonderbolt.” She frowned in some confusion as she looked back at herself, and realized she was still in the Wonderbolts uniform. “Ugh, I’m not really a Wonderbolt, this is something that Discord did, it’s a long story. I need to talk to Twilight, is she here?” “No, she’s in Canterlot still. I've been trying to keep this place in order all day, but every time my back is turned, a new mess appears!” Ditzy stepped inside, and sure enough, there was a large pile of books in the middle of the floor. “Well, maybe you need some help.” Spike gave a small smile at the offer as he went to grab his mop, only to find it had moved itself onto the growing pile in the center of the room. “ARGH! What is going on here?” Spike whined as he kicked one of the books. “All I want to do is finish this job and go to sleep! Is that too much to ask?” He stomped off to the far end of the room where a pair of buckets sat, when he suddenly fell over and started snoring, still clutching the mop. “Uh, Spike?” Ditzy stood puzzled for a few moments, but there was no response. “Umm, okay, I’m just gonna browse around a bit okay?” The sleeping dragon simply snored in reply as he clutched his mop tighter, making Ditzy’s muzzle scrunch in disgust as he began snapping at the little fibers. “Right, there has to be something in here about Discord.” It was hard to tell how much time had passed with the sun and moon constantly taking over the sky, but judging from how often she was yawning, Ditzy figured that it must be at least nine o'clock, if not later at night. After discarding the Wonderbolts uniform, she tidied up the giant pile of books. While she did, Ditzy had found a few books that seemed worth looking into, only to find they were all dead ends. Worse still, she was beginning to feel hungry.  “Great, I've still got five more books to look through, and now my stomach wants food.” She slammed the copy of, A History of Obscure Leaders, Dictators, and Old Gods From The Pre-Celestial Era, shut. “Well, I can’t eat anything here,” she continued aloud. “And I wouldn’t dare eat anything from town. Who knows what Discord’s been doing to it.” At first, Ditzy decided to just ignore the hunger and press on, only for her stomach to protest loudly. “Alright,” she grumbled to herself. “I’ll check my house.” Ditzy picked up the book, and went to put it in her bag like she normally would, only to remember that she had left it at home before everything started happening. “Maybe I should grab that too.” As she left the library, the sun burst out into the sky, unleashing a storm of bagpipes upon the insane town. “I better hurry back, who knows what can happen while I’m away!” Not too much later, Ditzy was flying back to the library with her delivery bag full of some things from her fridge, a slightly stale muffin, and a stalk of celery. “Oh great, what happened to the library?” Ditzy made her descent under a nearby tree, and noticed that a giant hole was where the front door used to be, and ponies were piling out of it. Then suddenly, a rather angry shout filled the air. “LOOKOUT! HERE COMES TOM!” The whole tree shook as Twilight threw the boulder out an upper floor window, attracting Ditzy’s attention. “What is going on here?” She flew up to the lowest branches of the tree, finding a secluded branch where nopony could see her as she watched what was going on below. Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack were standing in shock as Twilight hopped out the opening the boulder made to meet with them. Rarity walked out of the hole that used to be the front door. The next thing that Ditzy noticed, was that everypony, besides Twilight, had lost their colors, and became a dull grey. “Well well well, I see you found the Elements of Harmony, how terrifying!” Ditzy looked around for where Discord was, only to find him standing under the very tree she was hiding in. As she watched, she couldn’t help but feel a wave of panic at how close he was to her again. Twilight began to walk closer to him, and a look of impatience, and anger was displayed on her face. “Discord! I figured out your lame riddle, you’re in for it now!” Discord landed on the teal ground as he inspected his claws with a melodramatic look on his face. “I certainly am, you clearly outdueled me, and now it’s time to meet my fate!” Ditzy’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as she watched the scene. “Something’s not right here,” she thought to herself. A pair of red framed sunglasses appeared in Discord’s lion’s paw and he placed it over his eyes as he continued to monologue. “I’m ready to be defeated now ladies! Fire when ready!” As he spoke, Discord waved his tallon over his body and a red and white target appeared in his center. “This can’t be right, it looks too easy.” Ditzy watched as Twilight called for formation, and the four other ponies lined up behind her. “Rainbow Dash! Get over here!” Ditzy watched as Spike ran to the rest of the group, and slapped her forehead with a hoof. “This is wrong.” “Maybe it will work,” another part of her mind suggested. “Maybe, but… Odds are not in their favor.” Ditzy watched as the five mares began to rise, and a humming sound filled the air. “Oh my, it’s working! This will all be over, and I can just pretend I never had anything to do with this day! Wait, why isn’t Spike’s working?” True enough, the Element of Loyalty hadn’t activated at all, leaving ‘the new Rainbow Dash’ earthbound. Spike was left watching in awe as the five mares began to cast off a heavenly glow. It only lasted a few seconds before the light flickered out, and all five ponies fell to the earth. Twilight quickly got up and looked around her, nothing had changed since she attempted to activate the elements. “What’s going on?” “Mine’s workin’.” Applejack commented. “There must be somethin’ wrong with yours.” She pointed at Twilight as she said this, making her frown with anger. Fluttershy took her necklace off and shook it slightly as she flew closer to Pinkie Pie. “I hate the Elements of Harmony!” Pinkie yelled. “Humph, garbage!” Fluttershy said as she threw hers away. Rarity then dashed up and grabbed it from the floor. “MINE!” Ditzy watched as Spike put down the element of loyalty beside Twilight. “Sorry Twilight, I guess I better get back upstairs and clean the library.” As he ran back to the library, he turned back to look at Twilight instead of watching where he was going, and Fluttershy lowered herself right in his path. “Good luck with all this- WHOA!” Spike never finished what he was going to say as he tripped over Fluttershy’s tail. “Whoops! Sorry Rainbow Crash!” She then stopped to snicker as Discord began walking closer to them. “Bravo ponies, bravo!” Discord called out as he clapped his mismatched hands, making strange noises on each clap. “Harmony in Equestria is officially dead! Discord rules, Celestia drools!” He then made a sing-song laugh while tapping Twilight’s muzzle with the tip of his scaley eagle’s claw, making Twilight growl with anger as he skated down the soap road, still giving off his sing-song laughter. Pinkie Pie looked straight at the tree Ditzy was hiding in with a look of anger. “It’s your fault it didn’t work!” Twilight then leaned towards Pinkie as she addressed her. “Who are you talking to?” “Any of you! All of you! I’m out of here!” Pinkie exploded before she began to pronk off. “I’d better go too,” Applejack suddenly shouted as she trotted off. “I’ve got new, better friends waiting for me at the farm!” As she left, Rarity began pushing her boulder away. “Yeah, I’m sick of you losers!” Fluttershy commented as she flew off. Twilight stood alone on the checkerboard ground as she waved a hoof after the ponies that left her. “FINE! See what I care! I don’t need you guys either! With friends like you, who needs… enemies.” The last word came out soft, almost in a whisper. She hung her head in sadness, and suddenly was changed into a monochromatic scheme as she let a single tear fall. Ditzy sat on the tree branch in silence, unsure of what to do as Twilight began to walk away. “She helped you once. Now it’s your turn!” “But, what about earlier today? Don’t you still feel hurt because of it?” “Maybe, but that doesn’t matter any more. Now move Ditzellia! Before you lose sight of her!” With both sides of her mind quieted, Ditzy flew down from the tree, and ran to catch up with Twilight. “Hey, Twilight, are you alright? Smooth move, of course she doesn't!” Twilight did not even look up to answer as she kept walking in a straight line. “Hi Ditzy. I’m…” She paused, as if she wasn't sure how to respond to the question. After a few moments, Twilight gave up and went back to staring at the ground. “Wait, please listen to me Sparkle.” Ditzy ran ahead of her, and walked backwards to try to make Twilight look at her. “You gotta try again, I mean, what would Princess Celestia think if she just saw you give up like this?” “The Princess?” Twilight’s face light up for a moment, and a tinge of color returned for a brief flicker. Then faded away as Twilight turned to walk away in a different direction. “It doesn’t matter. It’s all over.” “Well what are you going to do now huh? You can’t just give up! All of Equestria depends on you!” Twilight turned around for a short moment, and looked Ditzy in the eyes and gave a sad smile. “Well, it looks like you found your voice. If you don’t need me anymore, then I guess nopony needs me.” She turned back and continued walking at this point, and Ditzy flew ahead to stop her. “Wait, what do you mean nopony needs you? Everypony is counting on you right now! The entire world could fall to this chaos!” “SO LET IT FALL!” Twilight reared up and breathed heavily for a few moments before she continued to yell. “Do you think I wanted this?! Do you think I wanted the world to depend on me?! I’m just a pony, not some sort of end all be all weapon for Equestria!” As she yelled, tears began to stream down her face, and traces of color began to show through. But the color faded all too quickly as a neutral frown overtook Twilight Sparkle’s features. “Now leave me alone. There’s nothing that you, or I can do about it anymore.” Ditzy looked around her as Twilight walked off, and watched as a hailstorm of jawbreakers began to fall over the floating town hall, and a flash flood of coffee poured out of Java Bean’s shop. She opened her bag, and tucked away inside, was her delivery pony hat.. “She’s wrong, there’s one thing that I can do.” She pulled out a pen and paper, and quickly scrawled a note, and sealed it in an envelope. She placed a royal seal upon the envelope, then put the letter back in the bag. She then put on her hat as she took off into the sky, as she flew above Ponyville, she saw ponies running helplessly beneath her in the chaos. Guilt, and anger clashed within her soul as she flew north and east of Ponyville. “Through storm and snow, darkness and light, sky and sea, nothing shall stop the Equestrian mail. As a courier, I will make a swift completion of this delivery. Even if it’s my final round.” Even with her ears laying as flat as she could get them, the wind roared as Ditzy continued to fly further away from what used to be Ponyville, leaving the blue blur of her wonderbolts uniform behind her. As she flew closer to her destination, Ditzy replayed her lose plan in her mind over and over again. “Okay, all I have to do is get to Celestia, she knows Twilight best, and would have some way to save her! If she can save her, maybe there’s hope for all of Equestria! Maybe if I break my contract, Discord will undo this, or maybe it won’t be as bad!” As far as plans go, Ditzy had a feeling of doubt growing in the pit of her stomach, yet pushed her wings to force her to fly faster than she ever moved in her life. “I have to try! The least that I can do is let Celestia know what happened! Maybe she can save them? Maybe there’s hope?” “There is no hope, just give up.” “NO! I have to tell the Princess!” Ditzy was beginning to tire, after hours of nonstop flight her wings felt as if they were about to fall off. Normally, every pegasus knows that in a situation like this, they should rest, or at least grab a cloud to stay afloat if they really needed to keep moving. Ditzy’s eyes scanned around her, but there were no clouds to be found. “I must keep moving, I must!” She kept flying, through the random storms and past the floating obstacles she moved toward Canterlot. “There it is! Just another mile or so, and I’m in!” She gained a second wind, and pushed her wings with all her might. An image of Discord’s head appeared before her, with a wide grin on it’s face. “Greetings Ditzy, this is a prerecorded message.” The image coughed and licked the roof of his mouth a few times as it floated ahead of Ditzy. “I knew that you would try to breach our deal at some point, so I set a reminder for you. Should you continue on the course you are on, then you will be in violation of the contract. However, turn around now, and I can guarantee that I’ll act like I pretended this never happened.” Ditzy growled at the image and swiped a hoof at it, only for it to bob and weave away. “Very well, do what you want, I don’t care anyway. But I warn you, once you enter Canterlot, everything goes back to how it was before.” The head then disappeared in a puff of marmalade that quickly fell up towards the dancing moon. “I’m counting on it,” Ditzy mumbled to herself as she pressed onwards. She was just a few more feet away from the walls of the city, when suddenly she felt a strange sensation run through her body. “What was that? It felt like I just flew through an electric field!” She landed beside the soap road just outside of Canterlot, and the feeling intensified. Ditzy laid down as a wave of nausea hit her so hard, that she thought she was going to be sick. When she looked up, everything had been doubled, her eyes were back to the way they were before Discord had come to her. She looked around herself, and covered her left eye to focus. “That’s it! I broke the contract, everything should turn back to normal now, right?” Nothing changed. The roads were still soap, the sky was still sending down a barrage of random items, and the moon and sun kept fighting for dominance in the sky. “But, I broke the contract! I thought that if I did this, it would all be over!” “You know, you really are as dense as you look.” Ditzy turned around and saw Discord leaning against the face of a cliff. “You broke your end of the bargain, I broke mine. It’s really as simple as that.” “Discord! Change everything back!” “Why should I? I’m having the time of my life! I have a thousand years of pent of chaos to get out, so why not try it all at once?” Discord’s grin got wider as he watched a flock of chickens attack somepony wearing a green hat. “Keep at it! You’ll get ‘em eventually!” “Are you talking to that colt, or the chickens?” Ditzy then shook her head and narrowed her eyes at him as she realized what she was doing. “Hey wait! Why should I care?” Discord simply shrugged in reply before he made an avalanche of lampshades fall down the mountain. “I don’t know anymore, I just really like my voice. Blah. Bleughudy eh me-haw. Ditzy just stood there in shock, as tears began to fall down her face. “But, but I broke the contract. That should have ended this.” Discord’s grin got wider as he patted Ditzy on her back. “Don’t feel so bad, you couldn't have known.” He then clapped his mismatched hands and rubbed them together. “Well, I would love to stay, but I have some ponies to gloat over! Enjoy the sights of Canterlot, it was nice working with you!” He then did a pirouette and disappeared. “DISCORD! COME BACK HERE AND FIX EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW!” She yelled with all her might, expelling every last bit of air from her lungs before breaking down and crying. She cried for a few minutes, and still no sign of Discord whatsoever. Finally, after almost five minutes, and seven movements between the sun and moon, Ditzy stood up and looked around her. Nothing had changed, and there was no sign of Discord to be found. She smiled as she looked in her delivery bag, and found the note that she had written earlier, still exactly as she left it. “I can’t believe it worked. He actually believed me. How stupid does he think I am anyway? Wait, better test to make sure he really isn’t listening to me any more.” She cleared her throat a few times before yelling off into the distance, “DISCORD IS A SLIMY DIP THAT CAN’T SEE THE OBVIOUS THINGS IN FRONT OF HIM!” She paused for a few seconds as she thought it out before adding, “I BET HE CAN’T EVEN SEE WHY FOALS LOVE CINNAMON TOAST CEREAL!” She waited, a few seconds, then a minute, then several more and still nothing happened. Ditzy smiled as she opened her wings and flew up over the wall into the city, confident that she was finally out from under Discord’s watchful eye. The city of Canterlot, unlike Ponyville, seemed totally abandoned, and mostly untouched. Other than the occasional chocolate milk spewing cotton candy cloud, bad paint jobs, candy growing out of the ground like flowers, and maybe a few statues of Discord in rude gestures, it seemed practically normal. She flew over the multicolored buildings with her bad eye closed, getting closer and closer to the castle. “I see the castle, but where’s the gate?” As Ditzy continued to fly around the castle’s wall, she was getting more, and more frustrated as each minute passed. “You know what,  Tatarus with this, I’ll just fly over the wall.” As she lifted herself up, she reached a hoof forward, planning to use it to help pull her forward over the wall. Suddenly, it smacked into an invisible barrier, one that hurt. “OW! Sweet Celestia that HURT!” She stared at the invisible barrier for a few more moments before flying off in hopes of finding the main gate again. After a few moments, she finally landed on the road and began walking the perimeter. “Ditzy Doo, fearless hero mail mare of Ponyville. Watch in awe as she walks circles around a wall,” she mumbled sarcastically. “Easy, keep an eye on it.” Ditzy raised her ears to the source of the sound. “Could have sworn I heard somepony.” “Easy… EASY! Look out, it’s on the move again!” Around the corner of the castle’s walls, a group of guards flew and galloped after the gate as it slid down the wall like a portable hole. “Somepony stop that gate!” Ditzy watched in awe as the opening slid along the wall, past her, then continued down and around one of the defensive turrets. As she watched it continue down the curving wall, she started following it without thinking, and then heard hooves skidding against the cobblestone pavement. “LOOK OUT!” Somepony slammed into her side, knocking Ditzy head over hoof several times before they skidded to a stop. Ditzy rubbed her head with a hoof as the guard that slammed into her checked himself over, then offered a hoof to help her up. “Are you alright citizen? Do you need medical attention?” Ditzy rubbed the back of her head as she stood up, and watched the rest of the guards chase after the gate. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little dizzy is all." The guard nodded and began to take off, but Ditzy held a hoof out to stop him. "Wait, I need your help!” “Everypony needs help right now ma’am, but me and my platoon were told to guard that castle gate, and it’s been moving along the wall all day.” The guard began to fly off to catch up with his troop, but Ditzy flew after him. “But I need to get into the castle!” Ditzy exclaimed as she pulled the letter out of her bag. “I must let the princess know what is happening back in Ponyville with her student and her friends!” The guard stopped and looked back at Ditzy holding the letter in between her fore hooves as a frown crossed his face. “The element bearers are in trouble?” Ditzy nodded as she placed the letter back in the bag. “That is correct, something has gone wrong and I have vital information for her! Please, you have got to let me in!” The guard turned and watched as the gate began to come closer again, and the other guards were still following it. He finally gave a gesture for Ditzy to follow and flew towards the other guards. “Sir, this pony needs to see the princess immediately sir!” One of the guards looked at him, then Ditzy for a few moments before coming to a halt. “Private! We were ordered by Captain Aquilinus to guard this gate, and that’s just what we are going to do!” “And what a fine job you four bunglers are doing.” Everypony in the group turned and saw the captain of the guard, had somehow snuck up to them without anypony noticing.  “First Lieutenant Shining Armor, I gave you one task, one simple task. How can you manage to mess this up?” The unicorn guard took his helmet off and held it under his arm as he scratched his head. “We are trying captain, but it keeps sliding away!” The captain looked at the gate as it sat perfectly still, exactly where it’s supposed to be. “I see… Well, you four continue to stand guard. If it moves again, just have somepony stand inside the gate to keep it still.” He then turned to Ditzy and gave as kind of a smile as he could manage. “Sorry about all that, you said you have a message for the princess miss…?” “Ditzellia Doo,” she replied as she pulled the letter back out. “I’m from the Equestrian National Postal Service in Ponyville. And yes, I have an important message regarding her student Twilight Sparkle, and the rest of the element bearers.” He looked the letter over a few times before passing it back to Ditzy. “Well Ditzellia, I can take you to Celestia, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.” He lead the way into the gateway, and Ditzy followed him. “Now stallions! I want you to guard this gate, stay within the archway, and let me know if somepony else needs help.” Three of the four guards saluted as they stood in a row in the gate’s entrance. The unicorn in the group however galloped after the pair as they began walking away from the gate. "Sir, permission to leave my post sir." The captain stopped to look at Shining Armor for a few moments before frowning deeply at him. "Permission denied. We need you here in Canterlot." Shining Armor began to chase after him as Aquilinus and Ditzy continued through the gate. "But sir! My sister is one of the element bearers. Please, what if she needs help?" Aquilinus kept walking as Ditzy followed. "I'm sorry son, but if she's in any sort of danger, I'm afraid that it's beyond anything you could do. Now do like I said, we need you on hoof in case things get worse here to help lead the platoon. Do you understand First Lieutenant?" Shining Armor looked as if he was going to protest before closing his eyes and nodding. "Yes sir, I understand." He then saluted and stood with the rest of the guards. Aquilinus nodded and continued on. As soon as Ditzy and Aquilinus got through to the other side, they heard a yell of surprise and turned around to see the gate moving again, taking the guards with it for a joy ride. The captain shook his head as he continued on, and Ditzy followed him into the castle. “Do you mind if I call you Ditzy for short?” She shook her head as they walked into the grand entryway. “No, I don’t mind.” The guard nodded as he continued to lead the way. “I assume you wanted to speak with Princess Celestia?” “Well, she would know more about Twilight and her friends than Princess Luna, right?” The guard simply nodded as he lead the way down a hall. “You might have to deal with Luna instead. I hope you will understand.” “What’s with all this dramatic tension? Is something wrong with Princess Celestia?” The guard stopped outside the double doors to the throne room, and a repetitive beat seemed to seep out into the hallway. “I think it’s best that you just see this for yourself.” He then threw the doors open, and Ditzy’s jaw dropped at what she saw. The usually calm and reserved Princess Celestia was standing in the middle of the throne room on her hind legs, dancing under a giant disco ball. Her usually flowing mane was done up in a perfect spherical ‘fro. Princess Luna however, was trying desperately to get her attention in any way that she could. “Sister! This is most unbecoming of thee! Halt thine boogie fever!” Celestia ignored Luna, and pushed her away in the face as she kept shaking her tail back and forth. As she did, she was singing her own lyrics along with the song. “I  can dance, I can jive, having the time of my life! See this mare! Watch this scene, diggin' the dancing queen!”