Shisno Chronicles: Friendship is Magic

by nightelf37

The Spirit of Disharmony (The Return of Harmony, Part 1)

Author's Note:

Finally, it's time!

"Time for what?"

My first Chronicle-centric 'arc'. While this story has had him and 'plays out' events from his POV, this one centers on him as he begins to endure just what is to come in this arc's events.

"What does that mean?"

It means that while the episodes "The Return of Harmony, Part 1 and 2" focused on Twilight Sparkle, this fic will focus on Chronicle, the central OC for my series.

Disclaimer: I own only the following: My originally designed OCs, and anything that doesn't happen in the show proper.

Due to some Season 3 chapters, I have decided to do away with the chapter numbers. Also, after experimenting on a different format (publish an "episode" in three parts), I have realized that this one is much better.

In case Chronicle's being OOC here, let me tell you that very dire times can change an individual. And that he has traces of being a Mood Swinger.

The Spirit of Disharmony (The Return of Harmony, Part 1)

Chronicle was having strange dreams for the past couple months, and they were getting more and more frequent. It involved a whacked-out Ponyville, an insane villain, and him apparently ticked off so much that he was now in a berserk state. At first, he was just hearing the events from a far off spot, but now he was actually seeing them. Well, as much as he could anyway since everything was a blur, including the sounds.

However, the last few seconds of the dream before inevitably waking up were somewhat clearer. From what little he could deduce, he was delivering some sort of final attack on the villain, and dedicating them to each of the Keepers of the Elements of Harmony. And their order was consistent: Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle.

There would then be a blood-curdling cry as he would deal the final blow. After that, he would either be in his blank dreamscape, or—more often—awake. Right now, he was outdoors, following some strange clouds. Far above, he could see his friend Rainbow Dash pursuing a pink cloud, en route to Sweet Apple Acres. From what he knew, clouds don't come in pink, and their precipitation definitely didn't come in brown.

Is/Was the weather team, local or Cloudsdale, performing an experiment of some sort and did it go awry? he thought. "Hey!" he called one of the pegasi in the area as he followed Rainbow.

"Yeah?" asked one pegasus, which he identified to be Raindrops as she descended so that the two were side by side.

"Is the weather team performing an experiment of some kind?"

"No."

"Cloudsdale?"

"They're suffering a similar predicament."

"Did some mad scientist release a substance that would cause this?"

"How the hay should I know that?"

"Never mind. Thanks anyway." And with that, just as he reached Applejack's farm, Raindrops left.

Seeing Applejack herself at the cornfield, harvesting the crops, he quickly made his way to her. To his ire, more pink clouds moved in, and were bringing along their weird rain. As he reached her, Rainbow descended to them too.

"Rainbow Dash, what’s goin’ on with this rain…I mean, chocolate milk…I mean, chocolate-milk rain?!?" asked Applejack as the pegasus hovered near them.

The unicorn stuck out a tongue, tasting a raindrop, and realizing she was right. "There’s crazy weather all over Equestria!" Rainbow replied. "Cloudsdale’s getting soaked by a major cola storm right now."

There goes the mad scientist theory, Chronicle thought as the corn started to pop. No wait, it's still plausible.

"But don’t worry. I’m not leaving you ’til I get control of Ponyville," continued the pegasus before peeling out.

The unicorn then cast a spell. Instantly, any chocolate rain within a small radius around himself flew straight into his mouth, and down his stomach. Before Applejack could ask what the spell was for as he licked his mouth, one of the corn ears machine-gunned its contents straight into her face, knocking her back into the growing fluffy mounds.

He had picked up this 'rain-drinking' spell from one of the many spell books in the library. This was to make drinking the rain easier, after making sure it was potable. He also knows how to collect them to other 'points' aside from his stomach so as to collect it for later storage. As for why he learned it, it was, to be honest, from a simple case of boredom.

In another section of the fields, Pinkie Pie was blissfully diving among the popcorn. "Why would you want to stop this?" she asked no one in particular before licking the raindrops off her face.

Rarity then arrived shortly after and cleared her throat as Applejack surfaces. The elegant unicorn donned a violet raincoat and hat, as well as a saddle with an ornate blue umbrella attached to keep the storm off her. "I heard about your troubles, Applejack, and I came to see if there’s anything I can do—without getting wet. Or dirty. Or out from under my umbrella."

"I'm afraid there's no fixin' this mess while staying clean, Rarity," Chronicle said as he then 'pulled out' his umbrella from "hammerspace" and followed her example.

Just then, another sound draws the three's surprised attention; the apples on a nearby tree suddenly grew to several times normal size. The weight of the gargantuan fruit caused this and other affected trees to bend over until their leaves nearly scraped the ground. One squirrel after another popped up from the leaves for an easy snack.

"Fluttershy, do somethin’!" Applejack called.

The animal expert, whom he didn't notice until now, was watching her rabbit Angel chomp into one of the apples. "Now, Angel, you really shouldn’t—" In a trice, the four short white legs have sprouted hooves, became very skinny and horse-like, and grown to perhaps three times the length of hers. "No! It’s not possible!" Other bunnies strode past on their own ridiculously long shanks. "I must be seeing things!"

"We all are, duh," snarked Chronicle. "This must be some sort of hallucination we're all in, be it by chemical or spell."

Just then Twilight Sparkle and Spike arrived, the former levitating a book so she can read from it. "Don’t worry, everyone!" she said as she closed the book and tossed it away. "I’ve learned a new spell that’ll fix everything!"

It took her only a moment to conjure up a beam from her horn and let fly, the sky dimming briefly from its brilliance. The popping corn ears, the monster apples, the flipped-out clouds—all took the full blast, and she topped it off with a radiating blue/purple shock wave and a flash of white light that washed out everything. As it faded away, the caster looked up, puzzled to see that…her spell had had no effect whatsoever.

"My failsafe spell…failed!" she gasped.

"Did you practice it prior to casting it now?" Chronicle asked.

"No."

"Then that's why it failed! How many times do I have to remind you to practice spells?"

She didn't answer him as she then wondered, "What do we do?"

"Uh, give up?" Spike suggested.

"Spike, Twilight will come up with something," Rarity said reprovingly as she walked over to them, then levitated the umbrella saddle off her own back and settled it on Twilight.

"Hmmm…time for Plan B." Twilight looked up. "Rainbow! Can you corral all those clouds in one corner of the sky?"

Said airborne pegasus was mired at a cotton-candy cloud several of the funky rabbits were nibbling at. After a quick shake to free herself and scare them off, she saluted and gets her wings in gear.

One fugitive cloud after another was swiftly rounded up to the surprise of Pinkie, who enjoyed wallowing in the chocolate precipitation until it moved away from her.

Step two. "Applejack! I need you to bring those high-strung storm clouds down to earth!"

Back into the sky, Rainbow was cutting tight circles around the mass of clouds to force them all together. Down below, Applejack twirled her lasso in her teeth and let fl.; Rainbow peeled out to stay clear of the loop as it dropped around the giant pink clump. Pinkie shifted position to stay in the rain and fill her mouth, but this trick left her high and dry again. "Hey! What happened?" she asked as the single weird thunderhead was dragged toward ground level.

Twilight, putting away the umbrella, then whispered to Fluttershy, whose face brightened as she grasped the plan; the yellow flyer addresses herself in a loud, slightly stilted voice. "Oh, dear! I hope that none of the animals see these delicious chocolate-filled cotton-candy clouds!" The (affected) critters perked their ears at these words as Applejack, finished tying the free end of her rope to a fence post to hold the clouds in place. "I’d hate to have to share them!"

On the other side of the mass, Pinkie is stuffing her face, otherwise cleaned up from her wallow in the puddles. "Ah! You and me both, sister!" she said before being instantly beset by a rush of animals that take her place at the all-you-can-eat candy/weather buffet, the speed of their charge knocking her backward. "Hey!" Her protest did nothing to dissuade the gorging critters.

As the rest gathered a short distance from the cloud, Applejack said, "And when y’all are done that, feel free to have some popcorn for dee-ssert!"

"It's dess-ert," Chronicle corrected.

"You see, Spike? You should never give up," Twilight told her assistant. "There’s nothing we can’t overcome if we all work together."

The sole stallion in the group furrowed his brows. "I got a feeling this is just the beginning, though."

Suddenly, Spike sucked in a huge, cheek-bulging breath and let it out in a green fiery blast that solidified into a scroll. Twilight picked it up and read it—Pinkie joining the group—then sucked in a sharp gasp, her eyes briefly popping in surprise.

"Come on, girls! Princess Celestia wants to see us all in Canterlot immediately!"

As everypony traded a properly worried look at this bit of news, Chronicle groaned to himself. Oh no. I was seriously hoping it's just some mad scientist/magician. But if the Elements of Harmony are being called, either it's not one, or they're too dangerous it needs them…

C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP

Canterlot Castle…

The six Keepers of the Elements of Harmony, accompanied by Chronicle, threw open the main entrance as they made it to the entrance hall where Princess Celestia and Twilight stood together during the Grad Galloping Gala. They saw Celestia herself looking out one stained glass window at the main landing of its staircase.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight called as the seven rushed inside. "We came as fast as we could!"

As the group stopped at the foot of the stairs, Celestia spoke with a slightly fearful urgency that stood in sharp contrast to her usual gentle tone. "Thank you, Twilight. Thank you all."

"Is this about the weather, and the animals’ weird behavior? What’s happening out there? Why isn’t my magic working? Is there—" She studious unicorn was silenced by her teacher raising a gold-shod hoof.

"Follow me."

C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC

The group followed Celestia as she led them down a corridor with stained-glass windows on both walls.

"I’ve called you here for a matter of great importance," the Princess told them. "It seems an old foe of mine, someone I thought I had defeated long ago, has returned." Fluttershy suddenly stopped for a better look at one particular window, then angled her head up toward the window itself. Chronicle noticed and turned to see what she was seeing. "His name…is Discord." While Fluttershy yelped in fear and darted ahead to rejoin the others, Chronicle gave a small gasp.

Depicted on the window was a long, winged, reptilian creature, none of whose body parts match each other, standing on its hind legs. Its tail was very long. Its head was a strange amalgamation shaped more like a donkey or mule than a pony, with a long neck, bushy eyebrows, one antler each from a goat and deer, a snaggle tooth in the wide-open laughing mouth, and a goat’s beard protruding from its chin.

A draconequus, full term draconequuscervuscaperleonaquilalacertavespertilioserpens, he thought as he rejoined the group as well. Father has been warding them off of Hub Equestria ever since my family has started their mission. They're supposed to be so difficult that he has to call for assistance from the Story Crew if more than one is attacking.

"Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony," Celestia continued as she stood before them. "Before my sister and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness."

She showed them one window depicting the creature manipulating an earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn on the ends of strings attached to marionette control crossbars. at the bottom of the window, pink flames burned below the ponies, and Chronicle could swear he heard screams of agony.

"Luna and I saw how miserable life was for earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike. So after discovering the Elements of Harmony…" She took them to another window, which depicted Discord, caught between the two circling princesses, and petrified. "…we combined our powers and rose up against him, turning him to stone."

"All right, Princess!" whooped Rainbow.

"I thought the spell we cast would keep him contained forever. But since Luna and I are no longer connected to the Elements…the spell has been broken." The group stopped as she walked on.

"No longer connected?" asked Twilight as they reached the end of the hall, which had a balcony above it, decorated with a multitude of varicolored tapestries.

"This is Canterlot Tower…" They now stood before a pair of closed double doors in a gold frame topped with a carving of a winged unicorn. A column and a unicorn sculpture stood to either side. "…where the Elements are kept inside since all of you recovered them. I need you to wield the Elements of Harmony once again and stop Discord before he thrusts all of Equestria into eternal chaos!"

"But why us?" Twilight asked as Pinkie zipped away. "Why don’t you—"

"Hey, look!" she interrupted as she pointed to another window. "We’re famous!"

They turned to see what was depicted; the six bearers of the Elements using their powers to bring down Nightmare Moon. Applejack was portrayed without her hat, and Chronicle was mysteriously absent.

"You six showed the full potential of the Elements by harnessing the magic of your friendship to beat a mighty foe," Celestia explained. "Although Luna and I once wielded the Elements, it is you who now control their power, and it is you who must defeat Discord!"

All seven gathered before her again, exchanging a few seconds’ worth of uncertain looks and drooping ears before their usually-fearless leader found her resolve. "Princess Celestia, you can count on—"

"Hold on a second!" Pinkie interrupted. "Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys. Chocolate rain!"

"Not. Worth it," Chronicle shut her up.

Twilight slid up to Celestia. "Don’t listen to her, Princess. We’d be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again."

Stepping up to the closed doors, Celestia inserted her horn into a hole bored through the center of the gold starburst. As something naughty flashed in the mind of the sole stallion in the area, she hit it with a quick shot of magic and backed away. Vivid blue light shone around the sunburst’s outline and spread along the seams that split the doors radially into six panels. Machinery began to grind as the camera zoomed out and two columns of three blue spots each lit up on the doors, one by one. The blue brilliance spilled outward from the doors, washing over Celestia, and one swift flash later they were standing wide open.

Inside the vault was a jeweled lockbox on a pedestal within. Rarity shuddered up on seeing it. "Oooooh…You can keep the Elements. I’ll take that case!"

"Have no fear, ponies. I have total confidence that you will be able to defeat Discord…" On the end of this, she levitated the box forward. "…with these."

When the lid flipped open, the contents were framed in full detail: absolutely nothing. A round of gasps from the seven Ponyville residents shocked Celestia into letting it hit the floor. The thud echoed prominently in the silent hall.

Chronicle was the first to break the silence. "With… what, Your Majesty?" he asked, uncertainty in his tone.

Pinkie was the second to get any words out, in her usual cheerful tone. "Oh, well." She began to trot away. "If anyone needs me, I’ll be outside in the chocolate puddles with a giant swizzle straw!"

SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

[A/N: Due to the video not being available, please look for (and envision) Digimon Adventure's second eyecatch.]

{Seven cards fly in from varying directions as if dropped onto a table, depicting the following in the following order: Twilight Sparkle, Chronicle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy.}

{The seven cards then shine into white and form together into something else: A picture depicting the seven together, the mares with their Elements of Harmony. In the center is Twilight Sparkle. Clockwise from the top are Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Chronicle (with his "magic horn blade" drawn), Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. The show's logo shows up on the bottom right.}

SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

Everypony was gathered around the empty box. "The Elements! They’re gone!" Twilight said.

Celestia meanwhile was pacing about. "That chamber is protected by a powerful spell that only I can break! This doesn’t make sense."

Suddenly, a fruity, malicious laugh asserted itself in the hall, giving way to a male voice whose unctuous, semi-playful tone did very little to disguise the suggestion of malevolence at its core. "Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?" Instantly, Chronicle drew his "magic horn blade"

Celestia instantly went serious. "Discord! Show yourself!"

Another contemptuous laugh rolled around the vaulted ceiling. "Did you miss me, Celestia?" The window depicting him pulling strings flashed, then the draconequus image began to move and speak in this voice. "I’ve missed you." He then leaped away, his form disappearing past the edge as if on a 'screen', and appeared in the next window—the ponies gathered around the jewels that represented the Elements. "It’s quite lonely being encased in stone, but you wouldn’t know that, would you? Because I don’t turn ponies into stone!"

Chronicle gave an uncertain look at Celestia as the image ended up lounging against Fluttershy’s panel, which he tapped with a claw. "Enough! What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?" the Princess demanded.

Discord was now in his own panel at the top. "Oh, I just borrowed them for a teensy little while." A snap caused the jewels to disappear from the center of the design.

Celestia stomped with one hoof. "You’ll never get away with this, Discord!"

Discord just reclined on their pedestal. "Oh, I’d forgotten how grim you can be, Celestia. It’s really quite boring."

Rainbow took offense at this. "Hey! Nopony insults the Princess!" She launched a flying charge at the window, but he disappeared an instant before she smacked into the glass. Once she got her eyes refocused and peeled herself loose, he reappeared—now large enough to block most of the picture. Chronicle just remained on the defensive, prepared to act on the slightest act of offense.

"Oh! You must be Rainbow Dash, famed for her loyalty—the Element of Harmony you represent."

"That’s right! I’ll always be loyal to the Princess!"

Discord vanished. "We’ll see about that."

Rarity, standing before the window that depicted Celestia and Luna defeating him(but he was gone from the center), said, "I can’t believe we’re wasting our time talking to a tacky window."

He reappeared at its base. "The beautiful Rarity, representing the Element of generosity, if I’m not mistaken."

Applejack walked up. "So you know who we are. Big deal."

He grew to full size. ""Oh, I know much more than that, honest Applejack."

"You seem to know our strengths too," Twilight said.

He then popped over to the window of the six, appearing in small size atop Fluttershy’s panel. "Yes, Twilight Sparkle. And yours is the most powerful and elusive Element—magic. Fluttershy’s is kindness—" The yellow pegasus’s eyes popped when she was mentioned. "—and Pinkie Pie’s is a personal favorite of mine—laughter." Pinkie had a hoof to her mouth to stifle the giggles that mingled with his.

Twilight was naturally annoyed. "Pinkie!"

She began to laugh full force. "He’s standing on your head!"

As a matter of fact, he was. He was dancing even, akin to a "shuffle". "And Chronicle," he continued. "Is the one guy in the group who makes up for his lack of Element of Harmony with remarkable fighting prowess and clear head." The stallion just twitched his eye a bit from this.

"Stop stalling, Discord!" Celestia cut him off. "What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?"

"Oh, so boring, Celestia, really! Fine, I’ll tell you, but I’ll only tell you my way."

He vanished with a flash, then began his riddle as he weaved among the mirrors.

"To retrieve your missing Elements,
Just make sense of this change of events.
Twists and turns are my master plan,"

He returned to the window in which he first 'came to life'.

"Then find the Elements back where you began."

One last flash left him in stained-glass immobility again, his unsettling chuckle echoing and dying out as Twilight, Applejack, Chronicle, and Fluttershy stepped up.

"Can we go home now?" the pegasus asked as the stallion recited the riddle in full to himself.

"What do you reckon he meant?" mused the earth pony. "Twists and turns and endin’ back where we started?"

Twilight walked toward a window as she mused on the riddle as well. "Twists and turns…twists and turns…" She ended up at a spot that gave an excellent vantage point of the hedge maze. After staring out over the green walls and the gloomy gray sky, it hit her. "Twists and turns! That’s it! I bet Discord hid the Elements in the palace labyrinth!"

"Good luck, my little ponies," Celestia said as she bowed to everypony, who bowed in return. "The fate of Equestria is in your hooves." The regal pony actually bowed twice, inclining her head so that her horn swung down close to each of Twilight’s shoulders as if she were using a sword to knight her.

"Thanks, Princess. We won’t let you down."

[screen mode]

{Screen shifts into black background with a blue column in the center that shows Chronicle's back.}

Chronicle: All right, everypony! {He turns around, showing a determined face as the blue column slims.} Let's do this!

{Six more columns of coat-matching colors fly in from the top or bottom, showing the others. Starting from the right is Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, then Applejack. Starting from his left is Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity.}

Rest: Right!

{Barn door wipe to the seven ponies now outside the castle and in a hurry.}

[end screen mode]

"Twilight! Are you absolutely sure they're in the labyrinth?" Chronicle asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. Twists and turns, remember?"

"Yeah, but another answer came to me, and I was thinking of heading off there while I leave a couple of magical clones with you."

"We need you with us Chronicle," his charge protested. "If Discord could remove the Elements of Harmony from the vault, who knows what else he can do? If it comes to a fight, you're our best hope. Why not send clones to wherever you plan on going?"

"Because where I plan to go is too far for them to take without risk of dissipation. But I'll defer to your judgment for the time being, for I am your bodyguard." His face hardened. "Don't make me regret it. This is a crisis more serious than Nightmare Moon, and we have no room for errors."

Twilight gulped nervously at this, but her attention was redirected upon seeing the maze entrance, which was imposing and adorned with flying banners that adorn it. A collective gasp is heard from the mares as they all stopped before it.

Fluttershy was terrified. "W…we have to go in there?"

Rainbow walked forward. "Nope," she said as she flapped her wings. "Dopey Discord forgot about these babies!" She went airborne. "I’ll just do a quick flyover and we’ll have the Elements in no time."

I have a bad feeling about this. Chronicle's fears proved true when a sudden flash of light left no trace of “these babies” on her flanks. All her forward momentum then went bye-bye, leaving her to drop like a ton of blue bricks.

"My wings!"

Fluttershy promptly lost hers as well, prompting a yelp, and a double flash stripped both unicorn mares of their horns.

"Your horn!...My horn!" they both gasped, then screamed at the realization.

Chronicle braced himself for the loss of his own horn as well…but for some reason, it never came.

A ball of light suddenly appeared at the maze entrance, and solidified into Discord, who straightened his mismatched body up to full height as lightning forked across the sky. After his exultant laughter died out, he leaned down to point at the ponies with his lion-paw foreleg. His bushy eyebrows and goat beard are white, the eyes are beady and red with yellow scleroses, and one was slightly bugged out.

"You…you should see the looks on your faces! Priceless!" he said giddily, then giggled.

"Give us our wings and horns back!" Twilight demanded.

"You’ll get them back in good time." He then teleport over to Applejack, then nudged her flank as he continued. "I simply took them to ensure there’s no cheating." He slithered to the pegasi, then to Twilight. "You see, this is the first rule of our game—no flying, and no magic."

Rainbow was unnerved at this. "The…first rule?"

He rested on the nearest hedge, "The second rule is, everypony has to play, or the game is over—and I win." Suddenly, he noticed something and frowned upon seeing it; Chronicle still had his horn. "Strange. I was sure it would be gone." He 'slithered' over to the stallion's face and everypony else turned to face the two. Discord snapped his fingers, which was apparently supposed to make something happen, but it didn't. He tried again, but still nothing. After three more snaps, he then he moved even closer, at which Chronicle responded by drawing his "magic horn blade" and swinging it at him.

Discord however managed to dodge it, then with a look of irritation, he snapped his fingers and a flash of light came and went. Chronicle was now encased in a block of jelly, but there was a small dome of empty space around the unicorn. Everyone, even Chronicle, was surprised at this, though they showed it in varying levels. "Oh, now I see," the draconequus said.

"See what?" asked the stallion.

"For reason even I cannot comprehend, your boy friend seems to possess immunity to my powers." He then snapped his fingers again, and the jelly moved towards him, shoving Chronicle with it as his rear end met the food substance. When he stopped moving it, the unicorn tumbled. "Some immunity, anyway."

Twilight was quick to ask. "why didn't you tell us about this, Chronicle?"

"I'm just as new to this as you are!"

"Regardless…" Discord continued as he then hovered into the air. "You Chronicle are still under the rules. And since I can't actually stop you from using magic… should you actually use it to make crossing this maze easier, you all lose. Good luck, everypony! "

He then winked out with one last laugh, also dismissing the jelly, to Chronicle's relief and Pinkie's irritation as she was about to east it. Instantly, Fluttershy dropped into a fearful huddle on the grass.

"Never fear, girls," Twilight said as Chronicle helped the 'pegasus' up. "We have each other."

"Yeah!" Rainbow agreed. "Like Twilight said, there’s nothing we can’t overcome if we all stick together."

Applejack and Fluttershy traded reassuring smiles, and Pinkie and Rarity did the same while standing behind Rainbow. As they took up positions before the entrance, Chronicle had something to say. "All right, girls. Let’s do this."

"Together!" the mares said as they all took one step ahead… Just as Chronicle realized something to his horror.

"WAIT!"

But it was too late. They were all startled into an assortment of panicked responses by the hedges that suddenly shot up from the ground to wall one off from the next, though Chronicle managed to stay with Twilight. As it was, they have been split up into six parallel lanes; in addition to that, another hedge had sprung up behind to cut off their retreat.

"Stay calm, girls!"

"Dammit, I figured this would happen!" cursed Chronicle.

"Everypony head to the middle as fast as you can and we’ll regroup there!"

"Moving out!" Rainbow responded.

"See you in the center!" Rarity.

"Yee-haa!" Applejack.

"See you guys there!" Pinkie.

"WAIT!!!" Chronicle, louder this time. Thankfully they haven't took off yet. "Hold on a minute, girls. Given what we've seen Discord do, anything—and I mean anything—can happen! I'm sure he will trick you with his powers, and will stop at nothing to make us fail! So before we go, I want to make sure this is absolutely clear!"

"What?" asked Applejack.

"Stop for nothing, no matter how much it catches your attention. Stop for nobody, no matter what they say. Let nothing make you stray from your path. If you see me and I give the Signal, you will know it's really me."

The Signal was a trust system he 'established' ever since seeing that foreboding fortune from Moonbow Peek back at the Gala. It works by one of them saying a phrase specific to them, then he would whisper to their ear something they know nobody else knows that he caught via Surveillance. This was the first time they would actually implement it in action, though.

He would know if it the friend he sees is them using Surveillance. Also, he has a special sense that tells him if someone is disguising themselves via means outside clothes, posture, and mannerisms. "Applejack, am I clear?"

"Yeah!"

"Pinkie Pie!"

"Okie-dokie-lokie!"

"Rarity!"

"Crystal clear!"

"Rainbow Dash!"

"Loud and clear!"

"Fluttershy!"

No response.

"For Celestia's sake, Fluttershy, speak up!"

Her reply was faint, but from what little he could hear, he was able to tell that she understood.

"All right! Elements! Move out!"

With that Chronicle ran along the path, Twilight with him. Presumably, the others were on the move too, although he guessed that Fluttershy would stick back for a while before finding her nerve and going as well.

C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—D—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—D

"What made you say all that Chronicle?" Twilight asked as they made their way through the maze.

"Let's just say story books often have words of advice in between the lines and leave it at that, okay?"

"Okay. I thought fighting was the only thing you're more experienced at than the rest of us. I didn't expect you know a lot more than that."

"Well, I did mention a couple of times my various adventures. I've traveled the world through Request Board requests and some of my past charges traveled around as well. Battling isn't the only thing I'm good at. It goes to show what you can learn when you see the world."

"I see." Twilight decided to change the subject. "Say, how are you immune to Discord's magic? From that dome of space around you while you were in the jelly, it seems to have a specific range that encompasses you and your immediate vicinity."

Chronicle turned away. "I…honestly don't know." What did the Story Crew put on me without me knowing? And why didn't they tell me?

"Oh."

Just then, they stumbled into some kind of puzzle in one of the hedge walls. It was one of those sliding panel types, where one has to slide them to form a picture. It was a three-by-three depicting Applejack.

Before Chronicle could focus his aura on one panel, Twilight beat him to it by sliding them with her hoof, since she lacked hers. The stallion gave a sigh of relief, as he had difficulty dealing with that kind. In eleven seconds flat, it was instantly solved and a mild rumble ensued before stopping.

"Strange. I was expecting something else to happen," said Twilight.

"If my guess on Discord is right, it's that things never go as expected when it comes to this game of his." With that, they continued traversing the maze. All of a sudden however, as they were about to turn a corner, an image of Applejack flashed in his mind and his legs started to buckle, as if they were unable to hold his weight. Twilight was quick to steady him.

"What's wrong?"

Chronicle gave a sigh as his legs continued to buckle. "I haven't told you guys yet, but I think I have attained a special kind of sense, something like the Pinkie Sense."

"Seriously?"

"I have no other way of explaining it. I'm still getting used to it myself and so I won't be able to answer all your questions, but from what I'm able to deduce, an image of somepony, one of you six, flashes in my mind, then something in my body reacts, each different depending on the pony, and then whatever is happening to them then happens to me for a short while.

"For Fluttershy, I think my heart begins to beat out of rhythm. For Rarity, my eyes begin to feel sore, as if something hot was placed on them. For you, my horn sparks magic. And for Pinkie Pie, my tail twitches."

"What about Rainbow Dash?"

"I haven't experienced any signs for her yet."

"Applejack?"

"I think I just experienced it right now." Suddenly, a migraine came up in Chronicle's head and he began to try and rub it off. "Nnnh…"

"What's wrong?"

The feeling faded quickly as the two then turned the corner and resumed running, swearing they could hear voices. "This sign. I haven't experienced this before. I don't know what misfortune could have befallen her."

As they ran, a section of hedge to their right slid open like some sort of hi-tech door. While Twilight passed it before noticing, Chronicle instantly stopped at where it opened, turned, and gasped as his charge backed up to join him.

On the other side was Applejack in an empty clearing within the maze, but he could see something was wrong. Her entire form, hat included, seemed to take on a faded, washed-out tone. Due to her facing away from them, he couldn't tell if the same went for her eyes.

"Applejack! Thank goodness!" Twilight said as the two walked over to her. "I thought I heard voices over here. Who were you talking to?"

The farmpony glanced at them before speaking up. "I was talkin’ to, uh…nopony! Nopony whatsoever." The movement of her head revealed that her eyes were faded as well. As soon as the last two words were out of her mouth, she cut her eyes from side to side and avoided looking at either of them straight on, all the while keeping her lips firmly clamped shut.

Twilight was in a state of great disbelief. "What?"

"Nothin'." Applejack passed them by. "Come on, uh, we best be goin’."

Chronicle furrowed his brows as Twilight spoke to herself. Hmm…something's definitely wrong with her. And I bet Discord's behind it. But how do I fix this?This is beyond my capabilities.

C—TS—A—C—TS—A—C—TS—A—C—TS—A

As the now-trio continued on, for some reason, Chronicle was feeling a little uneasy around Applejack and it didn't seem to be fading away anytime soon. And so he now walked ahead of his friends as he scanned the hedges, ground, and sky for anything suspicious.

"Chronicle. I'm pretty sure you didn't have that…" She tried and failed to make a name for it. "…'Sense' of yours before meeting us. But…where did it come from?"

"Like I said, I don't know. But my personal theory is that I somehow acquired this… magical bond to the Elements of Harmony and its keepers. How or why I cannot say, but I'm guessing my indirect exposure to them when you girls activated them to stop Nightmare Moon is one factor. It's still a theory though."

"Oh." There was silence for a few more seconds before she had another idea. ""Hey, why don't you use…you know…"

He understood the message immediately; still walking, he took out Surveillance, but not all the way out of his pocket as he doesn't want Discord to know, and 'opened' the 'screen'. Everything seemed normal enough, but when he decided to check on Pinkie Pie, instead of what her camera is seeing, or even 'static', there was a red-and-yellow swirly pattern behind Discord's face and waggling lion paw.

"Ah-ah-aah… no cheating," he was taunting. "Ah-ah-aah… no cheating."

What the ████?! He's hacked into Surveillance?!

"Chronicle?" Twilight asked. "What am I hearing over there?"

He turned to face them as he put it away and said, "Surveillance is not working. Somehow, he was able to hack into my cameras on you. Thankfully, the cams don't seem to be susceptible to his effects like me." Suddenly, after an image of Pinkie Pie flashed in his mind, his tail began to twitch, almost in the same manner as her when her Pinkie Sense goes off.

"Uh, is Chronicle bein' the new Pinkie Pie?" inquired Applejack.

"No," answered Twilight. "For some time now, he possesses some kid of…Sense like the Pinkie Sense that goes off whenever something bad is happening to us. Right now, from what he told me, something's happening to Pinkie." And then another migraine occurred in Chronicle's head and he put a hoof to his head to try and alleviate the pain. Despite this, he continued walking. "However, he can't seem to figure out just is apparently happening to her."

"Girls!" he suddenly gasped, the headache gone once again. "Follow me!" He started to gallop off, and the two mares followed suit, though Applejack seemed to do it with less urgency in her mind. By the time they caught up with him, he was in front of an entrance to a courtyard, which was barred by…balloons? And he was trying to burst them with 'shurikens', but to no avail.

The two of them reached him and looked curiously as he continued trying to burst them.

"Happy? I don’t think so," Pinkie could be faintly heard. Then the balloons started to pop, finally revealing her. To Chronicle's worry, she looked…washed out, just like Applejack.

Twilight however didn't seem to notice. "Pinkie Pie!" she said as she galloped in. Are we glad to see you!"

"Oh, you are, huh? Why?" Pinkie scornfully replied as she trotted past her. "Need a good laugh?"

"Pinkie?" The not-so-pink pony exited past Applejack and Chronicle, who stayed at the entrance. Twilight trotted back to them. "What do you suppose has her so upset? It’s not like her."

"I didn’t notice anything strange about Pinkie," Applejack instantly replied, doing her shifty-eye bit again before walking out.

"Weird." She then headed off, Chronicle following. "Better pick up the pace before the stress of this gets the better of all of us."

"I don't think it's just stress," the stallion said as he frowned at this revelation. "Something is definitely going on. And I'm certain Discord is behind this. Didn't you see how different they looked?"

"No."

"What?!" Before she could answer her, he turned away, thinking, Did Discord influence her vision or perception? It must be. He had no evidence to this matter, but he had a feeling that was the case. And that he might actually be more right than he thought.

C—TS—A—PP—C—TS—A—PP—C—TS—A—PP

Chronicle began distancing himself a bit further from his friends as he continued leading the way. He stopped at a fork in the path they were currently on, seeing three potential ways. As his friends caught up to him, he cast a spell and summoned three magical clones near him. Unfortunately for him, three bolts of lightning emerged from the paths and instantly vaporized them, startling the unicorns, though the earth ponies seemed unfazed.

"Well, there goes scouting ahead," he grumbled in disappointment. "Which path do you suggest we should take? And no splitting up."

Twilight took this in consideration before finally deciding… "Right." As the four took the right-hoof path, just as they turned two corners, an image of Rarity flashed in his mind and his eyes felt like hot coals were shoved into them. Of course, he cried out in pain.

"What's up with him?" demanded Pinkie.

"It's another sign," Twilight explained. "Chronicle has ability that works like your Pinkie Sense, except it predicts something bad happening to any of us. Right now, it seems to be that something's going to happen to Rarity." Just as she finished her sentence, the stallion doubled over as another migraine took him. Despite this, he continued walking. However, it could be seen that it was taking its toll as this headache lasted longer than the last two. "Chronicle!"

The instant she called his name, the headache cleared, though he was left a bit woozy. "Don't worry. I'm okay." He then noticed that they were now in front of a rock wall. On it was a series of sliding panels on a wide space, rhombus-shaped symbols akin to Rarity's cutie mark, and a rod seemingly stuck to another panel. It reminded him of a puzzle he used to play back home called sokoban.

"Now how do we solve this thing?" asked Twilight. As it was, the puzzle was too big for her to complete by hooves alone.

"Leave it to me." Using his telekinesis, Chronicle used the panel-with-a-stick to move the "box" panels into the "marked" spaces. In twenty seconds, the second he placed the last "box" onto the last "mark", the wall started to crack, then it collapsed in a belch of dust, revealing—

"Rarity! Are we glad to see—" She cut herself off in shock as she and the others saw that the ex-unicorn—now faded as well—was looking greedy and… "Why are you carrying a humongous boulder?"

Rarity flipped it off her back, then said, "What do you mean, boulder?" She then started stroking it. "This big, beautiful, bedazzling rock is a diamond! And it’s all mine." She then zips up with it on her back. "Keep your envious little eyes off it! I found it and it’s mine, fair and square!"

She began to haul it away, followed by Applejack and a hunkered-down Pinkie, and Twilight’s and Chronicle's concern grew by a few orders of magnitude as they moved out.

Things are getting worse. We have to stop Discord as soon as possible.

C—TS—A—R—PP—C—TS—A—R—PP—C—TS—A—R—PP

As the group continued walking, Chronicle no longer distanced himself from them. Now, he made sure the boulder with them impeded them as little as possible. Without her knowing it, he cast a "decrease weight" spell on the boulder.

"Dammit," he said to himself as he now 'led' the group with Twilight beside her. "I receive a headache, then we encounter a lying Applejack. I get another, and then we see a grumpy Pinkie Pie. Another headache later—granted, a longer one—and we see Rarity with her big rock."

"It's a diamond!" Apparently, she heard him.

"Which is a shiny and precious rock, but a rock nonetheless. I don't think this is all just a coincidence. I think—no, I'm sure Discord is behind their changed behaviours, Twilight."

He then paused in his step as he felt his heart beat faster than normal and an image of another friend flashed in his mind, filling him with intense worry. "Oh no. We have to hurry and find the others before—AAAGH!"

Instead of a mere migraine, it was something he could only describe as a mental attack. And this 'attack' forced him to rear up as he put his front hooves to his head, trying to contain the intense pain. Three seconds later, it was over and he fell to the ground.

"Chronicle! Are you okay?!" gasped Twilight.

"He's fine," said Applejack, uncaring.

"Yeah. I'll be," Chronicle agreed as he righted himself. "If my guess is right. Another of our number has fallen, and I think she has been changed with brute force…" His eyes widened on seeing something at a dead end. Immediately, he got up, and ran straight for it. On reaching it, he saw on the wall was a space he figured was for placing jigsaw puzzle pieces and on the ground were said pieces depicting—

"Whats going on?" his charge asked as she and their friends walked over to him.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" He entered a state of panic as he began to 'pick up' the pieces and began completing the puzzle. Several times he 'dropped' a few, only to pick them up again as he frantically put them all together. In thirty-seven seconds, he finished the puzzle. The instant the final piece was placed, the dead end retracted into the ground, revealing—

"No… no… no…" he sputtered out, his hearing and sight turning blurry. Before he passed out from the revelation, he had time for one depressing thought. They got her.

C—TS—A—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—R—F—PP

Eyecatch (picture-type) - The "core" Timer family posed together. In the center are a stern Record Keeper (in his earth pony form) with a golden aura and a beaming Ebony Spell ready to cast an ice spell. Positioned below them are their children. From left to right, Mystic Wand casting a fire spell, Timerity with a hoof up and her "cat claw" spell in action, Chronicle with his "magic horn blade" drawn, and Blue Diary hovering with his swords ready. The show's logo is seen on the lower left.

C—TS—A—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—R—F—PP

Chronicle slowly came to…and found himself being dragged by the tail, which was held by a lasso.

Once he was completely awake, he saw that it was Twilight pulling him instead of Applejack, and the former unicorn seemed to be carrying the boulder in addition to that.

"Must…find…Rainbow Dash," he heard Twilight say in a grunted tone, "As a team…we’re…unstoppable. Rainbow Dash won’t let us…down."

"Huh?" he managed to sputter out as he quietly slipped out of the loop and got himself upright.

"You're awake!" Twilight gasped weakly as he caught up to them, then turned to face her.

"Let me help you with that." He cast another "decrease weight" spell on the boulder.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." He turned to face ahead again, only to see their 'changed' friends. They had found Fluttershy, but her appearance stung something fierce in him and he couldn't afford to look at her and thus turned back to Twilight. "Please tell me this is all a nightmare, I can't go on with her being so nasty. Please oh please wake me up."

"Chronicle, I truly wish this were all a nightmare, I really do. But I need you with me. More than ever. If Discord's really as powerful as he shows himself to be, you and Rainbow Dash are our only chance if it comes down to a fight, you especially since you're somehow immune to his magic."

"Yeah…" Just then, he felt a pulling sensation on his back. Notably, for some reason, he realized that it was on the part where his wings would protrude from were he a pegasus. It felt like invisible wings he knew he doesn't have were being pulled. "Oh no. The last sign."

"Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah. She's next." Right after that, he felt another headache, but he didn't try and massage it off as he stopped walking and grunted.

"Oh, is Chronicle actually hopelessly frail on the inside?" once certain voice teased. This voice made him feel worse.

"Stop it, Fluttershy," Twilight scolded.

Once the headache finally stopped, he spoke in a quiet and despaired tone. "We're too late."

"What's too late?"

"He's got Rainbow Dash."

"Who?"

"Discord. Who else?"

"How do you know?"

"I don't. But I can't find any other culprit. Unfortunately, there's nothing more we can do for her."

"Well, looky there," said Applejack as the two still-normal ponies caught up. "Rainbow Dash is flyin’ away. She’s abandonin’ us!"

"Now I know that’s a lie," Twilight said as she flipped the boulder off her back and looked up, though, she gasped as she (and Chronicle) found that the suddenly dishonest farmer was telling it straight for once; indeed, Rainbow (faded like the rest) was soaring overhead and out of the maze to disappear into the clouds. "How can it be?"

"Game over, man, game over." Chronicle sunk deeper into despair as the entire maze shook and a layer of even darker gray clouds moved in to cover every square inch of sky. Blocks of hedges swiftly retracted into the ground, throwing up curtains of dust in all directions. When these cleared, the group found themselves in the middle of a wide tract of bare earth.

"Well, well, well," Discord said as he emerged from the dust. "Somepony broke the “no wings, no magic” rule." A finger snap put Twilight’s and Rarity’s horns and Fluttershy’s wings back where they belong. "Game’s over, my little ponies!" He leaned over Twilight for a moment. "You didn’t find your precious Elements." He produced a pink umbrella that meowed softly when he opened it—the canopy opening upside down on the shaft, so that it would catch rain instead of letting it run off. "Looks like we might be due for a big old storm of chaos."

Lightning ripped the sky as he laughed crazily and Twilight stared in total disbelief. As for Chronicle, he was now in a sorry state as he stared blankly into space. If the Elements of Harmony cannot stop him, there's nothing we can do. Well, I can call for something to take care of this, but I would break protocol if I do it. Will it be worth the risk?

Discord continued laughing even as he then 'put away' his umbrella, then fell all over himself before a confounded Twilight as he eared drooped and her face ready to hit the floor.

Pinkie suddenly popped up in front to address him very sourly. "And what are you laughing at?"

The draconequus wiped a tear from one eye. "Oh, you ponies are just the most fun I’ve had in eons!"

She got in his face and poked him with a hoof. "Well, quit it! You’d better think before you laugh at the Pink…ie Pie!"

At Chronicle's peripheral, if he were noticing it, Rarity was now guarding her boulder—oh sorry, diamond. If he were listening too, he would have been hurt at what Fluttershy said.

"Oh, yeah? Well, ha, ha!"

Pinkie zipped over to her. "Quit it!"

"No. Ha, ha!"

Pinkie covered her ears. "QUIT IT!!"

"No. Ha-ha-ha, ha, ha!"

Meanwhile, Applejack sidled out from behind the boulder. "Uh, Rarity?" The unicorn wheeled to face her. "This here diamond of yours?" She traced along its surface. "Twilight said we should split it six—no, seven ways since we, uh, found it together."

Rarity just hit her with a flying kick. "Hai-yah! Try it, punk! He’s mine! All mine!" She threw herself at the dishonest pony, forcing her to back up past Twilight before a flurry of strikes.

"Girls, why are you all acting like this?" she asked. "We need to stick together!"

How can she be so dense? Chronicle thought as he tilted his head to the ground and covered his ears so as not to hear Fluttershy speak such harsh words. It's obvious that Discord's involved. Why isn't she seeing it? I bet he muddled her perception along the way. That or only I can see it due to what I really am. He looked up and glared at the draconequus, who was now sitting in a row of movie theater seats with a box of popcorn.

"It’s just too entertaining," he said as he ate.

"Stop it, Discord!" Twilight said. "You’re not playing fair!"

"I’m not playing fair? Perhaps we haven’t met." He stood up. "I’m Discord. Spirit of chaos and disharmony?" He leaned into her face. "Hel-looo?" Then he backed off and returned to his seat, examining the claws on his lion foreleg.

"How are we supposed to find the Elements of Harmony when you took away the labyrinth before we could get to the end?!?"

Her query brought a slightly surprised look from him. "Oh, wait. Did you…" He started to guffaw. "How funny! You thought the Elements were in the labyrinth?"

As he and Twilight disappeared in a flash, the riddle he provided came to Chronicle's mind.

To retrieve your missing Elements,
Just make sense of this change of events.
Twists and turns are my master plan,
Then find the Elements back where you began.

It finally came to him as he was snapped out of his slump. He was willing to consider it as a Plan B before, but now he was absolutely sure. The Elements of Harmony were in Ponyville! With that answer in mind, and with no time to waste, he teleported without a word. As that happened, Applejack saw him do so, and would tell Twilight that he had abandoned them just as Rainbow did.

C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—D—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—D

Chronicle emerged at the entrance to Canterlot, but whatever it was now he would never know as he was focused on getting to Ponyville. There were reasons he decided to go off on his own. One, he realized he wasn't that much of a team player. Two, he couldn't stand being with whoever had 'replaced' Fluttershy, not to mention the rest of their friends. Three, he didn't think the Elements would work with their current bearers. And four, he was mad at Twilight for her drastic mistake.

Dammit, Twilight. Why didn't you think the riddle through completely? I asked you if you were completely sure, and you said you were. Now, thanks to you, our friends have fallen to Discord's magic.

She wasn't the only he was mad at though, aside from Discord. He was also mad at himself, for not being fast enough to stop them from going in. For not being assertive enough to keep opposing her in her plan. For not being fast enough to save his friends from Discord's mind-altering spell he was sure he used.

He wouldn't admit it to himself, but given reason number three, he has losing faith in the Elements. He was going to take matters in his own hooves.

He was currently using a combination of running and long range teleportation to get there. However, he was thrown off when after emerging from a teleport it was suddenly nighttime. He immediately 'braked' at that, almost thinking he accidentally traveled across time, and was lucky to do so as several banana peels blossomed all over the road. And they were all fresh. With that in mind, he then continued running—and didn't slip one bit.

"Darn it, I thought that would get you," a familiar voice came.

Chronicle didn't turn as he addressed Discord, who was jogging with bunny slippers that barked with every step as he could see from his peripheral. "My feet are more steady than anypony's," he replied. "Also, you used the 'wrong' bananas."

"And what exactly are the 'right' bananas, hmm?" the draconequus asked as he decided to 'sail' right next to the unicorn, who teleported away in response. He teleported right for where he emerged though—as the sky turned into day again.

"You figure it out. Now leave me alone." He launched a 'shuriken' at Discord, who casually dodged it.

"Oh, you're just like Celestia. So grim."

"I am nothing like her!" He teleported again, only for it to turn into night by the time he re-emerged. And Discord managed to follow him still.

"Of course you're not." He snapped his talon and the path ahead turned into an ice course. And the sky turned into night again. "Watch your step."

The unicorn responded by jumping, 'taking out' his river serpent-scale shield from "hammerspace" underneath him instead of beside as usual, and landing on it as he entered the ice path.

"Ooh." The draconequus was impressed with Chronicle's course of action and his suddenly revealed expertise in ice surfing. He decided to mix things up a bit by 'conjuring' all sorts of silly obstacles. It turns out the unicorn didn't have that much skill in ice surfing after all as he just blasted through anything that needed more than just hanging on. Getting bored, he decided to teleport away to mess with somepony else.

As much as he hated Discord right now, Chronicle had to admit that the ice course was fun. That mood instantly ended upon finally seeing Ponyville.

It was now in a state that would make any "seventies" surrealist painter swear off anything stronger than orange juice. Trees and buildings were on floating midair islands. the town square pavilion was completely uprooted and hovering upside down. Bright pink water was in the stream at the border. Separate pastel blue and pink checkerboard patterns covered different stretches of ground. Houses were plunked on crazy-quilt hills. And there were clouds over the whole town, but only one section was getting rained on; a faded lime-green sky.

At the sight of the drastically changed town, he remembered his 'task' and made a sworn oath to himself. "If it's the last thing I do, Discord will go down for this. That's a promise!"

To be continued…

Comments

[Braumeister]

Shisno? You named your character after the smelliest thing in the universe who when it takes a dump, what it dumps also takes a dump?

Does nobody else remember Red VS Blue anymore?

[Warrior Kitten]

3203043
His character isn't named shisno! Read the story!

[nightelf37]

3201129
You're wrong on "Guardians of Magic"
3203043
Yeah I don't know what got into me when I first used that word on my first "Shisno Chronicles", which covered "Avatar: The Last Airbender". Despite its meaning, I thought it was a cool word.
3203085
Single quote. And sorry. I'll try and reduce it to just the telekinesis parts.

[Braumeister]

3203233
Why don't you chill out a bit and breathe. I don't need you getting hysterical. I don't care if it's his name or not. Fact remains that that is the first thing I thought of when this story popped up. You're acting like I shot your dog or poisoned your goldfish or something. It was just an observation.

3207410
Cool word or not, you'll understand my confusion.

[Warrior Kitten]

3207975
Jesus, I didn't mean to imply that when I used those exclamation marks! I actually don't remember why I used them in the first place. The consequences of commenting on stories at 11pm