Previous Chapters Next
Close
A Proposition1,826 words
A... Date?1,891 words
Dressup2,056 words
Showtime1,513 words
A Whole New World1,252 words
The First Clue1,634 words
The River1,289 words
Adventure Unfolds1,614 words
Bonus Chapter A Night Under the Stars244 words
Morning Mysteries1,779 words

A Whole New World

There was a voice... a faraway voice that was distorted and weird... I couldn't understand what it was saying. I groaned, trying to move away from it. All of my joints ached, and it turned out that I couldn't move at all. The voice was getting closer, and louder. I could almost make it out, now.

"Rainbow! Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo was shaking me, screaming at me to wake up.

I opened my eyes lazily, muttering something that probably sounded really intelligent.

"Oh, Rainbow!" Thank Celestia you're awake!" She hugged me tight as I tried to sit up.

"W-where's Soarin?" I stuttered, scanning the land for any sign of him.

"Uh..." Scootaloo looked unsure.

"Scoots, where is Soarin?" I demanded firmly.

"Over here," Scootaloo murmured, leading me toward the black-painted body of Soarin.

"I don't know how it happened. He-- he just... I don't know..." Scootaloo seemed near hysteria.

I approached him, worried about what I might find. He was still unconscious, and sprawled on ground uncomfortably. His mouth hung open, and his tongue looked dry. His mouth must have been open like that for a while.

But that wasn't the problem. Sticking out of his scruffy mane was a pointy, black object that I was sure I had removed. A horn.

I bent down, parting his hair to get a look at where the horn connected to his head.

"It's real..." I mumbled in disbelief, "It's attached. But that can't be possible, he can't--"

"But he is," Scootaloo interrupted, "He's a unicorn. And do you know what else?"

She ruffled her hoof through the fur on his side, "It isn't paint. His coat changed color, too. It's black to the roots."

Something in the back of my mind started to panic, and I ran a hoof over my own side. The fur was clean, unpainted, but still the yellow-tan color it had been before I passed out. The same color as--

I looked back at my plot, swishing my naturally grey tail back and forth. At least, if I didn't know better, I would have thought it was natural. The famous compass rose was highlighted right there on my own flank. It was the symbol of Daring Do, and I had it now.

Scootaloo was still wearing the baseball cap, but her colors had been slightly shifted to perfectly match Small Fry's. Both colors were lighter than her natural complexion, her mane even edging on lavender. The style of her hair was even more like Babs' now, very straight and smooth.

Soarin moaned, his eyes fluttering open.

I put my hoof on his forehead. "Hey, sleeping beauty," I whispered.

"Ugh..." He sat up, blinking forcefully, trying to wake himself up, "What happened?"

"I... have no idea. But there's something you need to see."

He stood on shaking legs, taking deep breaths to steady himself, "What?"

I lead him toward a small puddle, gesturing for him to look at his refection. He looked confused, and maybe a bit worried, but he leaned over hesitantly.

"Gah!" he shrieked, short and loud. "What the--?" He sat down hard, putting both of his front hooves on his horn and pulling with all his might.

"Um, also, your wings are gone," Scootaloo told him.

He turned to face us, his eyes wide, "Are we-- I mean, did we--" he swallowed hard, not getting the proper words out.

The three of us stood there, in a place completely unfamiliar to us, just thinking. About what had happened, about how to get out of it, about all sorts of things.

Soarin was opening his mouth to say the words, when a deep chuckle resonated around us. But it actually sounded really familiar, not like I imagined Ahuizotl at all.

"W-who is that?" I stuttered, looking around for the source of the noise. The three of us instinctively formed a circle, making sure that the being couldn't sneak up on us.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash. Or should I call you Daring Do? I'm disappointed you didn't recognize my work."

"It can't be..." I mumbled.

"Surprise!" the voice shouted, and the source finally shimmered into being.

"Discord," I took a protective stance in front of Soarin and Scootaloo, "What the buck is wrong with you? You swore not to use your powers for evil ever again!"

"Aw, what a party pooper," the draconequus put on a fake frown, spinning upside down a sticking his snout in my face, "Do you really think I'd give up my marvelous chaos so easily? Plus, what I'm doing here isn't strictly evil, I'm just playing matchmaker for you two cuties." He pinched Soarin's cheek, but the unicorn pushed his claw away.

"Ew," he muttered.

"What even... why would you..." I couldn't finish any sentence I started. This made exactly zero sense, "Are you serious?"

"Now, why would I want to be serious? It's not my thing," He floated up higher.

"But... why?" I asked.

"Because I need cheap entertainment, and I can get away with this. Plus," he landed on the ground, laying on his stomach, "you three were totally asking for it. I mean, I didn't even have to think about what I wanted to do. You handed me the entire story on a silver platter."

"When are you gonna let us go?" Scootaloo shouted, trying to appear fierce.

"Ugh, you three are so... pensive," he whined, "Well, if you want the rules, I'll give them to you. Basically, this world is playing out after Daring 'Dash' Do failed to put the goblet on the sun pedestal. The timber wolf army has been released, and, as I'm pretty sure you know, they're very difficult to actually kill. Your task is to find the three pieces of the Dagger of the Whispering Blood and assemble it. It's a magic blade, and when it is put together, it will put the army back to rest. When, and only when, you complete this story will you be able to return to your normal selves.

"The pieces are hidden around the world, and each is guarded by a powerful villain. Along the way, all dangers will be very real. You can die here, and any injuries (besides to your horn, there, mister) will carry over to the real world. Any questions?"

We were silent.

He sighed, upset that we weren't playing along with his insane 'game.'

He waved his paw, and a piece of crinkled parchment appeared in mid-air, the fell in front of me, "There's you first clue, so you can find the hilt. Remember: the only way I'll take you home is if you finish my lovely little story. I will control everthing, and I'm not guaranteeing a surprise-free trip. I'll fool you every chance I get. Got that?"

More silence.

"Fine. Have fun, everypony."

1,443 views

103

Previous Chapters Next