//------------------------------// // 18: Into the Mind of a Madman. // Story: Interviewing Mr. Disc // by CrackedInkWell //------------------------------// “Would the following students please report to the Principal Celestia’s office: Fluttershy, and Applebloom Apple, along with the counterpart of Twilight Sparkle, please come to Celestia’s office at once?” Vice Principal said over the intercom’s mic before turning the thing off in her office. By her desk were both Celestia’s, the CIA agent, and myself pacing around in front of them, trying to remain as calm as my mind would allow. “You do realize all the things that might go horribly wrong here, right?” I questioned, keeping my darting eyes to the carpet. “I mean, what if they don’t find their way out either? What if they damage something? What if they see or hear something that I don’t want anyone to know? What if-” “Julius,” one of the Celestia’s cut me off my panicked ramblings. “I fully understand what-” “No, you don’t!” I snapped at her, “You don’t have any clue as to what I’m going through right now! My other self has gotten lost in my mind since last night and I have no idea what he’s been doing in there all this time! Oh! Did I mention that I never invited him to do this, to begin with?” “Which is why we’re going to help you find him and get him out of your mind,” the other Celestia said. “I admit, this was unexpected, but in my Kingdom, something like this has been done before, only very rarely and at the last resort. Also, it tends to help to have someone who you trust the most to navigate through your mind.” “I understand the trust part of the deal here,” I told her, “Yet what I don’t know is if they or he have done anything to make me worst off given what I have mentally.” “Mr. Disc does present a compelling point,” Agent M commented, “Agent F did present his track record of all the vandalism and making a danger to himself while being controlled by his hallucinations. Who’s to say if this experience makes matters worse for him?” For a minute, I let them debate amongst themselves while my mind tries hard not to imagine my worst fears of this failing. Unfortunately, the more I tried not to think about it, the more paranoid I was becoming. “Cel,” I interrupted their conversation, “I mean, Principle Celestia, I need you to do me a favor if this doesn’t work.” “Of course,” she said, “What is it?” “If they are unable to find him, or if nobody comes out of it, or that I’m acting a little too weird than usual… I really hate to even say this, but, if worst comes to worst, I want you to have me recommitted at the mental hospital for everyone’s safety.” “Julius, stop! I’m sure they have a plan in finding your other self. Besides,” she pointed to her Equestrian duplicate, “She’s leading the search party, and she’s done this before.” The other Celestia nodded, “Yes, I do have a plan, and I have done this before… Well, I’ve done something like this only twice in my whole life.” “Oh, gee thanks,” I said sarcastically, “I’m beginning to feel so much better now.” There was a knock on the door, and Celestia’s sectaries stick their heads in to tell us that the students and the Twilight copy have arrived. Soon enough, the human Fluttershy and Applebloom, along with the other Twilight were shown in, having the door closed behind them. “Princess Celestia,” Twilight began, “Have you found Discord yet?” “Unfortunately,” the Equestrian Royal said, “We know where he is now, but he needs help getting out.” “Discord needs help?” Twilight raised an eyebrow, “From where?” “He’s in here,” I said, tapping my head until the three of them quickly got the same idea. “The other Mr. D is in yer head?” Applebloom asked, and I nodded. “Is he alright?” Ms. Shy asked with a look of worry. I told her that he sounds fine, but he’s just lost. The royal Celestia went into her plan as to how to find the other me, she said that with my powers, I could let them inside my head so that she, Twilight, Shy and Bloom could go on a search party to look for him. “But if the other Mr. Disc is lost in his mind,” Fluttershy started, “How do we find our way through somebody’s mind?” “Twilight,” the other Celestia turned to the other Princess in human form. “Do you remember the story of Starswirl’s adventure into the Hydra’s cave?” “How could I forget?” she answered, “Starswirl was looking for a Hydra egg inside a cave so huge, that ponies couldn’t find their way out once they entered in. So, before entering the cave, Starswirl thought about how to navigate through the dark labyrinth to find the egg when he thought up of an idea. He gathered as much string and twine as he could find, tied it all together, and wrapped it into a ball. That way, before he wandered through the cave, he tied one end to near the entrance while he unravels the ball of twine as he went through the maze.” “And that,” the other Celestia said, “Is exactly how we’re going to find Discord. Twilight, Applebloom, and Fluttershy, the four of us are going to spread out through Mr. Disc’s mind, yet we’ll leave a trail behind us as we go through.” “But what are you going to use for string?” Agent M questioned. The other Celestia’s head glowed for a moment until out popped four golden balls of yarn in which she levitated one to herself and the others to the students and Twilight. “Since it’s nearing lunchtime, of course, we’ll need something to eat as we explore,” the Celestia copy commented. “Ah think Ah got that covered,” Applebloom took off her backpack and unzipped a section in which she brought out a couple of apples, and handed them over to them. I went over to Fluttershy and put a hand over her shoulder, “Ms. Shy, do you want to do this?” Shy thought for a moment, “W-Well… How long has your other self been lost?” “Since last night.” “Oh… Um… D-Do you even trust me in going into your mind? I mean, I don’t blame you if you really don’t want to. I think I understand.” “Fluttershy, I trust you in making sure you don’t touch anything in there, in fact,” I turned to the others, “Promise me that whatever you find in there, you’ll leave it alone?” They agreed with it before I turned back to Ms. Shy, “So, do you really want to do this?” “I think so,” she answered softly. “Well then,” the Royal Celestia said, “Shall we get going?” I took a deep breath and headed to the door. Kneeling down, I reached to take hold of one of my hairs from the top of my head and plucked one out. “Owe!” I said before turning my attention to the doorknob where it has a keyhole. I put my hear to the door and placed my strand of hair into the doorknob. Carefully listing, I fiddled around, trying to pick the lock of the door until I heard an audible “Click.” “That should do it,” I said before standing up and opening the door. On the other side, to their amazement, they didn’t see the reception area of Canterlot High’s offices, but rather the light green foyer of the Mental Hospital that I was once in. Complete with a double staircase leading to the two wings above, a hallway that splits on the other side and right in the center of the large room was the familiar large wooden desk where the nurse/sectary would be. The more magical experienced Celestia used all four ends of the balls of yarn to tie to the door handle. “How long do you expect to be in there?” I inquired. “Try giving us a few hours,” the other Celestia said, with the search party the following suit. “We all have watched on us right?” they nodded, “Alright then, let’s go find Discord.” The four of them stepped into my head before Applebloom, the one in the rear of the group, closed the door behind her. I reached for the doorknob, only to open up to the reception area of the High School. “They did it,” I told myself, “They’ve gone inside my head.”