//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 - The Flip of a Coin part 2 // Story: The Foals of Harmony: Equestrian Rhapsody // by Rainy Meadows //------------------------------// Too late, my time has come Sent shivers down my spine Body’s aching all the time Goodbye, everybody, I’ve got to go Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth... “Hello?” Nothing. That was all there was to see, smell and feel, and there wasn’t anything to hear besides the sound of her voice, which echoed off... Nothing. “Is anypony there?” Still there was no reply. She had to be somewhere. She couldn’t have just-just fallen off the map, could she? “I’m here,” said one amazingly welcome voice, which added “Don’t know about the pony bit anymore though.” Twilight turned around, and saw... It was the boy from her dream – Haydon, wasn’t it? Only he was taller, much taller, and he looked considerably older than he had in her dream. He wore some kind of jacket – the same colour as Hex’s coat had been – plus virtually identical glasses, and now she understood exactly why those eyes of his had looked so familiar. “Hex?” she asked cautiously. His face split into a huge, warming smile. “Hey there, Twi,” he said. “Hex!” cried Twilight. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” He knelt down and caught her in his arms, and the two shared a tight, relief-filled embrace. “Well,” he said quietly. “Technically, neither of us are strictly speaking ‘okay’.” “Why?” asked Twilight, looking around. “Where are we?” “Limbo,” said Hex. “Welcome to Nowhere.” It was then that Twilight realised that there was something... off about him. He hadn’t been this solemn when he had seen them off after their first meeting. “Is something wrong?” she asked. “Yes,” said Hex. “You could say that. Tell me; is there a new pony in Ponyville? One that seems to have replaced me?” “Actually, there is-” “What’s he like?” Twilight was confused, but she still told him. “He’s... a pegasus,” she explained. “He’s young – younger than you, at least – and he is got a golden brown coat. His mane is black, with red tips, and his eyes are blue. And I didn’t see much of him, but he was wearing a red top as well. He was kind of a jerk – when I met him he kept hitting on me, and he got really annoyed when I pushed him away. Why? Do you know who he is?” “Yes,” said Hex. “He... “He was my brother, Twilight. My kid brother. And I killed him.” To say that Spike was baffled would have been the understatement of the century. These were the only things he knew: - It felt like there had been another portal storm, but there was no creepy lightning bolt on the other side of the Everfree Forest and no damage, anywhere. - Everypony he spoke to had no idea who Twilight was, and insisted that he lived alone in the library. - It was night time. It was always night time. Why this was, he didn’t have a clue. - And it seemed to have something to do with the gem thing he had found under Twilight’s bed. He took it out again, and began to examine it for the fifteenth time that night. He was extremely glad he hadn’t tried to eat it. ‘Why does nopony remember Twilight?’ he thought. The library was a mess. Spike had never been particularly outstanding when it came to organisation. The place resembled a two-year-old bachelor pad – the type where the garbage isn’t taking out until the pile of bags reaches the ceiling, and you start to suspect there might be something living in there – maybe a family of raccoons which live off half eaten sandwiches and occasionally emerge into the moonlight to search for other things to eat, or invite other woodland creatures into their home. “Maybe Jinx would know something about this,” Spike said out loud. “After all, he’s the one from another world.” “Who?” “Jinx. You know; the pegasus guy?” “Who?” “I’m talking about – aw, forget it.” He walked out into the street as clouds started to boil overhead, rumbling like a bowling alley and flashing like fairy lights. “You remember when the Combine tried to invade Equestria?” asked Hex. “Of course,” said Twilight. “How could I forget? You used me as bait so that you could do a voice thing and scare it off.” “And again, I’m sorry I had to do that,” said Hex. “Do you recall, afterwards, I told you that to actually do the voice thing, I concentrated on a thing that happened when I was ten?” Twilight thought back. “I... I think so,” she said. Hex bowed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “Jasen was eight,” he began. “That was his name – Jasen with an E. Mine was Haydon, with an O: my parents were never very good at spelling. Thick as thieves, we were. We even formed our own amateur magic act: the Amazing Hexjinxi Brothers! “Needless to say, we had our differences. While I was fascinated by space and all its workings, Jasen was more interested in being cool and things like that. On my ninth birthday I got a book on astronomy, and he got a skateboard.” His lips twitched as if he were about to smile. “Shortly before... we both went up to Dad and told him what we wanted to be when we grew up. Jasen said he wanted to be a policeman, just like Dad, and to this day I’ve never seen him so proud. And then I said I wanted to be a bookkeeper. “I’ve never seen Dad so disappointed in all his life.” ‘He needs a hug,’ Twilight thought. She wrapped her hooves around him, and felt him squeeze her back. “Thanks,” he whispered. “Are you okay?” asked Twilight. The teenage human wiped his eyes with a thumb and continued. “I think I should mention here that we had this tradition thing. If we found something unfamiliar, we would flip a coin to decide who would have to investigate. I would always pick tails, and he would choose heads. Occasionally I would use a double-headed coin, just so that it wouldn’t have to be me.” “Hex, that’s terrible!” “Hey, it’s a big brother’s job to lightly torture their younger sibling. I’m guessing you’re an only child?” Twilight thought about this for a moment before saying “You make a valid point, but it still wasn’t very nice.” Hex nodded. “Anyway, we were visiting my cousin Chas, who lived on the coast, and one day I went out looking for a good spot to do some fishing and I saw something, just below the surface of the water. Closer inspection revealed that it was a car – it’s a sort of metal machine thing that we humans use instead of walking. We’re lazy like that. Anyway, I ran back to the house and got Jasen, and we flipped a coin to decide who would investigate. It was one of the times when I didn’t use the double headed coin, because I didn’t want to completely lose his trust. “Also, this time, I picked heads, but it still came down on tails, so Jasen dived in and started to snoop around in the car. He was still inside when-when...” He wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. “The car was balancing on a reef, and Jasen swimming into it had disturbed it. It fell over, and slid down into the sea. “They recovered his body three days later, and they said one of the car seats had come loose and trapped him. I-I haven’t even told Amber about this. You can’t tell anyone, pony or otherwise, okay?” Twilight nodded. “Haydon...” She froze. “What’s that?” she asked. “The guy who’s responsible for this,” said Hex, standing up, “I think he wants a chat.” He turned and started to walk away into the nothingness. “Will you be okay?” asked Twilight. He looked back at her and smiled. “I’m sorry,” he said jokingly, “have we met?” He walked through the silence and emptiness, which floated around him in clouds of non-existence. “Alright, you got me,” he said. “Now would you mind telling me who the smeg you are and what’s going on?” “Well, such language,” said the voice. “Is that any way to talk to a god?” “I apologise, your holiness,” said Hex bitterly, crossing his arms, “but if you hadn’t noticed I’m a little smegged off right now. Do you know how long it took me to get my hair good and stringy for Nightmare Night? And I had to leave before I could properly freak anypony out! Or take a shower, for that matter.” There was a pause, during which his temper continued to rise. “I can see we’re going to get along famously,” said the voice of his captor. “You know,” said Hex, “you sound incredibly like some guy I met in dimension 66. His name was... now I know it was a single letter. M? No, was it T? J? No, he was with MiB in dimension 58. S? No, no, Q! It was definitely Q! Is that you, Q, you cheeky smeghead?” “Who knows?” said the-thing-that-sounded-like-Q, “maybe I could be this ‘Q’ you speak of.” Some... creature appeared in front of Hex. It looked like one of those flipbooks – the ones with the pages cut into strips and different images on each one, so that you could mix them up and have a rabbit’s head on a dog’s boy with budgie’s feet. The head was only vaguely equine, and bore a closer resemblance to that of a goat. Needless to say, the young man was baffled, and he scratched his head in confusion. “Well?” said the thing. “Am I?” “Dude, what the smeg are you?” Hex demanded. “You look like you were made up of spare parts left over from the creation of everything!” “I can tell we’re going to get along famously,” said the creature, walking towards him. “Allow me to introduce myself: I am Discord, spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Hello!” Hex continued scratching his head, baffled. “And would you mind telling me why me and my friend are suddenly literally nowhere?” he asked. “Oh, it’s no big deal,” said Discord, examining his talons in a matter of fact way, “I’ve just borrowed your life for a teensy little while.” “Borrowed my life?” asked Hex, as the chaos god summoned himself a chocolate milk of glass, “what’s that supposed to mean?” Discord finished drinking his glass and threw away the chocolate milk, which upon contact with what should have been the floor did the Mythbuster’s favourite thing. “It’s amazing how the little things can affect life, isn’t it?” he said, circling around Hex. “Why, the smallest object could determine the fate of an entire world; a piece of paper, or a lump of metal... ...like a coin, maybe?” “Hey Jinx, are you here?” “Back here, Spike! Just finishing off this painting!” The brown pegasus was at the back of the shop, adding the finishing touches to a painting of him flying through brilliant red flames, an expression of triumph on his face. He stopped spraying and set the can on the floor. “What do you think?” he asked. “Too much?” Spike wasn’t sure how to respond. “You’re right,” said Jinx, “too little.” He picked up another can and started to add orange streaks to the flames. “Jinx,” Spike said as the pony worked, “what does the word Twilight mean to you?” “Well,” said Jinx, “there’s Twilight the former time of day, Twilight the horrendously terrible book series, Twilight the even more horrendously terrible movies series, Twilight the Buffy character and Twilight the Marvel Comics character. Why d’you ask?” “I meant a pony,” said Spike. “Or rather, a unicorn.” Jinx froze, and looked around slowly. “What are you talking about?” he asked. It was his eyes that gave it away. “You’ve done something, haven’t you?” asked Spike. “What?” “Where’s Twilight? What have you done with her?” Jinx dropped the paint can and started backing away from the infuriated young lizard. “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he said. “I don’t know anypony named Twilight! In case you’ve forgotten, Twilight is a non-existent thing ever since Nightmare Moon took over! What do you want from me?” “I. Want. Twilight. BACK.” By this time, Jinx was huddled right up against the wall, and Spike was leaning over him, their noses almost touching. It was at that moment the pegasus noticed something: “What’s that glittery thing you’re holding?” In his rage Spike had almost forgotten about the gem-thing. He held it in front of him and said “I found it under her bed. Why? Do you know what it is?” Jinx got up, walked over to a box and pulled out an identical arrangement of gems in a golden frame. “This is the Aetherian Heartstone,” he explained. “Amber gave it to me for safekeeping when I left dimension 1.” He looked from the one in his hoof to the one Spike was clutching. “How did-Alright, I’ll tell you everything.” Spike sat cross legged on the floor. “Well,” he said, “I’m waiting.” The brown pegasus sat in front of him, placing the Heartstone between his forelegs. “When I was a human, living on Earth, I had a brother,” he said, “and his name was Haydon. It was spelt with an O, and my name was Jasen with an E: our parents couldn’t spell if their lives depended on it. I was the cool kid, and he was the nerd. Always had a thing about astronomy, he did. “Anyways, we were visiting our cousin Chas when he came to me in the middle of a game of swingball, saying he’d found something that we should check out, and when we got there it turned out it was a car, not far off the beach but far enough to be completely underwater.” “What’s a car?” “It’s like a metal machine that humans use because sometimes it’s too far to walk. But I digress: we flipped a coin to see who would investigate it. I was a little confused because Haydon picked heads instead of tails like he normally did, but I had been wondering if he was using a double headed coin, so that cleared things up. It landed on tails, and I had to investigate the car. “There wasn’t really anything very interesting in there besides loads and loads of seawater and a bit of sand, but I thought I saw something poking out from underneath one of the seats, so naturally I dived down to see what it was, but before I could get a proper look the car tipped to one side, the seat came loose and I was trapped underneath it. “I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. I knew in that moment that I was going to die. And then I heard this voice – it sounded like it was right next to me – and it said ‘Jasen, you don’t have to die here. I can take you away, and you can live your life to the fullest.’ I agreed, and then suddenly it was me standing on the jetty, and it was Haydon in the water. “There wasn’t anything I could do. I remember feeling like my world had just ended. And there was this-this thing standing next to me, watching the car slip away, and it said ‘Not to worry, I was never here. You don’t have to remember me’. They recovered Haydon’s body three days later, and I remember thinking it could just have easily have been me. But I never remembered what actually happened until now.” “What does any of this have to do with Twilight?” Spike demanded, getting impatient. “She reminded me,” said Jinx. “She made me remember what I did! And now you’ve gone and done the same!” “So what?” asked Spike. “You’re gonna erase me from history as well?” “No, and Twilight wasn’t ‘erased’,” said Jinx. “It doesn’t work like that: tell me, was there ever a time when she could have died?” Spike thought about this for a moment. There were quite a lot of times when Twilight had put herself in danger, but only one in particular sprang to mind that explained why it was night-time. “Well,” he said, “there was the time, not long after we came to Ponyville, when Twilight and the others set out to find the Elements of Harmony-” “They told me about that,” said Jinx. “Rainbow Dash told me when she was helping me clean up the place (after she crashed into it) that when they found her, Nightmare Moon had smashed the Elements and that unicorn – who you say was called Twilight – was dead. Nightmare Moon had killed her. I guess everypony just moved on and forgot.” Spike was stunned. Twilight... dead? “Are you gonna tell me how to bring her back?” he demanded, as more thunder rumbled outside and lightning illuminated the stormy night sky. Jinx sat quietly, looking thoughtful, if only for a moment. “I have an idea,” he said, “but I suggest we go back to the library: there’s a lot of valuable stuff in here that I’d rather not damage.” “One other thing before we go,” said Spike as they stood up, “what’s with the storms? Don’t you have weather ponies anymore?” “If you mean Rainbow Dash, nopony’s seen her for months,” Jinx explained as they stepped out into the wild weather. "There’s this rumour going around that she tried to save somepony but failed, and she hasn’t come out of her house in absolutely ages.” He looked out at the seething skies, which began to lash them with sideways rain. “If this Twilight’s really as good as you think,” he said, “then we seriously need to get a move on.” “Well, I found out how I came to be here,” said Hex as he sat down. “Do tell,” said Twilight. “I told you about the coin flipping thing,” said the human, “and it turns out that in the new timeline, the coin came down heads instead of tails, and it was me that drowned in that car.” “That would explain why Jinx replaced you,” said Twilight. There was a slightly awkward pause, in which both of them waited for the other to talk. “I don’t blame him,” said Hex eventually. “What do you mean?” “My brother for wanting to live: I don’t blame him. I know that if I was eight years old and about to die, I would have done anything – anything – to live a little longer. Also, he did it because that Discord bloke sorted it out for him.” “Wait, wha- DISCORD?” “Yeah, you know him?” “Know him?” Twilight had never been more astounded in all her life. Discord? HIM?! Of all the- “He stole the Elements of Harmony and tried to take over Equestria! He almost destroyed our friendship! Applejack became a chronic liar, Pinkie became a total grump, Rarity hoarded a boulder she thought was a giant diamond and named it Tom, Fluttershy was really cruel and Rainbow Dash abandoned us! And worst of all, he got to me and I have never felt so alone in my entire life. EVER!” Hex was quiet for a moment following this outburst. “I think I get the picture,” he said. “Oh smeg.” “What?” “I just realised something,” said Hex, his expression quickly transitioning from one of comprehension to one of outright panic. “What’s Rainbow Dash’s main job in the weather patrol?” Twilight thought about this for a second. “Well, mostly she just clears away unwanted clouds-” she began. “And what do you call it when there’re loads and loads of backed-up weather with nopony with the ability of Rainbow Dash able to handle it?” Realisation struck the purple unicorn like a tonne of bricks. “Really, really dangerous!” “Exactly!” said Hex, as he leapt to his feet and started pacing, waving his hands in the air around the level of his head. “Rainbow finds that pegasus on the cloud, she takes him back to her place, only I’m not there to give her medical supplies and he dies without her being able to do anything about it. Chances are that with her sense of loyalty she wouldn’t get over it very quickly – she’d probably become a complete recluse – and the weather gets backed up over as many months, and before you know it-” “Ponyville is at the epicentre of a perfect megastorm!” Twilight finished for him. “WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!” they both shouted together. It took a few seconds for that particular vocal phenomenon to sink in, and when it did Hex came out with “That was smegging weird” and this gem of wisdom was followed by another, even more awkward silence. “What can we do?” Twilight asked eventually. “We are trapped – literally – in the middle of nowhere, and the only thing with the power to get us out of here is an insane god of chaos.” Hex slowly walked over to her and sat down again, crossing his legs as if he were an obedient schoolboy. “This is one of those times when I think ‘What would Amber do?’” he said. “Knowing her, something completely insane: she’d probably charge in screaming and kick something in the face. And if it didn’t have a face, she’d find one to kick it in, and if she still couldn’t find a face she’d kick it somewhere else. Or punch it, depending on what mood she’s in.” “Wow.” Twilight couldn’t help but be impressed. “Was she really like that?” The teenage boy’s face, despite the circumstances, split into a wide smile, which the purple unicorn considered was actually rather cute. “Yes,” he said, “yes she was. If something wasn’t going her way... let’s just say she’d make sure it was. I recall when we were cornered by a troop of Daleks in dimension 63 – they’re these sort of cyborg thingies with eyes on the ends of stalks – and it was lucky for both of us that Amber had a pack of chewing gum and a paintball gun. Where they came from, I still don’t know. She was kinda like Pinkie in that respect. Another time, she realised she was outnumbered, so instead of fighting back she ducked every attack and made the bad guys hit each other.” At this point, he leapt to his feet and started enthusiastically acting out the scene. “I’ve never seen anyone move so fast!” he cried, and Twilight couldn’t help but laugh. “One of them tried to punch her, so she ducked like this and he hit one of his mates! Then another tried to grab her, but she hit the floor like this and slid between his legs like this! Then she jumped up, ‘coz another tried to kick her, and ended up booting his mate right in the nuts!” By this time, his lavender friend was laughing uncontrollably. “It was HILARIOUS! Then she jumped up, and backflipped over two more, and they headbutted each other ‘coz they were both going for her at the same time! I told Justin he shouldn’t have been worried-” “Wait a minute,” said Twilight. “Who’s Justin?” “Amber’s boyfriend,” said Hex. “Well, husband now, but- hang on. Did you think Amber was my girlfriend?” “Honestly,” Twilight said, “yes.” “Our relationship was more of a ‘best friend’ type thing,” Hex explained. “She had a little brother and sister, but they were only kids and kinda immature. I guess I was kinda like a brother to her – a guy friend who was slightly more than a guy friend without it being... you know.” Twilight had to force herself not to sigh in relief. “You must miss her,” she pointed out. “Every day,” said Hex. “She was the first real friend I ever had apart from Jasen. But we keep in touch. I send her a letter every second month to let her know how I’m doing, and she sends a reply every other month. It’s this little routine we have. Or should I say had?” Another slightly awkward pause. “Hex?” “Yes, Twi?” ‘How am I supposed to do this?’ Twilight thought. ‘Do I just... come out and tell him? Do I work it into the conversation, just dropping hints here and there? Should I tell him at all?’ “What’s wrong?” asked Hex. “I know my human shape must be a bit unnerving to you, but you should know by now that I’m still the same old Hex. You know you can tell me anything.” Her heart leapt at these words. ‘That’s it,’ she thought, ‘I have to tell him.’ “I...” She struggled to get the words out. “I kinda have a cr-” FWOOSH. And just like that, she was gone. “Twilight?!” Hex shouted in alarm. “TWILIGHT!!” He sat down, and in a despondent voice added “I never got a chance to tell you...” Had anypony been watching Ponyville’s library at that moment, they would have seen the windows glow briefly, as an explosion of light rocked the hollow tree, and they would also have potentially heard two loud thumps coming from within. As the metaphorical dust began to settle, Spike and Jinx forcibly detached themselves from the bookcases, both still clutching their respective Heartstones. “Did it...” Spike struggled to get the words out. “Did it work?” “Did what work?” The baby dragon’s face lit up like the sun and he zoomed over to embrace the speaker. “TWILIGHT!” he cried joyfully. “I’m so glad you’re back!” Twilight was stunned speechless. One second she had been talking to Hex, trapped in the middle of nowhere, and now- “Wow.” Oh, great. “Are you Twilight?” asked Jinx, pulling himself to his hooves and walking over to her. “Course you are. I don’t know how I managed to forget you. You’re... dammit, you’re hot.” Rather than talking, Twilight pulled back a forehoof and slammed it into the side of his face with as much speed and force as she could muster. He fell to the floor, rubbing his face and staring at her in shock. “What did you do that for?” he demanded. “Firstly because I’m sick and tired of you hitting on me all the time!” Twilight shouted. “You’re the LAST kind of pony I would want to date! And second, because of your selfishness you’ve put the whole of Ponyville in jeopardy! Maybe even the whole of Equestria!” “What are you-?” “BECAUSE of you,” Twilight shouted him down as he tried to reply, “Rainbow Dash isn’t taking part in weather control anymore! Aren’t you wondering about this massive storm?” She indicated outside, where the sky was just as dark as it had been before due to the thick layers of rumbling, crackling cloud. “And now Ponyville will most likely be destroyed because you made that stupid mistake!” “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I swear!” “You don’t know what I’m talking about?” By this time, the purple unicorn was livid and almost glowing with irrepressible rage. “You don’t remember the choice you made? To switch places and have your brother die instead of you? I’ve never known anypony to be so selfish in all my life!” “I WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD!” Jinx shouted, so loud that the glass in the windows rattled. “AND I WAS DYING! WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE IF IT WAS YOU, TWILIGHT? WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?!” The atmosphere in the library became suddenly still, the only sound being the rumble of thunder and occasional crackle of lightning. “I’m sorry, Jasen,” said Twilight, deciding that she may as well use his real name, “but you were meant to die.” “Meant to?!” cried Jinx. “In what way was I meant to die? I was only a kid!” “Didn’t I just say I was sorry?” asked the purple unicorn. She pointed out the window and said “Look out there! It’s absolute chaos! And if there’s enough chaos Discord will be able to return! So what’s it going to be, Jasen? Are you going to let Equestria be destroyed, or-” “I GET IT, ALRIGHT?!” Jinx bellowed. “If I die, my brother comes back and everything’s a-okay!” He sighed. “Look,” he said. “It’s not the dying that bothers me. It’s that... what would Haydon think of me? I don’t think I’d be able to face him if I-” “He forgives you, Jasen,” said Twilight. “He said so himself. He doesn’t blame you for what you did.” The teenage pegasus wiped a hoof across his nose, before smearing it on his bright red top. “How can you be so sure?” he asked. “I’m pretty sure you don’t know him like I do. You can’t know what it was like to be with him.” “No,” said Twilight, and then added: “But I think I’m starting to.” It wasn’t that Hex could hear the voice, per se – it was like seeing a picture of a famous celebrity, like Morgan Freemane, and automatically reading any text next to it in his/her voice. You just want to shout “GET THE SMEG OUT OF MY BRAIN!!!” or at least something similar. ‘I wonder what it would be like to have my life narrated by Morgan Freemane,’ said one of the random thoughts that crossed the boy’s mind every other minute or so. ‘I bet it would be awesome. That guy has the kind of voice you want to hear narrating everything. Heh, I wonder what it would be like if he narrated Pinkie Pie’s life...’ He considered this for a moment or two, before laughing so hard that he rolled around on the not-floor, gasping for air, clutching his sides and wiping his eyes with his thumb. Once he had finished laughing, it started again. “That was one of the most interesting thoughts I’ve ever seen,” said the voice of Discord. “Like I said before, I can tell we’re going to get along famously.” “Look, will you just keep out of my brain?” asked Hex, and felt like a complete numpty (and made a note never to introduce that word to Pinkie) for speaking to nothing. “My head, my thoughts. That’s how it goes.” “Interesting.” “What?” “Do you often talk without moving your lips?” Hex smacked a palm into his forehead. Of course, the smegging telepathy! How could he have forgotten? “Occasionally,” he said in his mind. “I am a god of chaos over 1000 years old,” Discord stated plainly, “which means that if I want it to happen, there’s a good chance it will. Care for a chocolate milk of glass?” “No thanks,” said Hex, “but I think I’ve found a way to keep you out of my head.” His face split into a grin which could rival a dairy farmer for cheesiness as he lay back with his hands behind his head. He could feel the Draconequus prying around in the deep depths of his thoughts, and grinned even wider at what was to come. “No,” said Discord desperately, when he saw what the boy was planning. “Not that! ANYTHING BUT THAT!” Now Hex’s smile was nothing short of evil. “About three things I was absolutely positive,” he quoted inside his mind. “First, Edward was a vampire.” “MAKE IT STOP!” “Second, there was a part of him – and I didn’t know how potent that part might be – that thirsted for my blood.” “THE PAIN! IT BURNSSSSS USSS!!” “And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.” There it was. That was the deal sealer. Hex felt all traces of the chaos god leave his mind as he curled up into a fresh bout of laughter. That was what happened when you use telepathy to insert quotes from the worst love story ever written into the mind of a god, and brand them there forever. ‘He’ll never get it out of his head!’ Hex squealed internally. ‘That was way more fun than when I did that thing for Sheogorath in dimension 16.’ ‘I kinda miss Twilight already. Not that crappy thing I was quoting, but... that incredible mare. Or is she a filly? Never been certain about these things. What is she; 17? A bit younger or older, maybe?’ ‘But whatever she is, she’s just...’ He never got a chance to finish that thought. At that moment, he felt like he was being pulled downwards by a rope tied around his lower intestine. It was an extremely strange and uncomfortable feeling, and one he was not in a hurry to experience again. Nothingness rushed past him at the speed of light. It was mostly white, but here and there it was streaked with colours – a blue here, a red there, a rather sickly shade of green over to the right – and in the colours there were... Faces? And one, in particular, caught the young man’s attention. This was a blotch of strong, vibrant red. An unforgettable face was imprinted upon it – that of an innocent young boy with blue eyes and brown hair. Hex reached out to touch it as it zoomed past, seeing that his fingers were becoming brown and furry and retreating into his wrist. “I’ll never forget you, Jasen,” he said out loud. And then, just like that, he was back. When the glow died down, Twilight took her foreleg away from her eyes and her face lit up in joy. “HEX!” she cried, and tackled him to the ground in a tight embrace. “Whoa, affection overload,” said Hex, and carefully pulled her off him. “What happened?” “We touched both the Heartstones together,” Twilight explained. “It’s how Spike and Jinx brought me back. I just touched the one you gave me to Jinx’s and thought of you. It wasn’t that hard.” “Touching the Heartstones together or thinking of me?” asked Hex, and before Twilight could answer he got up and said “It’s a beautiful day!” in a suspicious tone and started to leave. “I thought he’d be happier,” Spike stated simply. The purple unicorn found him seated outside, admiring the admittedly gorgeous weather. “Rainbow Dash certainly isn’t letting her situation get in the way of her weather jobs,” said Hex. “Hex-” “I mean, you gotta give the girl credit.” “Hex-” “You know, while I was in limbo I think I drove a chaos god insane-” “HEX!” That got his attention. He turned around with an innocently inquisitive expression on his furry brown face, which fell as he saw his friend and he said “I know what you’re going to say, Twilight, so just get it over with.” “Why didn’t you tell anypony about your brother?” Twilight asked. “How would you feel if you were in my horseshoes?” said Hex. “How would you feel if you were responsible for Spike’s death? I know he’s sorta like your little brother.” “I’d feel guilty, sure,” said Twilight, placing a comforting hoof on his shoulder. “But you should learn to forgive yourself, Hex. Otherwise you’re just gonna be stuck in the same bubble for the rest of your life. And anyway... “Jasen didn’t blame you for anything.” His green eyes penetrated her purple ones, and sparkled as he smiled. Twilight then found herself pressed against his body, his hooves wrapped tightly around her in a comforting embrace. “You have no idea how much that means to me,” he said quietly. Twilight said nothing. She simply returned the hug, as the security of their friendship began to slowly grow stronger. NEXT TIME: Breakaway "Dude, you gotta listen to me. It's more important than anything!" “I... I remember everything.” “You remember me?” “What’re you going to do now I'm back?” “I don’t know. I- honestly, I’d never even thought about it.” Author's Note: Okay, I'm not entirely sure if that's how weather really works, but even so I have to say that Hex's Twilight quoting scene was the most fun I've ever had while writing. And I've been writing for a while. I wasn't too sure how to present this story - I feel like this particular chapter may have been a bit rushed - but I'll leave that to you, the reader, to decide. Let me know what you think in the comments below; give clap2times a comment buddy, I think he's starting to get a little lonely!