by neorenamon
"Has anypony heard from Apple Buster?!" asked Twilight through the fog.
"I can barely hear myself processing!" grumbled Ratchet.
"I hope she's alright out there!"
"I'm sure she's trying to get back to us right now!" said Bulkhead.
"This fog... there's something magical to it!"
"This magic stuff is really hard to compute!" complained Jazz.
"My mane is getting soaked!" compained Rare Seeker.
"I'm sure it's not doing my circuits any good either!" agreed Bumblebee.
"And the fog can hide something SPOOKY and SCARY!" goaded Rainbow Bolt.
"Quit it, Rainbow!" snapped Twilight, "That didn't help before and it's not helping now!"
"Can't you whip up some magic mumbo jumbo spell to make the fog go away?!"
"Don't you think I've tried spells already?!"
"I do love some good old chaos," whispered somepony in Twilight's ear.
"WHO SAID THAT?!" she called out.
"Who said what?!" replied Rainbow.
"Hey!" cried Rare Seeker, "This fog! It's getting me all sticky and sweet! GROSS!"
"MMM!!" yelled Pinkie Maximus, "It's COTTON CANDY FOG!!"
"Prime!" called Ratchet, "This stuff is getting into my joints! I'm having trouble moving!"
"That seems to be the case for all of us!" replied Twilight.
"MMM!!" moaned Pinkie, "This is so good!! I can't get enough!!"
"Okay, ALMOST all of us!"
"I'm glad that one of you is enjoying yourselves," said the mystery voice in Twilight's ear.
"Discord!" she hissed, "What are you trying to get from this?!"
"Oh, I'm just amusing myself by delaying your little band of heroes," replied Discord as he appeared next to Twilight. Of course, he was unaffected by the cotton candy fog he had created.
"Still playing Nightmare Moon's little errand pony?" she asked him pointedly.
"As long as it amuses me, I'll play along with their little plan."
"Will you still be amused once she slaps you in her dungeon?!"
Discord chuckled as he replied, "Oh, I promise you it won't ever get that far. I have my own plans for that stuck up little Princess."
"So you're still going to get back for making you a statue for more than 1,000 years? I think I can still smell the pigeon droppings on you."
Discord sniffed himself as he replied, "You're just making that up, aren't you?"
"We can help you defeat Nightmaretron."
"Why?" he asked, "So you can save your precious little sun Princess? Don't think I've given up on the notion of getting even with her too."
"Celestia only does what she feels is right for the majority of ponies," replied Twilight, "For the greater good."
Discord sniffed as he replied, "What about MY greater good?"
"Celestia didn't have a choice," she replied, "She can't babysit you every minute! You just can't help but mess with others!"
"But why wait 1,000 years?"
"Because shortly after Nightmare Moon rebelled, Celestia had to use the Elements on her to imprison her in the moon!" retorted Twilight, "She lost control of the Elements, and therefore lost the ability to revive you from your stone prison!"
"So are you saying you would have used the Elements to help me?!"
"Well, once Nightmare Moon was dealt with, I was going to add that to my list of things to do."
"Are you saying you care about me?!" he asked as he leaned closer.
"I care about every pony," she replied, "even you."
"Do you think that because you could be nice to me, I'll turn soft and cuddly?"
"Maybe if you were nicer," she retorted, "You might have some friends."
"So I'll make a deal," he replied, "The candy fog should dissipate in about an hour or so. Then you'll be free to continue. But then you'll have a choice to make: Save Celestia, punish Nightmare Moon or become my friend. Think about it." He vanished in a flash of light.
"Peachy," muttered Twilight.
"No cotton candy!" replied Pinkie. Twilight could hear her munching away now.
"Hey!" called Ratchet, "I think the noise dampening problem has cleared up!"
"I have it... on somewhat good word... that we'll be out of this candy fog in one hour!"
"Who told you that?!" asked Rainbow.
"Discord said it," she replied.
"And you believe him?!"
"Yes," replied Twilight, "because I think he's planning to test my intentions."
"I hate tests..."
...
Uncle Strudel and Apple Buster crossed the rope bridge, and soon a cave came into view just as he predicted.
"Well dear," said Uncle Strudel as he glanced over his shoulder, "We're almost there. Ah can feel it in mah bones."
"If'n y'all says so," replied Apple Buster distantly.
"Aren't ya pleased that the family is about ta be rich ferever?"
"Well ah guess that's nice an all," she replied, "but ah feel like ah've abandoned mah friends."
"Ya well know that family always come first," he said as he walked into the cave.
"Ah reckon so," she replied as she followed him. The cave didn't seem to be as dark as she expected. It seemed that tiny crystals imbedded in the stone seemed to glow softly with some kind of inner light. While it wasn't bright enough to read by, it was just enough to see where they were going.
"Ins't this interesting?"
"Well it does seem like an odd place to hide treasure an all." she replied as she looked about.
"As long as no one came here to look, it doesn't seem so strange to me."
"Ah guess so."
"Oh cheer up my dear," he said as he glanced back again, "Things'll look great once you're rich."
"Ah never thought that just havin money fer the sake'ah having money was what mattered..."
"But you have to think of more than yerself and yer immediate kinfolk," he said as he trotted up to a corner, "Do ya think when Big Macintosh gets his own wife, he ain't gonna want to go off ta his own farm?"
"No no," she replied, "Why would he ever wanna leave Sweet Apple Acres?"
"Or perhaps you might want to have your own farm when you get married, my dear?"
She paused as she never seriously thought about marriage before. As the older brother, Big Macintosh would run the farm once Granny Smith passed away. He might not want her husband or her own foals around once he settled down and start his own family. The same would well apply to Apple Bloom as well. The house would be quite crowded once two families were living there, and construction of a second house would well take up valuable growing space.
"Ah'm sure that some stallion has caught yer fancy by now?" he asked as he glanced over his shoulder.
"No," she replied, "There ain't no stallions in mah life."
"Oh you're young, healthy and attractive," he said with a smirk, "Ah'm sure that some stallion will coming knocking for you soon enough."
She smiled nervously. It seemed odd that he had never mentioned the farm or marriage to her before.
"Oh my," he said, "I do think I see something ahead... something golden."
The crystals in the wall seemed to grow even larger as they moved along. Light seemed to grow brighter as she saw the gleam from a gold hinged wooden chest come into her view.
"Wait," she said, "what'll we do if it's locked?"
"Well you buck apples for a living," he replied, "How hard can it be?"
"What if the chest has some kinda curse on it?"
"Oh, you know curses are just fables to scare the foals away," he chuckled as he walked closer.
"Ah... ah can't help feelin mah friends are needin me..."
"We're almost there," he replied, "I'm sure that riches are just a kick away."
She caught up to Strudel until they were next to the chest. They walked slight around it until a large crude padlock came into view. Even the lock was gold plated. Turning around nervously, she kicked at the lock and cleanly broke it off from it. The lid flipped open and even looking away, she could see the glow of all the gold she would surely see once she turned around.
"We're filthy rich my dear," he giggled as she turned around.
The chest was indeed full to the brim not only with gold bits, but also all manner of gems, jewels and various forms of jewelry.
"All your dreams are about to come true," he whispered.
She began to sniffle.
"My," he said, "just look at how happy you are."
Tears began to leak from her eyes.
"With riches, you don't need anyone else."
"NO!!" she cried, "Ah can't be happy without mah FRIENDS!!" She bolted for the cave opening.
"Well well," he said as he watched her go, "Maybe there's more to you than meets the eye." The gold chest vanished as he started to laugh. "It seems I've given you something to think about as well as kept me amused for a little while." Then he vanished as well.