• Published 26th Mar 2012
  • 7,066 Views, 548 Comments

Mischmasch - SpiralWriter



Come and hear the tale of an out of place creature in the seemingly perfect land of Equestria.

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 7,066

You've Got Mail

I was doing what I normally did every Friday night, a ritual I had come to enjoy ever since discovering My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, stay up till God knows when, watching a livestream on my laptop of one of those graciously never-ending mare-a-thons, trying to keep myself awake for the wonders this cartoon brought, and for the new episode awaiting me the next day. Unfortunately, I would always zero out around the midway point in the dark of early morn, only to find myself sleeping long past the time the fresh new entertainment had already aired. I would always be dissapointed with myself that I didn't have the energy to stay awake, despite the fact that I as a mere human did require sleep from time to time, and that I could find it on youtube only an hour later. This particular Friday, however, seemed different. It was only a smidge past midnight, and I was still up and about as if the day of long, minimum-wage labor before had not tired me out at all. I clicked about on the screen, multi-tasking between tabs of watching the livestreamed episode on a blurry box, chatting with a couple other of my late night shut-in buddies, and generally dicking about the internet. A loud ding from my email tab interrupted me just as I was about to insert a seemingly witty (to myself, anyway) comment about a unicorn's horn and a penis joke. I clicked over to the tab to find only one new message awaiting me in the inbox, the title only four underlined question marks, the sender unknown, and a bright red urgent icon beside it. Normally, I would be wary of such a thing. How did spam mail with a blank sender get past the junk filter I had up? Goes to show just how reliable technology was these days. Cautiously, I hovered the mouse over the question marks for a brief minute before clicking on it, the contents of the message loading onto my screen in a flash.

I expected a virus to invade my computer and deal untold amounts of digital death to my files, but no such thing happened, fortunately. My eyes spotted only a small paragraph followed by three links below it. Leaning on my elbow against the desk, I began reading.

"Imagine if you would, a perfect world, free of all of life's little sins and sufferings. Now imagine that you're living in this world now, totally free of any obligation or consequence of the reality you left behind. Would you take the chance to enter this perfect world? Click yes, or no, at the bottom of this page. Rules and restrictions do apply, only citizens within the boundaries of earth are eligible."

My sight went to the three links located at the bottom, a bold and flashing Yes and No side by side for my decision, while the third link was simple small text half the size of the above, only linking to Rules/Regulations/FAQ/Contact me.

Lazily I clicked on the third link, another window popping up in it's diminished square box size, taking much longer than needed to load. After staring at the blank white screen, I maximized it, only for a massive wall of text to appear on screen and slow down my laptop's processing. I gawked at how long the it was, I scrolled down for at least several minutes, and the bar on the side had barely gone down an inch. Whirring back up to the top, I had to at least read the first bit, just to be sure of this strange email.

"Hello! To whomever this may concern, congratulations for receiving this notification! It means you are qualified for one free trip! Not just any trip, but one to a far away land of exotic wonders and mysteries. And yes, we are quite serious, this land is perfect in it's own sense, nothing like the world you know now. Feel free to explore at your pace, speak with some of the locals, and encounter many rare and dangerous beasts! And did we mention, it's entirely free!"

Gagging inwardly at the salesman pitch, I scrolled down a tad more to catch a glimpse at the rules.

1. No refunds! All choices are final.
2. Only one trip per customer.
3. All complaints and concerns can be taken up with the sender of this email. Whenever he's in, that is.
4. Nopo-, Person, may actually complain about the trip.
5. All complainers will be banished or something.
6. Except for those with chocolate milk or a good sense of humor.
7. Scratch that. Maybe just the chocolate milk.

As I went further and further down, the rules became more and more absurd, as if the sender was making fun of the fact that they were trying to convince me to agree to the ridiculous letter.

About midway through the wall, I came upon a small link labeled contact me. I clicked on it, expecting another page for me to reply to the real sender of the email, only for a gif to pop up on screen. I let a wry smile appear on my face as an image of Discord dancing took up my screen. Obviously, whoever this sender was, they knew I was a brony, and was possibly a pal of mine. Or maybe they were just a troll, or a combination of the two.

With a blatant expression on my face, I leaned back in my chair, gazing up at the dingy ceiling fan spinning rapidly overhead, creating a cacophony of swinging metal and angry dust motes flying everywhere. It wasn't the first time I had received an odd message such as this. One wanted to know if I wished to experience true love, another asking if I wanted to aid them in retrieving funds from their banking account in some unknown country. Normally, I would simply delete the annoying fodder clogging up my inbox, but this one intrigued me somehow. It was simple, it didn't show any signs of threat or harm, and it even offered me the choice of refusal. Returning to hunching over my laptop, I shrugged."Eh, hell with it."I mumbled to myself as I slowly clicked on the yes button, holding it there for a good five seconds before releasing. What was the worst that could happen, my laptop immediately shuts down and never boots back up again? Or maybe an endless loop of the nyan cat would haunt my screen?

Oh how I wished that were true.

The instance after finishing my click, my screen flickered from black to a dim version of the email page. I tilted my head in perplexment. There wasn't a storm outside or power outage, as everything else in my room electrical was still functioning perfectly. Hovering my hands over the keyboard to try and solve the problem, in a quick flash, sparks of almost translucent electricity began playing around my laptop from source unknown. Slowly, the sparks began dancing along my keys, jumping between letters and numbers haphazardly before eventually leaping onto my hands, leaving a slight tingling sensation to play across my senses. At first, it was quite pleasant, until the energy began to intensify, increasing the flickering of my screen and the exposure to my skin. I tried to stifle a shout as the tingling became insanely hot and numbing. ohholyfrigginshiz this HURTS I screamed in my head as the current began to grow across my arms to eventually invade the rest of my whole. I was jerked to my feet by an invisible push that seemed to be working in tandem with the electricity, sending me into violent spasms that sent my arms involuntarily flailing to hit the dust-gathering trinkets on my desk, creating more so of a mess of what my room had already been. I fell to the ground along with several other items from my spastic actions, dozens of pens and a lamp landing with me in a torrent beside my ears. The pain from before was becoming something of a familiar sensation now, only spiking up in random areas over my body. I still had no control of my actions, so there I lay on the floor, looking like somebody with a seizure, trying to call for help but with no actual motor functions functioning as they should.

Slowly, the energy was trickling it's way into my head. A sharp pitch of air left my lips as dancing blue began to drill into my vision, giving way to fading darkness just as quickly. With last moments of consciousness upon me, I looked up at my laptop that had fallen into a horizontal angle on my desk, cracks forming along the screen, angry sparks flying where the glass had broken. Right before I blacked out into the drears of forced sleep, I could swear there was something moving on my screen past the cracks and images and words. But, the image eluded me as the darkness took away the last bit of light in my vision and shut down my systems. Only then did the pain stop.


"Hello-o, you still kicking, sleepy head?"

I groaned in reply, rolling to one side, scrunching up my face as soreness overcame the muscles in my stomach, urging me to continue resting to restore them back to their proper form. I just wanted to sleep for a bit longer...

"Come on now, boy, get up! Can't let Celestia's pretty day go wasted, now can we?"

"Let me sleep a bit longer, Mum..."I said half-dazed, betwixt the realm of dreams and waking.

The voice that cracked the darkness keeping me asleep suddenly became a mocking, high-pitched feminine tone."But you'll be late for school, deary! Don't want you missing the bus and failing that big math test you have today! And I even packed you a bag lunch with all your favorites!"

"Fig newtons?"I grumbled, steadily raising myself up and rubbing the sleep from my eyes. My entire body felt heavy as lead, and a constant dull pounding in the back of my head didn't make me feel any better. Who hit me last night, Rocky Balboa?

The voice switched back to it's more male-emphasized tone, suave and and almost self-righteous in it's words with a hint of sarcasm on the fringe."Yes, fig newtons."The voice deadpanned."Now get up, we need to talk."

With a sigh I stood up, eyes half open, only to stumble and fall flat on my face."You'll get used to the new legs eventually."The voice said. I titled my head up and slowly creaked my eyes open, fresh and dazzling sunlight awaiting my pupils, a tall and gaunt figure of a peculiarly shaped outline standing before me."Who're you?"I muttered as I gave another try at keeping myself steady. I half succeeded rising to my feet, only swaying about as if I was drunk. With my senses renewed, I began to take account of my surroundings. Obviously, I was dreaming, seeing as how I wasn't in my room anymore, given the landscape I now found myself in. The land was of western desert terrain with very little plantlife going on, save for a cactus or a dead brush spotting the landscape here and there. Rocky canyons outlined the horizon, and a blazing yellow sun gleamed overhead, but oddly enough, I did not feel thedry heat that should accompany such an area.

"Oh, you know,"My attention returned to the owner of the voice, the tall figure. As he stepped into view, his shadowy form dissipating, one of my eyebrows went up in wonder and the other down to question."Just the spirit of chaos itself, Lord and Master of all things ridiculous and unpleasant, Discord."The amalgamation of the animal kingdom and infamous antagonist of MLP:FiM approached me with a calm yet somewhat smarmy expression upon his face.

I was definitely dreaming. Albeit a pony-induced dream, but an awesome one at that. Maybe falling asleep, or unconscious, during an episode isn't so bad after all?

"Err...hello there...Discord."I raised my right hand to wave my fingers at him, only to find that they felt incredibly stiff, and that they clacked when they touched one another. I looked at my hand, only to find that it wasn't a hand anymore, it was a yellow palm with claws, almost avian related in appearance."You're finally beginning to notice, good! I thought I picked a daft one for a moment there."In the blink of an eye, Discord's form was no longer in front of me, rather replacing the thin air that had once been beside me, wrapping his own eagle's claw of a left arm around my neck, as if I was a good buddy to pow around with. Suffice to say, it felt awesome to have so interesting a character standing beside you, and terrifying given the fact that said character could transform you into a plant if he so wished. But this was my dream, so he couldn't hurt me, right?

"Wro-o-ong."Discord drawled out as he lazily began flicking my snout with his own claw. Wait, snout?! I didn't know whether to freak out at the fact that he could read my mind, or that I had a friggin' snout protruding from my face now.

The draconequus slithered through the air and waved his arm downwards in a dramatic flourish, a mirror appearing where nothing had been seconds earlier."Take a good look at yourself, let it all soak in."He cackled."We have about..."A pocket watch poofed into his lion's paw."Oh...thirty minutes to chat, I suppose? I'll have to rearrange my schedule...the lads down at the meeting won't be too happy about it though."

I gazed at a creature so peculiar, it could only exist in a cartoon, which apparently I was performing right now. Wherever I moved, the monster in the mirror followed. Whatever I did, it imitated. It only took seconds to sink in that the creature was me. My body remained lanky and lean, almost serpent like in construction, similar to Discord's. My face and neck was that of a dragon's, light blue scales replacing where human flesh had once been. As I leaned in for a closer examination, I began noticing the finer details. Three spikes jutted out from under my eyes, which were heterochromatic in the strangest of senses. My right eye, wide and bright, almost anime-like given the show's style, was of a stormy grey. My left, pinkish-red within the iris, the lighter side of the spectrum taking up the color. There's goes what remained of my man points, I had a pink eye now. Running down the back of my neck, large spines jutted out in a curving fashion, alternating between red, black, and a darker blue in colors. Where my elongated neck ended to meet torso, a feathered chest greeted me. Who was I, freakin' Scootaloo? My chest, along with stomach and a portion of my right arm, resembled a chicken's body. That explained my new bird-like right limb. Switching over to my left arm, I found it to be extremely heavy, and I struggled slightly to raise it. It was a bear's paw, thick brown fur covering thick and taunt muscles rippling underneath. I testily flexed it, surprised to see claws pop in and out of the four stubby digits at the end of the paw. I had a seriously mean left hook now. To end my evaluation of my new self, I examined my lower half, the two legs different as well. My left was that of a kangaroo's, the slender limb covered in a rustic reddish brown coat, the right the only pony part of me, a almost purplish-red color going down to the black hoof where my human foot should have been. Doing a 360 turn, I had a tail, a fucking tail that protruded right above my bum, matching my head in scale color and sharp, pointed ridges running down it.

I switched between looking at Discord, who was casually transforming nearby creatures unlucky enough to catch his eye into kitchen ware, and the curious being that was now me."What...what happened to me?!"I cracked out, a tad surprised to see an intimidating row of bristling fangs underneath my lips.

With me finally speaking, Discord hovered back over to me, a wide grin on his face."Isn't it glorious? I recreated you in my own image! You'll be the toast of the town, the talk of the block! The..."He paused for a moment, his ruby eyes locking onto something into the distance."Quick, give me something else witty to say."

Off in the distance, exactly in the far off spot where he was looking, a copy of Discord appear, exact in appearance and personality to him."The pony everypony should know!"The replica cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled the answer.

The Discord nearer to me shook his head."Naw!"He called back."That song's too played out! And he's only part pony anyways!"

"Oh well,"Discord numero dos shrugged.

"It's fine!"Number one replied."I'll catch you later at the after party, okay?"

"I'll be sure to save you some cake!"

"Thanks me!"

"You're welcome me!"

I shook my head in disbelief, my new found spines swaying with the movement, acting more like hair than stiff bristles. This would be very entertaining if I wasn't so confused at the moment."This is definitely the weirdest dream I ever had..."

Discord turned to look at me, his eyes lowering into an annoyed expression. He snapped his fingers, and a painful memory erupted upon my flesh, or fur...or feathers, or combination of the three. The dreaded blue sparks danced lightly upon me for a brief instant, jolting my senses."You felt that, right?"

"I nodded slowly, rubbing the spot on my forearm where I had just been electrocuted.

"Then, through the process of logical reasoning,"He gagged at the words, the very antithesis of his whole being."You are awake, as you can only truly feel something when awake. When you're asleep, it would have only emulated the sense."

Another slow nod from me as it dawned that this was no dream.

"Good!"His mood immediately perked back up."Now that we've established that you're awake, let's move onto the reason of why you're here, shall we?"

For the third time, a third nod.

"I have absolutely no idea why!"He chuckled, snapping his fingers, a glass of his signature chocolate milk flowing into existence to hover in a glass beside him."Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Where are my manners? Would you like some?"

"Yes....please?"

A second glass popped into my hand, the brown liquid flowing into it until it reached the brim. I raised it and took a dainty sip, expecting it to explode in my face at any minute. Objects did tend to randomly combust when around the spirit of disharmony himself. Finding that there was nothing imminently dangerous about the drink, I chugged it down, smiling as the cold drink did quench the unnoticed dryness in the back of my throat."So...you don't know how I got here?"I said as Discord finished drinking his own, crumpling the glass in his hand like it was paper and tossing it into a trash bin that appeared a distance away.

"Didn't you listen, boy? I said why, not how. I know exactly how you got here, I brought you in myself."He grinned toothily."Remember the email that you loftily agreed to?"

That explained the shuffling pic of him.

"And now,"He sweeped his arms about in a grand gesture."You're not in Kansas anymore, boy."

I blinked my wide eyes slowly."I'm not from Kansas."

"Funny, I like that in a person...or whatever you are now."He leaned in close so I could gaze into his yellow and red orbs, deep and twisting in their madness underlying the pupils."You're in Equestria, boy."

"I kinda figured that..."

His face dropped into that of annoyance one more."You're just ruining the whole thing! I tried to make it all dramatic and enticing, and then you had to go and say that."He backed away from me, facepawing with a sigh."Sweet Celestia, I think I did pick a dull one."

"But...you just said that you didn't know why I'm here."

"That's the whole point!"He continued speaking from his face deep in the paw."I could've brought you here to fufill you're twistedly sick 'brony' fantasies, or I could've brought you just to pick up that rock."He pointed at a small pebble by my hoof. I picked it up and examined it casually before tossing it away."Nope, wasn't that..."The hybrid shrugged, switching between emotions on the fly."Eh, doesn't reall matter. The reason for bringing you here doesn't have to truly exist..."He appeared in a flash beside me once more."Making sense is incredibly boring, after all." Another flash and he was in front of me."You're in Equestria now, kid, a perfect land populated by sickeningly sweet ponies,"A look of distaste came across his face."...And dangerous monsters of mythology."A mischievous grin replaced the frown from before.

A smile of my own began to crawl across my face."I'm in Equestria."I laughed.

"Yes, we've established that."

"With ponies!"

"Not the brightest bulb, are you?"

"And Celestia, and Luna, and Applejack-!"As I prattled on, Discord took to swimming through the air as if it were water, hovering above the ground on his back, kicking his legs every now and again to keep himself moving."And Diamond Dogs, and Zebras, and Parasprites,"I was absolutely giddy in my fanboy moment, ready to burst out of my skin with joy. Mother. Fucking. EQUESTRIA.

Discord had floated over to me. He tapped his claws together, a small spark jumping between the appendages before he tapped him, sending another course of electricity to shoot through me, seemingly his favorite form of hurting me."Now, am I going to have to continue the shock therapy?"He asked monotonously. With most of my excitement gone from the pain, I shook my head."Nope..."I mouthed.

"Good!"He flipped over, landing on his feet nimbly. With several snaps, a large desk you would find in a principal's office appeared, along with a student's own desk. Sitting himself comfortably into a swivel chair, Discord motioned for me to have a plop down in the small chair. I grudgingly agreed, forcing my larger frame to squeeze into the tiny space the seat allowed."Now, since you're here,"A chart appeared beside him, and he rolled it down."We're going to have to lay some ground rules for this arrangement I've made. You did read the rules and regulations I sent with the email, yes?"

"....Yes?"I said absentmindedly, hardly remembering anything of the long text block.

"Good! Along with those, we're going to settle three basics for your pleasurable trip to this pamby little land. Rule Number One,"He pressed his palms together then spread them apart, a yardstick growing between them. He tapped it sharply against the chart, words appearing where it touched."You can't tell anypony that I brought you here. I want to keep my glorious return a secret...for now. Still in the planning stages."He let out a menacing laugh that I tried to ignore. Despite his childish antics and cartoonish humor, I had forgotten one important thing: Discord was a god. A crazed, insane god that would try with all of his nigh-omnipotent power to plunge Equestria and any other land of this new universe I found myself in into neverending gloom and chaos. I shivered slightly and gulped. Maybe having a brony's dream fufilled wasn't so good after all.

"Rule Numbah one plus one,"Another tap interrupted my thoughts."We can't have you going around with your old name. Your human titles are so...boring!"

"Alright..."I tapped my chin with my bear paw, slowly becoming accustomed to it's great weight."How about-"

"No."

"You didn't even let me fi-"

"Nopers."

"Come on-"

"Can't let you just go choosing your own name. It'd probably be...how would you...'internet' users say it? Mary Sue-ish...or something."

"Fine."I crossed my patchwork arms."You pick it."

He stroked his goatee in a contemplative fashion before perking up."Dismay."He grinned almost maliciously.

"Very...villainesque."I played with the name in my head. Dismay...it didn't sound right. I looked the part of a draconequus, but I doubt I had any of Discord's power to screw over the laws of reality. Given the fact that I wasn't really the most evil person in the world, the word rang daftly in my ears. Dismay. I didn't like it.

"I'm so glad you agree!"

I rolled my eyes."Whatever you say."

"And finally,"A third tap to the chart at the bottom."Rule troi: You're never going home. Nada, zilch, zippo chance of any return to the place you once knew. And with that,"He snapped his fingers, every item for his classroom session dissapearing in a flash.

"So...it's a one way trip?"

"Pretty much. Unless you can convince me otherwise..."

I shrugged, feeling almost bittersweet at the fact. I would forever leave my old life behind. It sounded...selfish at first. My family, my friends, all left. But I had unknowingly spiraled my entire world into a new direction, and I would have to deal with it now.

"Okay then, our little time together is over. Any questions?"

I slowly raised my hand."Dismay has one."

He looked around, not even noticing me, even though I was practically the only other living being in sight for miles."None? Good!"The draconequus zoomed high into the air in a spinning motion, giggling maniacally the entire time, his body shrinking with every rapid rotation, eventually dissapearing all together."Enjoy your stay, courtesy of Discord airlines!"His voice echoed through the arid landscape, only to fade away quietly, leaving me alone in the middle of scenic nowhere.

I stood there silently for a moment, looking about, trying to sum up a solution to my situation."You could've at least left me a map or something!"I called up to the sky, and I swore I could hear his laughter whispering back on the wind.


Walking with this new body was...unique, to say the least. Every last inch of me felt different, unconnected to any other part, only held together by a tugging force I only assumed was Discord's magic. When I swung my arms with the same applied force, my left barely moved, but my right would whiz through the air as a golden blur. Something fun I found in my neck was that I could twist it in ways impossible, bending it in almost every direction. My legs were the only part of my new me that I didn't have too much to complain about, they felt about the same, and I was getting decent at balancing myself on a flat hoof and a paw. The one part I absolutely hated though, was the tail. I felt that I could control it, but the new muscles connecting it to the bottom of my spine thought otherwise. It would swish this way and that, ignoring my thoughts of staying still, even tripping me on occasion.

With a sigh, I looked up, the sun still steadfast overhead, the same position it was in when I began walking almost an hour ago. I blew another sigh, and found it strange for my tongue to flick out with my breath. Stopping in my tracks, I blew out another smaller, lighter breath, the pink, now forked tongue shooting out, only for me to leave it sticking. I could taste the air and the objects around me. Of course, the desert itself lacked any flavor, only dryness and sand. Withdrawing my tongue, I gagged in disgust as I forced down my newfound sense of taste.

Another fact I learned from my short time in the land of ponies, Discord did make me like him, but from my earlier assumption, I had a lack of powers. I tried this my focusing in a nearby rock, staring at it with all of my might, willing it to become a juicy hamburger, only accomplishing making myself look idiotic and bringing back the throbbing headache to a dull level. Did he leave me with anything to defend myself with other than this clumsy body? From what I could gather from the canon series and man fan works, Equestria was very peaceful and fun, but there were dark corners nopony, or person like me, should tread. I gulped at the thought that I should ever find myself wandering into a place with any monsters of the series. Forcing away an image of a manticore pouncing on me, I trekked onwards.


Two hours in, and I had only made a small margin of progress. Wherever I looked, the landscape remained the same, dry and flat with shimmers of heat floating off into the sky. The only change was a large canyon stretching out, evidence of the rockies I had noticed earlier. I gazed over the side, only to observe a large wave of heat to distort my perception of how far down it was, i could only make out a small distinct blot amongst the dusty orange ground. With the sudden heat in my face, I blinked once, twice, and only noticed something else, I blinked sideways. A second eyelid that went horizontal across my pupil."...Sweet."I muttered to myself, still rubbing the heat from the face, backing up from the edge, only to remember one thing: I still had no mastery over the balance of my new body. So, instead of safely moving in reverse a few foot, I tumbled forward, effectively sending myself on a great big and painful tumblefuck down the side of a steep cliff.

With every hit against rock down my tumbling vision, my body crunched solidly and forcefully, making me screw every muscle over in agony until I crashed to the ground, landing with a sickening splat and moans of pain erupting from my mouth."Sweet motha-"I paused as pairs of feet, or hooves for that matter, began to gather round me. A mass of whispers and murmers entered my ears, but I could do nothing to reply to them, pain searing through me at a violent pace.

"Now calm down everypony!"A male voice cut a swathe through the crowd, silencing them. A body approached me closely, and poked me tenderly, the slight touch sending a wave of fresh unpleasantness to wrack my body. A loud, almost animalistic roar escaped my mouth, surprising both myself and the crowd with it's ferocity. Another moment of noise, only for the commanding voice to restore order."Be quiet y'all! The darned thing is obviously hurt! Whatever it is...a dragon Ah think."

The form drew closer, lifting my head up with it's foreleg, forcing me to grimace."You alright there, pardner?"

"Does it look like it...?"I groaned, staring up at his face, still blurry through the haze of pain covering my eyes.

"Not at all, pardner."He shook his head."We'll git you patched up right quick."He whistled, and two more bodies joined him. They flanked me on both sides, slowly lifting me up on their backs. I couldn't tell where they were taking me, but at least my self-induced stupidity would be fixed soon.

"By the way, what's yer name, dragon?"The more familiar voice said, trotting alongside me.

I was about to say the title Discord had given me, but paused mid phrase. Yes, I was grateful to the deity for bringing me here, but I still felt his words were lacking of my new form."Oddjob."I finally replied.

"Well, Oddjob,"The voice said, the shadowy haze about it slowly lifting, revealing a light brown stallion with a prominent dark mustache adorning his face, a cowboy's hat tipped lightly on his head to block out the fierce sun, a bright, golden star settled on his chest."Welcome ter Appleloosa."