Here is the disclaimer: I don’t own MLP: FiM, aside from my Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack figures. Oh, oops! I don’t own the RIGHTS to MLP: FiM. That belongs to Lauren Faust and Hasbro.
You Wouldn’t Believe Me if I Told You
Chapter 7: The Storm Hits
“What do you mean, ‘half of Ponyville is missing'? Are you certain?”
Pinkie, who had just finished untangling herself from Princess Celestia, took a deep breath and replied, “YesPrincess!YouknowhowyesterdayIhadawierdPinkiesensefeelingthenTwilightandRainbowdissapeared?WelltodayIfeltthesamethingonlystrongersoIwenttoPonyvilletomakesureeverythingwasalrightbutawholebunchofponiesevenApplejackRarityandFluttershyaremissingnow!EvensomefromCanterlotaregoneandIcamestraightherewithtuba-portationtotellyou!” she ended with a series of gasps for air.
Celestia nodded and sighed in acknowledgement. Although most ponies would have been boggled by the pink ponies unnatural speaking speeds, she had learned to decipher its meaning over the months since hiring Pinkie Pie as the Princesses’ Royal Baker and eventually she had earned the title of Head Chef at the Equestrian Culinary Academy. This generally kept her very busy, so in order to see her friends at a moment’s notice, or indeed no notice at all, she had invented tuba-portation: a Pinkie-Pie only transport system that nearly sent Twilight into a coma trying to understand. The phrase ‘I’m Pinkie Pie’ was the only explanation that made any sense.
Luna lowered her book, closing it beside her after noting her page. “Ti, (pronounced ‘tee’) don’t tell me you got all of that!” she said incredulously. She had been reclining on a nearby couch reading a history book, still casually catching up on what she had missed while in exile. This one read easier as it was focussed on more recent events, and it was the last one she needed to read to be ‘current’.
Celestia smiled. Luna had gotten the hang of the current terminology about a year ago, no longer using the royal ‘we’, or Old Equestrian ‘thee’ and ‘thou’. Even the Royal Canterlot voice only came out in times of dire distress, such as when she lost a round in one of her online games.
The smile faded. She closed her eyes somberly. “Pinkie here was just saying that a group of ponies from both here and Ponyville have disappeared, and nopony seems to have any idea as to what has happened.”
Luna opened her mouth in shock. “Surely, somepony has to have seen something! Does no one have any idea of where they went?”
Pinkie piped up once more, somewhat slower for Luna’s sake. “That’s just it, Princess, I DO have an idea! That’s why I was riding Gummi! Tuba-portation is always faster on an alligator.”
Celestia cocked an eyebrow at the reptile, who was no longer a small, cutesy baby, but about twice as long as an average pony and half as tall. His eyes were sharp and focussed now, but he still had no teeth. This was most likely because he was fed only pastries and sweets. Nopony minded the diet, because alligators were unsurprisingly much more pleasant with no teeth. Not that he would hurt anypony without cause, of course, just more comforting.
“And what is this idea?” Celestia inquired.
“Discord.”
A shudder went down the three mares’ spines simultaneously. Both alicorns stiffened at the name, recalling some unpleasant memories and experiences at the hands, paws, and claws of the Spirit of Chaos, some significantly more recent than others.
Luna got onto her feet, still on the couch, and gazed out the window. “How can you be sure? The statue is sound, as far as I can see.” She narrowed her eyes further, her piercing gaze focussed on the randomly assembled character in stone.
“Well,” Pinkie began, “when he got free a few years back, I got this one Pinkie sense combo I’d never had before or since. Until yesterday, that is. But I didn’t know it was the Discord combo because it was coupled to the suddenly-gone combo. It didn’t click until this morning when I had it again!”
Celestia stood up and flared her wings, a serious, stern look in her eye. “Luna. Pinkie.” She looked to each in turn. “It would seem that we are taking a little trip to the statue garden.”
* * * * *
Discord, significantly not encased in stone, paced back and forth atop the black tower of Barad-dur off to the side of its sole tenant and ruler.
“Must they really kill one another?” He posed to Sauron, who was almost gleefully staring down at the circle of confused ponies. How Sauron would appear when gleeful is anybody’s guess.
Sauron turned his gaze at Discord. “Explain.”
“I’m up for a good, sporting competition as much as the next villain, but would you not rather to turn them against one another and destroy their friendships and relationships, and then make them do crazy, random things? Wouldn’t that be more chaotic?”
“I care not for your chaos, Discord the Dragonequus of Chaos. That is why I have limited your powers and dampened your influence upon my domain. I create chaos only when it leads to my order, my rule. I truly have no more need of you here; you have served your purpose. Leave. Stay. I care not. Simply do not interfere with my game.”
“Limited my powers, have you?” Discord paused and gave his beard a stroke and a twirl. Nothing happened. Discord gave Sauron a nasty glare. “So you have. Why?”
“Not only is your damned chaos a constant nuisance, but, though I am loathe to admit, your powers had rivaled my own. I used the time while you were preaching to the players on the field to cast a limiting spell on you. I am the one, true ruler of this land, and I shall not share any of it with the likes of you!”
“My! Aren’t we the trusting one?” He said with a sneer, the dripping sarcasm in his voice was painfully obvious. You certainly know how to make friends! It’s a wonder why everyone dislikes you so much… boggles the mind… simply stunning…” he drifted off into a grumble.
Sauron merely maintained his gaze into the walled off canyon as if he had not even heard Discord’s malcontented ramblings. It is very likely that he did not. When he set his mind on a single task, almost nothing would tear his focus from it.
“Their hour of respite is ended. The game has begun!” Sauron voiced evilly.
“Yes,” Discord plotted in his head, “yes it has.”
“More than you know.”
* * * * *
“Whadda y’all mean by a ‘target’ painted on ma li’l sis, Twi?” Applejack asked, worriedly. She looked over to where the three of them were talking, closely watched by Big Mac and Fluttershy. The couple were leaning on one another, Fluttershy was shaking slightly, Big Mac, with one foreleg around her, tried to remain calm and strong for the both of them.
“What she means, darling” answered Rarity through a slight quiver of her lips, “is that our beloved Cutie Mark Crusaders, here, all have an extra star value on their collars. This literally makes them a target for other ponies with an incentive to … win the …game!” Rarity broke into quiet sobs, and was immediately comforted by Rainbow Dash.
Twilight spoke up next. “I don’t see Pinkie Pie anywhere, so the Elements of Harmony won’t do us much good. And I analyzed the numbers. There are 20 ponies in all, and 23 stars total. At the end of this game, should everyone refuse to participate, the CMC will be the only ones allowed to leave.” She paused, closed her eyes. “And should we try to end it in a tie of sorts, which would have been easy with one star each, each pony would now need 2 stars.”
“But with 17 ponies with one star, 8 would have to…get one from another pony. But 8 ponies times 2 stars equals 16, plus the 6 from the CMC, which equals 22. The final pony with one star would also lose the game. Of course, this is assuming Sauron would actually accept an 11-way tie as the end of the game. Who knows if he will even let the highest three go afterwards…”
She, too, trailed off her sentence, ending in tears. And as Steve, who had remained relatively silent, was next to her, he felt it was only right that he comfort her. So he took a step or two sideways till he was alongside her, and placed a reassuring hoof across her shoulders. Twilight opened her eyes slightly at the contact, looked Steve in the eyes briefly, and put her face into his shoulder, crying softly and shaking with each sob.
Applejack, feeling like the odd one out, moved over to Rainbow Dash to see if she was alright.
“We will get through this.” Steve said suddenly, and with a surety that he did not feel. The four Elements of Harmony raised their eyes to him as he spoke. “All we have to do is keep our heads and stick it out toge-“