//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Bringing it Together // Story: Succession // by The Void //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Bringing it together Above Ponyville The news of the apprentice soon spread to all of Ponyville. Much like a virus, it changed everypony who caught wind of it. Some found it great, some found it puzzling while the rest knew they had to be the apprentice. The chance to train under Twilight Sparkle, the mare who frequently saved Equestria, was just too good to pass up. They could have been walking side by side with some of the most important ponies in history. Naturally, all this gossip reached the ears of the delightfully chaotic being that called Ponyville its home. Unseen by the ponies below, or so he believed, he floated as a cotton candy cloud over them all. "An apprentice," he said thoughtfully "That's not a bad idea." In a flash he returned to his true form; That of a miss mash of creatures. The Draconequus watched as all the residence of the town spoke of ponies for the apprentice. Various names popped up. Brave Heart, Featherweight, Rumble, But none were particularly interesting to the being of chaos. Indeed, Discord was coming up with his own plan. He drummed his claws on his chin. It could work. Why not? Twilight could always use his help when looking for an apprentice. Why doesn't he scout? But where to go first? *** Ponyville Arcade The sounds of battles raging, monsters screaming and heroes becoming victorious littered the air. Fillies and Colts looked on in wonder as the stallion who lead the charge won the day again. They cheered for him, hoping that one day, by some miracle from the heavens, that they too...would beat Doom Mare 4 and receive the glory of 100% completion. The earth pony known by all as Button Mash, looked over them in pride. His natural talent for games had started when he was a colt, it had even earned him a joystick for a cutie mark. Beside him stood the heir to his throne of games, Bit Mash. The two siblings were alike in so many ways. Both had the uncanny ability to pick up a fictional language better than maths and b oth were under the impression that the other did not know about the being known as ‘The Stache’. "Go forth warriors," Button Mash declared, "and defeat the villains you come across with a strong heart and an open mind." He moved away from the cabinet he had been at, preparing his best leader voice. "Do it...for the XP!" The whole arcade erupted into cheers. Button Mash was probably the only fully grown pony who would encourage more video games. Why not? After all, they were fun and it brought young ponies together. Off they all went, to battle whatever forces stood in their way. Bit Mash herself decided to give Doom Mare 4 a go. The title screen was considered to be just a small taste of things to come. Bit Mash put in a single bit. The title crashed down into itself with a sinister laugh playing in the background. The laugh reached the ears of her older brother, who looked on, ready to support Bit Mash's journey to stop the forces of Tartarus. The Doom Mare 4 logo vanished but the laughing did not. A glitch? Bit Mash began pushing every button she could before the laughing finally subsided. A new image began to fade onto the screen. Button Mash stared at it intensely. He had played Doom Mare 4 dozens of times and this hadn't happened once. "That was quite a speech," an eccentric voice rang out from the speakers. "What is your name?" Bit Mash's eyes widened as she stared at her brother. Button Mash was as confused as her. "My name is Button Mash," he said, the confidence fluctuating in his voice. "Button Mash, that has a nice ring to it," it said. The image became clear. "I must remember that name for later." The two Mashes could only watch in half wonder, half caution, as Discord burst forth from their screen. He glanced over at the arcade machines. He was sure some the games were based on him. Button Mash looked up at the Draconequus, wondering what brought him so far from his favourite group of ponies. "What?" the only thing Button Mash could think to say. It wasn't everyday that you met Discord. "Oh don't mind me, I'm just doing some scouting." Discord bent down to examine Button Mash, his voice reaching a sly tone. "Of course I'll need to be sure, can't just get any old pony you-." "Scouting?" Bit Mash interrupted. Discord had gotten the attention of every colt and filly in the arcade. Fine by him, just meant scouting could go faster. "Yes, scouting," he replied "As you know, Princess Twilight is looking for some lucky pony to be her apprentice." The arcade gasped in unison. Discord moved to the centre of the arcade, everypony was watching his movements. They had heard tales of his powers, been told of the day he took over and how Fluttershy turned him good but to be in the presence of such a being, it was astonishing. Truth be told, Discord was loving every bit of the attention he was getting. He should have done this years ago. "Really?" piped up a small blue unicorn. Discord lent into the, now very nervous, pony. "Why yes," he smirked "perhaps she'll choose one of you. Who's to-" Every part of Discord twitched, a massive spasm shook his body. Then, as suddenly as it came it vanished. Bit Mash stepped forward. "Are you okay ?" she asked, becoming unfazed by the large, multi-species creature. "Oh that happens sometimes." Discord smiled at her innocent face "It does mean however, something is off." None could have missed his twitching. "If I were you, I'd be quite careful around here. Something has made the world out of balance." Like the Cheshire cat, he began to dissolve into nothing. "Be careful not to trip." His laugh filled the arcade. Button Mash stood firm by his sister. The laughter faded and the being of chaos was no more, leaving the arcade silent. Only the arcade machines dared to make a sound. Button took one deep breath and readied himself for an adult decision. "You ponies stay here and play, I'll be right back," He announced to the arcade. An adult decision; to go off and find the disturbance without telling a higher authority. Sounded about right. "One more thing," Discord appeared on the Doom Mare 4 screen once more, shining on in its bleak demo run. "If you want to be Twilight's apprentice, I'd act fast if I were you." Discord smirked before vanishing again. Button Mash shook off Discord's words and looked on to his sister. "Listen Bit," he said. Bit stood at attention. "I need you to head the arcade while I'm gone." With a firm, if rushed, plan he was about to head out when Bit Mash bonked him on the nose. She gestured around the arcade. All of the ponies had gone, rushed off to try out for the apprenticeship. So much for the adult decision. Oh well, they never helped anyway. On to the practical thing to do. On to gathering friends to help. Button Mash gestured for Bit to follow him. "Where are we going?" asked Bit. "I'm gonna need help," Button replied, not really paying attention "I need a pony who will be wise and strong in my quest." "Quest?" "I'll need...an actor." Button declared. He ran out the arcade, Bit Mash trying to keep up with. Button was going to find the cause of the disharmony and then bravely make up the rest as he went. He wouldn't be doing it alone though. Bit rolled her eyes. Sometimes she had to wonder who was really more mature. Button stopped in his tracks. "I have a better plan." Button smirked "You had a plan?" asked a very confused Bit Mash "I'll go fetch Pip Squeak," he continued, unfazed. "I need you to find any pony that can help us find the imbalance and recruit them for the mission." "I'm just going to go get some help?" Bit Mash yelled at the speck that was once her brother. With a hastily put together plan he was off. Leaving Bit Mash to find the rare ponies who did not go off to see the Princess before completely ignoring Button Mash's words and simply following him. *** Ponyville Theatre The place where ponies took on new lives and experiences, all in the name of entertainment. The theatre itself was fairly new to the town. It was made four years ago for a Nightmare Night special performance. Afterwards everypony decided to keep it around. It had its actors, its crew, its writers, all while being in the comfort of a small town. On that day only two ponies were in the theatre, practising for upcoming plays. On centre stage was the spotted earth pony, Pip Squeak. The lights were on him. He looked out into the empty audience. Being on a stage had earned him his theatre mask cutie mark long ago. "Tis I!" Pip Squeak bellowed "The great and powerful Tirek." The power in his voice drained away. "Not very subtle is it?" he turned to his friend off stage. Dinky Doo was providing her usual support for him. Pip Squeak had known the grey unicorn since their days in school. She always walked with him to get home, despite the fact that her house was in the other direction. She smiled sheepishly. "Maybe we can ask Play Wright to change it?" "Where is she anyway?" "Probably taking care of a few things." It was at that moment fate decided to have a sense of timing, as Play Wright the purple pony pushed passed through the doors with a pow and passed out in the presence of her friends. It happened so quickly that neither Dinky nor Pip could react in time. What could you say to that? Did you bring a pillow? Dinky went to Play's side and levitated some of Pip's water over her head. Slowly she turned the glass so that the water lovingly poured onto her face but only enough to wake her. After Play got to her hooves again she calmed herself down. She had the tendency to get very excited about stuff without thinking them through. This had earned her the cutie mark of a quill in the shape of an exclamation point. Dinky put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. Once the unicorn's breathing was back to normal so gestured for the two to come closer. Dinky and Pip shared a quick glance before accepting the gesture. "Princess Twilight is looking for somepony," Play Wright whispered, dramatics being a weakness of hers. "We need to get to her castle as soon as possible. The fate of Ponyville hangs in the balance." Silence filled the grand theatre. The news sank in to the ponies' very souls. Their hearts skipped a beat as they thought about the weight of Play Wright's words. At least that was what Play Wright thought. In reality Pip and Dinky were just curious. "Who told you this?" asked Dinky, trying not to sound like she was doubting Play. "It's all over town. I'm surprised you two haven't heard about it already." she replied. Before Pip could give his thoughts on this, two ponies ran through the hole that used to have the door in it. Stood panicking, and stealing Play's spotlight, was Pip's friend Button Mash and sister Bit. Play sighed. "I've already told them about the apprentice thing." "Thing. In. Forest" Button said, breath barely being caught at this point. Bit slowed her breathing down and approached Pip and the gang. Once again, she would have to do the talking. *** Above Apple Aches Having successfully told the CMC with only a little destruction caused, Scootaloo was on her way to actually talk to Twilight about it. Down on the ground, many ponies were still chatting about the apprentice scheme. Honestly at this point it seemed like everypony knew but hadn't actually managed to talk to Twilight about it. Logic had taken somewhat of a holiday. Timing had not though as a light grey stallion crashed into her. It took but a second for Scootaloo to compose herself. She recognised the stallion as Rumble. He looked distracted. "Going somewhere Rumble?" She couldn't help but smile a little. "Depends where Grey Fox is." Rumble focused on Scootaloo "He was suppose to be back from Manehattan today but he's nowhere to be see". "Maybe he took a later train." "No" Rumble quickly shook off that idea "He was flying back. Said it would be easier. Never did get that." Scootaloo thought for a moment. If Grey Fox was going for the quickest route, and was running on low sense, then his journey would have took him past- "You don't think he got lost around Everfree forest do you?" Rumble asked. Scootaloo forgot about Twilight in that moment. She swiftly grabbed Rumble and flew across to the entrance of the forest. In a split second Rumble's face went from distracted to knowing exactly where Scootaloo was taking them both. *** Outside Diamond Tiara’s Home By this point, Diamond Tiara had made it home. While she had heard of the news, she couldn't care less. Her only goal at that point was to be alone with her thoughts for a while. A day of nostalgia for her and Silverspoon seemed like the best option to take. “Diamond Tiara!” came a voice in the distance. He was persistent, she had to give him that at least. Still, if she went inside her house, he would just keep knocking until she spoke to him. Best to get it over with so she could be left in peace for while. “Thanks for waiting,” the stallion said, out of breath. “Make it quick Snips,” Diamond sighed. “Have you heard the news about Twilight’s-” “-Yes,” Diamond snapped. “Did you come all the way here just to tell me that?” Snips looked down at the ground. “I thought you could be her apprentice.” A strange new aura turned the air cold and Diamond was just stood there, a million different sarcastic remarks running through her mind. When Snips looked up and saw Diamond’s expression, a glare that would take down the most strong willed of Minotaurs met him. “You don’t notice much do you?” said a new, sly voice. The two ponies turned to see Discord floating nearby, popcorn in one claw and camera in the other. A small mouse was peering up at him, too scared to move. Diamond Tiara and Snips whipped their heads around. They were at the entrance to Everfree forest. The trees made a row that almost beckoned them to enter. It beckoned them to challenge the creatures that were inside. “What did you do?” asked Diamond. Discord folded his arms. “Take a wild guess.” “But why did you-” Diamond Tiara’s approaching rant was interrupted by the gargled screech of whatever was now calling the forest its home. The mouse hurried away. A wise mouse. Before Snips and Diamond Tiara could follow it, they found themselves floating up towards Discord’s level. “Let me explain.” He began.