The second time waiting in that room wasn't as boring as the first time. For one I had a co-occupant with me in Rainbow Dash. She wasn't a conversationalist by any means, but having company in that drab room was welcome. After Batman left us to do Batman things I did a remodel of the room. The table and chairs were replaced with a small couch pointed at the door. Across from the couch was a small wooden table which had some popcorn, soda, and a few types of candy that Dash had asked for. The two of us then just lazed out on the couch as I played a movie. I was going to play 'Last Action Hero' but that had too many references that she wouldn't get. Instead I just played Jackie Chan's The Legend of Drunken Master. She seemed to like it.
I was considering what to play next when Batman came back in holding some file folders. Trailing him in were Martian Manhunter and the Flash. I understood J'onn but not Wally. I couldn't figure that out at all.
"Made yourselves at home I see," Flash commented.
"I'm not going to sit in a metal chair for who knows how long. I did that last time and it ached for quite a while. Not bad, but I think you get it."
"Enough," Batman said sternly. "We have a few issues that need to be discussed."
"I understand. Anybody want anything before I put it away?" I asked while getting up.
"Got any ribs?" Flash asked. "I could go for some ribs."
I snapped my fingers and a stand appeared in front of him with a plate of what he asked for.
"There you go. Full slab of ribs plus some boneless ribs too. They're from a restaurant my aunt owns. It's a nice little place I go to on occasion."
"Thanks," was all he said before tearing into them. I simply levitated my soda from the table to my hand and finished it off while I watched him tear through all of it in about twenty seconds.
"Wow he might be faster than I am!"
"Oh right! Manners," I said while making my drink disappear. "Rainbow Dash these gentlemen are Batman, The Flash, and Martian Manhunter. Wait, is that okay or would you prefer J'onn?"
"Either is fine," he said stoically.
"Alright, cool. Guys this is Rainbow Dash; the fastest flyer in Equestria and the bearer of the Element of Loyalty."
"Nice to meet ya!" she said as she flew up in front of them and offered them a hoof. Only Flash took her offer and shook it. Of course he forgot that he still had barbecue sauce on his hand and got it on her as a result. I rolled my eyes and made each of them a washcloth. Batman took that moment to speak.
"The last time we heard about you was from the report Weapon Master gave to us. You successfully rescued Miss Dash here from a warehouse where she was being held captive in. After the two of you disappeared all of the kidnappers were arrested and we performed an investigation to see if there were any more perpetrators. In the end, we couldn't find any others. That would bring us to the present. You told me that you were here to get your friend and return her home. You had accomplished that aim. Why then have you returned here with her?"
"That," I said after sighing, "is the problem I'm working on now. It might be easier to explain what happened after I left here. Would that work?"
"Go on," Batman said with a gesture.
"Well, after I left I also rescued Twilight pretty easily. Then Celestia, who is a ruler of the land, had me go after Discord because letting him go free was a terrible idea. When I did I ended up back home with Discord waiting for me. However it was the future Discord who had sent me in the first place. He promptly took all of my magic from me and left me there while he returned to turn himself in."
"Wait a second, I thought he trapped you there and returned so he could gloat about it."
"No. He spent a lot of time on Earth. Doing so actually got him to partially reform. Fluttershy finished the job when you released him later."
"That doesn't really make sense," Dash spoke with confusion.
"Neither does him returning after he supposedly trapped Seth," Batman explained. "From what I was told there was no one else who could pursue him. Though it seems that you may have been less than honest about that."
"I'm going to get to that," I said disarmingly. "Anyways, I ended up going into a bit of a depression as a bunch of negative stuff happened after that and a year almost to the day passed from then and Discord came back to get me. After being depressed for that long I jumped at the chance. There were some issues, some incidents, and a great discovery that Eris, the coin I showed you last time, gradually recovered while I was there and restored my ability to use magic. She even gained some measure of awareness.
"After some short amount of time passed, I was visited by an acquaintance of mine who told me that the rifts I had sealed were opening up again. This is the issue we're at now. We went to check it out and after some talking we found out that I had only partially fixed the problem. I had brought back everyone and sealed the rift after I came through. However-"
"That didn't seal the rift where they arrived at," Batman finished for me.
"Exactly. I have to go find the rift that they came in from and have her use Eris to seal it. If we don't, the universe could cease to exist."
Two sets of wide eyes and Batman's as well looked at each other. Damn he's good at schooling his expression.
"Fortunately from what we could tell we still have a lot of time left. Other than wanting to get rid of us we're not in a big rush. That said I tend to wear out any welcome I usually get so I'd rather leave on a positive note."
"We understand, but there are a few things we want to talk about before we can get started helping you. First is this."
He picked up the top folder and opened it away from me.
"We ran a check on you that didn't get back to us until after you had left. We got a match to a set of prints in Indiana on file. This is you correct?"
He turned the file around to show a small card with set of fingerprints from both hands. It also had my full name and the address for the first place I lived at in the state.
"Wow, I remember that. Our elementary school class took a field trip to a local prison. I remember we all had our fingerprints taken for fun and took a short tour away from the prisoners. That's pretty cool to know that that happened here too. That means I have a doppelganger here! Oh man I've always wanted to meet a copy of me before!"
"I'm afraid that's not going to happen," he said turning the folder back to himself. "We kept tracking this Seth to make sure you weren't the same person. Our trail lead us to North Caroline. We found this there."
He turned the file around to me again. This time my blood ran cold as ice. He showed me a coroner's report; one with my name on it. Death by cause of drowning.
"According to the report he died from drowning in the ocean. This occurred in the late winter of 1996. It was written down as an accident."
"Heh. You know, I remember something like that happening once. It was about a month before we moved to Indiana again. My family took a trip to the coast to look at the lighthouses. We were walking along the beach and I remember being told not to go too close to the water. Since I was a kid I really didn't pay a lot of attention to where I was and ended up getting pretty close to the water to look at some pretty stones and seashells. I didn't even know what was happening when my dad picked me up and ran back inland. We got maybe a dozen plus feet in when we got hit by a pretty big wave. It splashed up around his shoulders, but he managed to stay on his feet and kept running until we were far up on shore. I got scolded for not listening and we went home since I ruined the nice time we were having."
"Apparently there was a strong riptide off and on that day. Instead of being carried to safety both Seth and his father were caught and swept out to sea. The father was found by the Coast Guard just before sunset. He was still alive but very weak. However the body of Seth was found the next day. He was buried in a cemetery near his father's hometown."
"Fuck man. Just... yikes. Why even tell me that?"
"We were uncertain if you were the same Seth from this universe," J'onn spoke evenly. "When we talked before I sensed some odd energies surrounding your mind. Even now I still sense this strange occurrence inside your mind. It seemed to peak when you recalled events from your past."
"It's a memory spell. It helps me with recollection of events since I can get absentminded sometimes."
"We were also concerned because there are faint traces of the same energy in your friend's mind."
Oh crap.
"What are you talking about?" she asked him.
"There are faint traces of the energy that he uses inside of your mind as well. They are mostly centered around the same area as himself, but this seems to have been removed in you as opposed to how active his is. Originally we suspected mental tampering to the both of you. It seems now as though it was voluntary on only one of you."
"So somebody messed with my head?" she asked him and turned to face me. "Was it Discord?"
Oh god those eyes. I just about teared up simply looking into them. I had to tell her now.
"No. It was my fault."
"Your fault? What do you mean by that?"
"I was going to talk about it when we were by ourselves, but I doubt I have a choice now. Do you remember that incident when Twilight broke my game?"
"Kinda yeah. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Do you remember keeping a lookout for me to keep me out of the library?"
"I don't really remember that part. Twilight said I was supposed to, but all I remember was talking to you for a second before taking off."
"Yeah that... was my fault. I didn't find out until later, but I accidentally hypnotized you then. It's sort of like what Discord did to you when he was released the first time except I didn't even know I was doing it to you. His was using words to trick you into changing while mine was just direct eye contact."
"That... doesn't sound too bad I guess."
"Well I didn't even know I had done it until some... side effects became evident."
"Side effects?"
"Yeah. It happened when I turned you human and we drove up to the rifts the first time on this go around."
"Yeah. I know what you mean. I got bored after a little bit and fell asleep. Then you woke me up when we got there and after you turned me back into a pony we pulled those awesome pranks on the guards."
"Nice," Flash said with a grin and a nod. A hard look from Batman got rid of that grin.
"Yeah those were fun, but before that you actually didn't fall asleep. I ended up hearing you talk about the Wonderbolts until we cleared the forest and I sped up on the plains. That was where things got strange."
"Strange how?" she asked.
"Eghhhh... you know, would you rather see it or hear it? Actually I don't want to say it. I'm just going to show you."
A clap of my hands and suddenly we were exiting a forest while looking like we were on the hood of a car. It was scene I was talking about. I instead shifted the point of view as if we were on the hood of the 'Cuda.
"This is a lot better. I can definitely feel the wind blowing through my mane just like it does when I'm flying."
"I'm glad you like it. I was starting to think you wouldn't be cheery at all."
"You know, there's another reason I wanted to come with you in the car."
"Really? What?"
"I wanted to talk about something with you."
"You could've come by anytime you wanted to talk."
"No I couldn't. I need to talk to you... alone"
"Why would you-"
I watched as past me did a double take at the nervous Rainbow Dash. He then whipped back around to face the road. This was going to be uncomfortable.
"Oooookay?"
"I-I don't know how to say this... but... IthinkIreallylikeyou!"
I think I saw Dash's jaw drop as she watched herself during that awkward pause.
"...Is that you Discord?"
"What? NO!"
"I was just checking!"
"This is really hard for me to say! I don't know how or why or when but at some point I started looking at you and I just felt... a connection. Like you were someone I wanted to be around. It was like how I felt with my friends but... somehow more. Now, with just the two of us here and nopony else, I just feel like you and me, together, it just feels right."
"I... fe-... di-... I..."
"Smooth kid."
"Hey! I've never had anything like that happen to me before! Girls don't like me. Nobody fucking likes me like that," I finished quietly.
We all continued watching as past Dash grabbed me by the back of the neck.
"When there's something I want I go for it whether it's the Wonderbolts or some clueless guy who can't seem to make a move."
"You, uh, really ought to be wearing your seat belt."
"Again... smooth."
"Forget about the seat belt," she said as she leaned in closer. "Let's focus on this."
I winced as I watched her give me a small kiss on the cheek. Yeah, it felt nice when it happened, but now it just felt like shame.
"I don't have to be Applejack to know how honest your face is being right now."
Oh geez. I was looking and acting like Rito Yuuki from To Love Ru. I hated how he would just stammer and do nothing. I guess I can't be so critical of him since I did the same thing. Oh, and now she was frenching me.
"Hey," Flash said. "You're not going to show-"
"It didn't go that far," I preempted him. "Watch."
We did indeed watch as she started to dull in color a bit.
"What is happening here?" Batman asked.
"It's one of the effects of Discordanence. The afflicted party loses a sense of self and as such their color starts to drain away. I saw the change in her hair and it took all my effort to focus on it instead of just going with the moment."
"What are you doing?"
"Dash, I think you may have been tricked into doing this."
"No I haven't!"
"Dash I won't lie and say that it would be wonderful if you really felt that way about me. I would love it if any woman felt that way about me. It just isn't real."
"It is real! I feel it!"
I kept watching as she grabbed my arm and placed my hand on her chest.
"You can feel it too right?"
"This is getting pretty uncomfortable to watch," Flash stated.
Yeah, I was feeling pretty guilty watching this too as past me pulled Rainbow Dash in close.
"Sleep my dear," we barely heard as she complied.
There was a moment where I could feel the relief from everyone else there. The exception to that was Rainbow Dash. It was probably because she wasn't sure how to feel. I could somewhat understand.
"Discord! Get your motherfucking ass out here right now!"
A moment passed where nothing happened followed by me snapping my fingers and the hood ornament Discord appearing.
"Discord you son of a bitch! What have you done?"
"Well, well, well, what exactly have you been up to while I was away?"
"Oh don't you dare Discord. She started coming onto me suddenly and strongly on the drive here and I had to stop her because you did this to her!"
"That's Discord?" Batman asked.
"Yep."
"As amusing as that sounds I can assure you that I did no such thing."
"That's bullshit! Take a look at her hair. That's your M.O.: fading colors mixed with a personality change."
I watched as something I didn't see before happened. Discord's eyes lit up in a shade of blue while in the back seat. I didn't actually notice this at the time. I remembered trying to look back at him a few times and then trying to levitate Dash back into her seat like it was showing. It had to have been during one of my glances back. There's no reason why I would put that in if it didn't happen.
"Well this is certainly a surprise."
"What, that I'd be pissed?"
"No my boy. You did this to her."
A few of us winced as I dropped Rainbow Dash in shock.
"What are you talking about? I wouldn't do this to her!"
"And yet the evidence is to the contrary. I may be good at mental manipulation, but this is more than just that. This is surprisingly thorough. Not only was her usual personality not truly subverted it was actually used as a base to allow more true feelings to build properly towards a certain route. There are even a few triggers in place to help things along. The most notable one has her make a move on you if she was turned human. It's so intricate that only someone versed in the field would notice the changes."
We all watched as Discord smirked devilishly as my face grew more... haunted I guess would be the best term. It culminated with my little outburst.
"This is the bullshitiest hax power I think that the term great power and great responsibility could be most appropriate to use for me."
"It is quite an accomplishment for someone this new to the whims of chaos to be capable to such changes to someone's mental state. You really must have some prior conception to the field."
A sharp bark of laughter marked when Discord read my mind.
"Dammit Discord!"
"That is going into the blackmail folder for later. It does explain things however. Some of them anyway. Deep down inside you wanted a sexy, submissive woman to treat yourself with. Someone who you could make to love you despite all of your faults. A pretty sad thing I might add."
Yeah, that still hurt. Even more so considering the recent events.
"I don't want to hear the psychoanalysis right now. I just want to get her back to normal."
"It will take a bit of time, but place your hand on her head and search through her mind for your magic. When you find it simply reabsorb it into yourself."
"It sounds easy enough."
"You're lucky I'm so impressed with what you did. From where her head is I could've said that you had to do something more vulgar to make it work."
A song came onto the radio making me remember that Discord could be a real jerk.
"What's with the song?" Flash asked.
"He's being an ass by playing a song that's called 'Something in Your Mouth'."
"Man that Discord is kind of a jerk," Flash stated.
"Most of the time yeah," I reiterated. "He's too damn powerful to ignore though."
"I'll just leave you to work on that," he said before there was a flash of light that signaled his departure.
I let the illusion fade away there.
"From there I pulled the magic out of her mind to get rid the effect it was causing her. Right before she woke up I also decided to erase her memory of the event. It wasn't really her thinking that and if she woke up remembering that but not feeling the same way... I don't really know what might have happened. Most of all, though, I did it because I felt ashamed. Ashamed that I had done that to someone I had considered a friend."
Hell, at that point I did start tearing up. I couldn't face any of them right then. I waved my hand behind me and felt them all teleport out of the room. I then walled off the entire room with a shield spell so that no one could get in. I caught a glimpse of myself in the two way mirror and hated what I saw right then.
"Fuck you you asshole."