//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Beyond the Portal II: Flames of War // by Firestar463 //------------------------------// “Achoo!” Kyle glared over at Discord as the Draconequus sneezed once more. Kyle hadn’t let him out of his sight since he had caught up with Twilight and Cadence. He had to admit, Discord did act sick, even though Kyle’s Detox hadn’t detected anything wrong. The sneezing, the coughing, the constant need for a fresh tissue… Just while waiting for Twilight to finish fluffing the pillows, Kyle had already had to empty the wastebasket of used tissues “There. All done,” Twilight finally said. The pillow that hovered in her magical grasp floated over and came to rest gently at the head of the bed. Almost instantly, the blue Draconequus had squirmed his way into the bed, curling his serpentine body up to fit it into the frame that would otherwise be too small for him. As soon as he was settled in, Cadence lit up her horn, and the sheets flew up to cover him. By this point, Kyle could tell that Twilight was losing her patience. The frown hadn’t left her face ever since they had walked through her front door, and was now directed at Discord. “Need anything else?” she asked. Discord smiled weakly. “Just knowing that I have a good friend like you to take care of me has made me feel better already.” He leaned over to Twilight’s bedside table, pulled open the drawer, and began rummaging through the books and scrolls contained within. Kyle cleared his throat and glared at the Draconequus, slamming the drawer shut once more. “I'll be fine here on my own,” Discord added. Twilight and Cadence exchanged a look and turned to leave. Just as Kyle had turned to follow, Discord spoke up once more. “Oh, just before you go, just a little small request.” Twilight let out a great sigh, and her shoulders slumped to the floor. Kyle reached over and patted her on the back. “It's going to be fine,” Cadence reassured her quietly. “We'll just get him what he wants and be back to the exhibit in no time.” She turned her head towards Discord. “What was it that you needed?” Kyle turned his head just in time to see Discord materialize right next to the two princesses. A small shot glass was held in his paw. For a brief moment, a fresh pang of irritation shot through Kyle - Now they’d have to tuck him back in again. His irritation quickly melted away into surprise as Discord opened his mouth and began to sing. “A little glass of water please A fresh pressed hanky if I sneeze Some tea with honey from the bees Whenever you can brew it” Kyle and the Princesses exchanged a worried glance. “I’ll get your tea,” Cadence assured him. “And I’ll get the water,” Kyle added. He quickly stepped out of the room as Discord began to sing again. “And while I get a little rest A teeny tiny small request Some cod-” The rest of Discord’s verse was cut off as Kyle shut the door Twilight’s bedroom behind him. He quickly made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. He opened one of the cupboards and sighed. “Twilight’s reorganized the kitchen again,” he murmured. “Yeah, she did that about a week after you moved out,” a familiar voice spoke from behind him. Kyle turned his head. “Hey Spike,” he grinned, raising his fist. Spike raised his own claws, and the two fistbumped. “How’s it going?” “Not too bad,” he replied. “Things have been a bit quieter since you moved out.” A loud thump drew both of their attention towards the ceiling. “Well… until now, anyway. What in Celestia’s name is going on up there?” “Discord is ‘sick’,” Kyle explained, drawing air quotes around the word ‘sick’. “Cadence and Twilight are upstairs taking care of him while I grab him some water. Speaking of, where did Twilight put the glasses this time?” “Third cabinet, second shelf up.” Another bump, louder this time, echoed from upstairs. “I don’t even wanna know,” he announced, backing away. “If you absolutely need me, I’m in the basement. Otherwise, you didn’t see me and I don’t know about Discord being here.” Spike turned tail and ran towards the basement door, slamming it shut behind him. A moment later, Kyle had located and retrieved a glass and filled it with water. He sighed as another loud thud shook the ceiling. This was not how he had planned to spend the rest of his day. But based on the amount of noise coming from Twilight’s bedroom, he couldn’t just leave them alone to deal with Discord’s antics. So, despite his instincts which yelled at him to simply leave, he turned and walked up the stairs. He paused outside of Twilight’s door. Despite all the noise from before, there was now only silence. Slowly, he turned the handle and pushed the door open. Cold water flowed over his boots, causing him to gasp. It raced past him and down the stairs as he stepped in and closed the door. Everything in the room, including the Princesses, was thoroughly soaked - everything, that is, except for Discord and the bed upon which he rested. A pile of noodles rested in the corner of the room, with a bowl of peas perched upon the top. Discord himself was wrapped up in a silken scarf, with a small pastry clenched in his paw. As Kyle gazed around the room, Discord snapped his claws, and all of the water, noodles, and peas vanished with a loud *pop*. “I, uh… got that water…” Kyle murmured, locking his eyes with Discord. Kyle walked over and placed the glass on the bedside table. He backed up to the still-stunned Princesses as Discord turned his head and coughed loudly. He reached over for the glass and picked it up, but before he could take a drink it slipped from his claws. It landed on the floor and spilled yet more water across the wood. “Oops. Sorry.” An instant later, Discord sneezed violently and exploded in a shower of bubbles. This was apparently enough to break Twilight out of her stupor. “Alright, this is ridiculous!” she exclaimed angrily. She stormed away over to the bookshelf on the opposite side of the room, and several books floated down to her. Even Cadence’s tolerance levels seemed to be wearing thin. She glared at Discord as he rematerialized with a spray bottle and a rag. “How did you even catch this flu?” she snapped. Discord sprayed the bottle at the Magical Health bubble that still protected the group and began to clean up a spot from when he had sneezed. “Inadequate hoof and claw washing?” he shrugged. By now, no less than half a dozen texts were surrounding Twilight, each enveloped in her magical grip. “There must be some way to just cure you!” She exclaimed. “There has to be a spell or remedy in one of my books!” “There is one way…” Kyle whipped his head towards the blue Draconequus, who was now laying on the bed and staring at Twilight with an amused expression. “And why didn’t you mention this to us back at the museum?” he growled. “Slipped my mind.” Discord twirled his claw in the air, and a small white cloud appeared. Within the cloud, a small scene began to play out. “ On a hill at the very edge of Equestria, there grows an exquisite magic flower. Pick the flower as it drops its petals at sunset. Then you can make a magical soothing elixir to cure the blue flu.” “I suppose you have a good reason you didn’t bother to get this flower as soon as you realized you were sick?” Twilight asked. “Well, I couldn't travel that far in my condition.” Discord pulled the blanket over his head and began to shiver. “By the time I got there, I'd be too weak to even attempt to retrieve the flower.” Twilight and Cadence shared a dubious look. It seemed that Kyle was not the only one doubting Discord’s words. Still, he was supposed to be their ‘friend’. Twilight turned to glare at Discord again. “So where exactly are we headed?” With another flash of light, Discord was stood next to Twilight once more. This time, he was wearing a white straw hat and sunglasses, with an unopened lollipop sticking out of his mouth like a pipe. He unfurled a map and began to turn it this way and that. “Well, ahem, you'll want to head north, turn left, th— Oh…” He paused, and a sly grin crossed his face. “You know, it'd be much easier if I took you there myself.” He folded up the map into a paper hat, which he deposited onto Twilight’s head. Cadence raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were in no condition to travel…” Discord wrapped one arm around each Princess. “I’m not,” he agreed. “We’ll need to make some arrangements.” The chuckle that followed informed Kyle that things were only about to get worse. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It was all Kyle could do to stop himself from flying over and kicking Discord in the face. Not only had he insisted that Twilight and Cadence hitch themselves up to a cart in order to fly him to their destination, but he had conjured up the most ornate, decorative, and heavy-looking cart imaginable. Throne would have been a more appropriate term to describe it. Kyle himself had returned to Ironwall and commissioned the use of a Gryphon in order to fly alongside them. Had he not been certain that Twilight and Cadence could each easily carry over a hundred times the burden that his Gryphon could, he would have hooked the Gryphon up as well. But with their combined Alicorn strength, the Gryphon would simply get in the way if he hooked it up. Even so, both Cadence and Twilight were drenched with sweat as they flew to the south-west, towards the corners of the badlands. Over the rush of the wind, Kyle could just barely make out their conversation. “Doing okay there?” Twilight asked. Cadence grunted. “To be honest, I'm a little out of practice when it comes to flying.” “Well then, lucky for you.” There it was, that voice that Kyle had come to detest over the past hour. Discord was reclined lazily on a magnificent cushioned chair. “We’re here.” Twilight and Cadence angled themselves downwards, and Kyle nudged his Gryphon to follow them. The golden throne set down with a loud thud, and Twilight and Cadence both collapsed to catch their breath. Not that Discord was going to let them off that easily. “It’s just at the top of that hill,” he announced, pointing up a steeply sloping path that winded up to a precarious point. Twilight and Cadence both rose to their hooves and walked away. Kyle set off after them, as did his Gryphon. Apparently, it wasn’t too fond of Discord either. Kylee quickly caught up and glanced over his shoulder. Discord was staring intently at them, an amused smirk clear upon his face. “I’m really sorry about this, you two,” Twilight said sadly. She turned her head towards Kyle. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your… date with Lyra.” “Date?” Kyle’s head whipped towards Twilight. “We -” “And alI I wanted was for us to have some peaceful quality time together," she continued, turning her head to look the other way. “I know,” Cadence replied. “I was looking forward to it too.” “Wait, hold on, we weren’t on a date.” “You weren’t?” Twilight asked. “No. We were just spending some time together. As friends. Like you and Cadence were.” “Oh…” Twilight turned her head towards Cadence, and the two shared a small look as the four continued moving up the hill. The hill didn’t take as long as Kyle had expected to climb. Before long, they were standing atop the summit. Just ahead of them, the sun was just beginning to dip over the horizon. If they were going to pick that flower, this would be the time. Except that there was no flower to be seen. Only a large tree in the center of the hill. “This is the top,” Twilight murmured. “But where is that flower?” As if to answer her question a large, purple - something drifted down from the skies, landing upon Twilight and covering her. Kyle ran over to pull the object off, and the trio gathered around. If he didn’t know any better, Kyle would have said it looked just like a giant… “Oh.” Kyle glanced upwards at the tree. Amazingly, it wasn’t a tree at all. Rather, it was a gargantuan flower. Kyle felt his jaw drop as he watched yet another petal fall off. He had heard reports of massive plants from Draenor, but nothing even close to matching this. “Come on, if we hurry, we can still have some time together.” Twilight and Cadence both took to the sky and hovered next to the massive flower. The plant was enveloped in their combined magical auras, and Kyle and the Gryphon turned and ran out of the way as the ground began to quake. “One... last... pull!” With a massive cracking sound the flower was ripped from the ground… along with most of the surrounding mountaintop. “Phew…” Twilight sighed. “Let’s get Discord and this flower back home, then all our problems are solved -” Twilight was cut off as the ground beneath them began to rumble violently. A dark sense of foreboding washed over Kyle as the tremors grew stronger and stronger. “Not all of them, I don’t think…” he murmured. He hopped up onto his Gryphon, an they took to the air as pieces of the hillside began to crumble. They flew over to Twilight and Cadence, who were staring at the hole in the hill. “What in Equestria…” An ear-shattering roar pierced the air, and a massive serpentine body rose from the ground. The pink head quickly gave way to a red mane draped over a scaly, purple body. The massive flower fell down from the hilltop, forgotten as the monstrous form rose higher and higher into the air, until it blocked out the last rays of the sun. As it reached its full height, the worm-like creature bent its head town to stare directly at the trio hovering before it. It had three eyes - two above and one below the tip of its head, just above the red fur that separated the head from the rest of the body. Its tripartite mouth opened as it roared again, revealing row upon row of razor-sharp teeth and a writhing mass of black tentacles. The creature lunged forward, and the group scattered, flying this way and that to avoid the tentacles lashing out at them. As it reared back up to full height, Twilight and Kyle both angled themselves skyward to escape the monster, with Cadence right behind them. Kyle risked a glance below them just in time to see the creature push itself into the air. Its mouth opened wide, and the tentacles lashed out. One found its mark and wrapped itself around Cadence’s leg, slowly dragging her in. Kyle yanked hard on his Gryphon’s reigns, flipping it upside down to dive back towards the monster. By now, the creature was plummeting back towards the ground. Kyle knew that he would never get to it in time. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and raised his arm. His hand crackled with lightning, and a blast shot from his fingers. The attack hit home on the tentacle that had wrapped itself around Cadence, and the creature released her with another loud roar. It impacted hard onto the hilltop and quickly slithered back into its hole. But by now, the Gryphon had had enough. As they approached the ground, it bucked wildly, shaking Kyle lose. He landed on the ground and rolled to a stop as the Gryphon screeched loudly and soared away. Kyle scrambled back to his feet as the ground beneath him trembled and quaked. He ran to the side and dove as the ground burst open right where he had been standing a second before. The monster emerged once more, towering over him as he pushed himself upright. He could smell the creature’s breath - a foul stench of rot and decay. The creature growled menacingly as its head slowly drew closer to him. There was no way that Kyle could outrun this beast. Instead, he firmly stood his ground, prepared to fight to the bitter end. Twin blasts of pink and purple energy fell from the sky, bombarding the monstrous creature with small explosions. It roared in anger as Twilight and Cadence dove down. Kyle ran out of the way as the Princesses circled the beast, peppering it from all angles with blasts of magic and swooping around the tentacles that lashed out at them. The monster was angry - of that there was no doubt. But with two Alicorn princesses fully focused on it, it was fighting a losing battle. It roared as it slowly backed into the hole once more, Disappearing into the depths of the earth. “And for good measure!” Cadence yelled. Her horn lit up, and a collection of boulders flew over to the hole. They collapsed into the opening, sealing it for good. Kyle walked back over as the two Alicorns caught their breath. “Are you two okay?” he asked. “Yeah… I think so…” Twilight panted. “Better than okay,” Cadence added. “Right. Then let’s get Discord back to Ponyville, make that elixir, and finally be done with this ordeal.” It took a bit longer with the added burden of the flower, but the trio slowly made their way back down the hill. Kyle kept glancing back at the flower as they made their way towards where they had left Discord. “This had better work…” he thought as they rounded the final corner. They could now see where they had left the large golden throne. Except that there was no large golden throne. Instead, there was only a very familiar, very happy, and very not-blue Discord. “To the ends of Equestria!” he exclaimed happily. He was dressed in a stylish white suit, with a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes. He bounced around the area, dancing this way and that in his joy. “To face such great danger! And she did it for me! She did it all for me, for me, for me!” He slid to a stop as he came face to face with the trio. He pulled his sunglasses up to stare at them. Twilight hovered up to his face. Rage was clear in her eyes, and Kyle could have sworn he saw a few hairs in her mane begin to smolder. “You. Were. FAKING!” she screamed into Discord’s face.” Discord flinched backwards, but that smug grin never left his face. “I was!” he exclaimed happily. “But I had a very good reason.” Kyle ground his teeth angrily. “You damn well better,” he growled. “Get on with it!” As Twilight landed beside Kyle, a large purple tree sprouted from the ground underneath Discord. He rode it up until it finally stopped, and he dangled from one of the branches “Well, I was in my thinking tree – that's where I do most of my really deep thinking –” With a flash of light, the tree was gone, and Discord was back on the ground in front of them. “ I was there, and I said to myself, I said, ‘Discord, your friend Twilight says that she's your pal.’” He leaned forward and wrapped an arm around Twilight. “But she never writes and she never pops in for a visit. And she didn’t even give so much as a ‘thank you’ for helping out with that little incident in the Crystal Empire. Even a postcard would have been nice..." “I don’t even know where you li-” Twilight’s complaint was cut off as Discord punched her lips together. "Now that she's a princess,” Discord continued as a crown popped into existence atop his head, “maybe she's decided that she's too good for you." “I have never considered myself t-” “But how was I supposed to know for sure that I'm truly still friends with one of the most important ponies around?” “I'm not more-” Discord’s tail wrapped around Twilight, hauling her up into the air to Discord’s eye-level. “By seeing if you would go to the ends of Equestria for me, of course. Which you did, literally. Congratulations, Twilight, you passed my friendship test!” He shook her hoof and wrapped a medallion around her neck. He released her from his tail, produced a similar medialion from around his neck, and clinked them together, forming an image that Kyle was too far away to see. Twilight was clearly not amused. She glared up at Discord as he waved a flag back and forth happily. He opened his eyes and looked at Twilight. “Why the angry eyes?” he asked. “You love passing tests. It's not because my little exam put a damper on your visit with Princess Cadance, is it?” His grin took on a distinctly more sinister look. “Made it so that there was no time for you two to focus on your friendship?” Twilight sighed, and her shoulders drooped. “That slimy little bastard… he PLANNED ALL of this!” Kyle’s vision flashed red as he stared at the Draconequus, who still had that smug grin plastered across his face. “We could have DIED getting that damned flower, all because he wanted to mess up our day…” His fists clenched into balls, and he took a step forward. “You didn't put a damper on our visit at all” Cadence finally spoke up. “He didn’t?” “He didn’t?” “I didn’t?” All eyes were on Cadence as she continued. “Spending the day at the Starswirl the Bearded exhibit would've been more relaxing, but to be honest, relaxation is the last thing I need.“ “It is?” Twilight asked “Don't get me wrong. Life has been a bit crazy in in the past few months, but these last two or three weeks have been... predictable. Being stuck in Canterlot has been boring, and though I was looking forward to spending the day at the Starswirl the Bearded Museum, even this journey has been a nice departure from the big city. I enjoy a little change now and then. Getting to face all these challenges today was just what I needed. And facing them with you just made me realize even more how lucky I am to have Ponies like you two as friends. We may not see each other very often, but I know you'll always be there when I need you.” Cadence smiled up at Discord with a victorious grin. “Just like she was there for you, Discord.” Kyle nearly laughed as he realized that Discord’s smug grin had finally faded away into a pouty frown. “Yes, she's a real sweetheart. We're all so lucky to have her in our lives.,” he murmured halfheartedly. Kyle felt the corners of his own mouth turn upwards for a split second, and he stepped towards the Draconequus. “Though you did mess my day up pretty badly.” Discord’s ears perked up, and he leaned down towards Kyle. “I did?” he asked as he stared Kyle in the eyes. “Yep. You sure did.” Without warning Kyle flipped backwards with all his might. His boots connected with Discord’s jaw, launching the Draconequus skyward as he unleashed a Rising Sun Kick. Kyle felt a satisfying snap as his boots connected, and as he landed, he noted with grim pleasure that Discord’s lone fang had been knocked clean from his face. He reached up and snatched it from the air. Discord was apparently too stunned to react properly. He flew several feet backwards and into the air before slamming hard into the ground. Several moments of stunned silence followed as the Princesses stared in shock at Kyle. Finally, Discord slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. His jaw was crooked - apparently even immortal Old Gods could have their jaws broken. “Don’t do it again.” Kyle casually tossed Discord’s loose fang towards him. He turned his back and began to walk away towards Twilight and Cadence. “Don’t you think that was a bit… extreme?” Cadence asked as Kyle reached them. “I mean… you broke his jaw.” “He’s an immortal spirit of chaos,” Kyle shrugged. “One snap of his claws and he can fix it. But the memory won’t fade quite as quickly. Maybe he’ll think twice next time he -” Kyle cut himself off as the ground beneath him began to quake. Kyle spun around with his fists raised, prepared to defend against what he assumed was retaliation from Discord. But the Draconequus seemed equally as stunned as Kyle. He snapped his talons, and his jaw snapped back into place, followed by his fang. The tremors grew stronger and stronger. Suddenly, the ground between Discord and the rest of the group burst open. From the ground, the worm-like creature from before emerged once more. It towered over the group, growling menacingly. Discord quickly pushed himself backwards, eyeing the creature fearfully. “What in the world?” he yelped. This exclamation was enough to draw the creature’s full attention. It bent down towards Discord and sniffed. Its mouth opened wide, showing rows of sharp teeth and those same black tentacles. It reared back… And sneezed all over Discord. Kyle watched with fascination as the creature slowly slithered back into its hole, now pacified for some unknown reason. His astonishment quickly turned into amusement as he saw Discord turn a sickly shade of green. Spots began to pop into existence all over him, and a dribble of snot rolled from his nose. “Ha!” Kyle laughed. “Karma, bitch!” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zinju watched as the two Ponies, the Human, and the… whatever the fel that thing was… took off away from the Badlands once more. The shadows of the mountain caves provided the perfect cover from which to observe his targets. He had hoped that the loss of the Human’s Gryphon, or the strange creature’s sudden sickness would have caused them to travel by foot, which would have allowed him to set an ambush of sorts. Alas, the smaller purple Pony had allowed the Human to ride upon her back, and creature seemed to still have the strength to fly - or at least, was being forced to. No. He had to admit to himself, this had been a complete failure. He had been so close as well. The flower had been in his sight. He had seen it. But those damned Ponies had gotten to it first, and now its withered stalk and shriveled petals lay useless on the ground. He had been preparing this concoction for days, and all for naught. “De master ain’t gonna be happy ‘bout dis,” he murmured. True, the loss of the elixir he had been brewing to increase his magical power was not a major or permanent detriment to his plan, but it would set him back several days. Several days in which his colleagues back on Azeroth would be stuck waiting. “Nothing to be done about it, master,” A low, drawling voice spoke from behind him. Zinju turned his head towards the source of the voice - a dark blue, gaseous creature with two glowing white eyes. It had no legs and floated in the air, and had a pair of ornate golden bindings around its wrists. A voidwalker. “I suppose ye be right, Sarnak,” Zinju sighed. “We best be makin’ our way back. De flower be useless to us, and de potion too. We got a lotta work to be makin’ up.” As Zinju and the voidwalker made their way back into the twisting labyrinth of caves, Zinju found his thoughts focused on the Human he had witnessed. He seemed quite familiar with both of those Ponies - Alicorns, he recalled, based on their possession of both wings and a horn. Alicorns, he remembered, were considered to be royalty in Equestrian society. And if that Human was so familiar with those two, he must be a very important Human indeed. That Human needed to be identified and monitored closely. “Master,” The voidcaller interrupted Zinju’s thoughts. “It may please you to know that I have sensed that the first rune is now fully active.” Zinju felt a grin creep across his face. “T’ree more t’ go, den,” he said. “Tank ya. Ya been servin’ me good, mon. And remind me to tank de master again for lendin’ ya t’ me.” “Of course, master.” So, the first of the four runes was now fully active. That could only mean one thing - the barriers between Equus and Azeroth were indeed growing weaker. Soon, potentially weak enough for a single individual to open a portal between the two worlds. “It won’t be long now,” he murmured under his breath. “Dis world gonna burn. Azeroth gonna burn. And dey all gonna burn wit’ it.”