Stuck

by NickyD

Chaotic Reading

2:20 P.M. Golden Oaks Library

Twilight isn't back yet, and I'm assuming she took Spike along too, because I don't see him in the library either. So it's just me here, or so I thought.

A minute or two after I enter the library, I see an owl in front of me, just sitting on a perch. Now, I have been in this library since Sunday, and I haven't noticed this owl yet? Well, might as well introduce myself. "Hey there buddy. I'm Nick, what's your name?" I ask. Do owls even talk in Equestria?

"Hoo," it responds. This one is just like any other owl. You know what, let's have some fun. I've always wanted to have a conversation with someone where I know they'll say only one thing.

"You. What's your name?"

"Hoo." I laugh at how silly this is. Me talking to an owl, it's ridiculous.

"Alright, it's clear your vocabulary is limited."

"Hoo."

"Yours."

"Hoo."

"You, dumbo." Man, this is so silly, but I love it. "Ah whateves. Later tater." Did I seriously just say that? I'm starting to sound like my old man.

So I'm just nulling around the library, taking a look at the various books my purple, pony friend has. I wonder if she has read every single book in this library. I mean, with her living in this place, I wouldn't be too surprised.

There are many types of books here: history books, fictional novels, non-fiction novels, realistic-fiction novels, spell books (never thought I would ever see those in my life), some chemistry books, DIY books, a few comics , plays, even some cookbooks, the list goes on. Some books that stick out to me are these Daring Do books. I take a look at a couple of these ones and it sort of gives me the idea that the dark-tan pegasus on the front is the pony version Indiana Jones.

Here swinging on a vine with a satchel around her body, trying to escape some sort of doom or danger. Very Indy like to me.

A couple of other novels catch my attention, but here's the thing: they're pony puns. Like on earth, there's The Great Gatsby. Here, it's called: The Great Stalspy. Here's a math equation to better understand it: Gatsby plus stallion equals Stalspy.

I also notice they spoofed J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. The author of the Daring Do series is A.K. Yearling. That sounds awfully a lot like J.K. Rowling if you ask me.

But I digress, the knowledge and entertainment Twilight keeps in this library is quite vast.

I pick a book from the history section and the title reads: Equestria's Icons. Sounds pretty interesting. I open the book to a random page and I cannot believe what I see. I face palm at the sight.

There, in the middle of the right hand page, is a picture of a pure white earth pony with short, blond, curly hair in a white dress with white high heels. She has a small mole, or beauty mark, not to far away from the left side of her face. She also has red lipstick on her lips and her eyelashes are definitely defined with mascara. Her name, dear God, the name is the kicker. Her name is Marelin Monroe...This world ponified Marilyn Monroe, the most beautiful woman of all time. "F##king pony puns," I silently mumble.

I flip through a couple of the book's pages, hoping I can avoid seeing anything like that again. I stop on this other page when I see Princess Luna and Princess Celestia are on a page. There is also a third individual on this page. A pink alicorn to be precise. I'm guessing she has to be a princess too. I mean, the caption under her picture says: Princess Cadance. I never knew Equestria has a third princess. But I'm found wrong when I read more about this pink princess. She isn't a princess of Equestria per sae, she is actually the ruler of the Crystal Empire, a kingdom that is away from Equestria. An entire empire made of crystal?! Jewel thieves would have a field day at that place!

I continue reading about Cadance and see that she's also married to this stallion named Shining Armor. I read about him too and he is a unicorn stallion who is the commander for the Canterlot Royal Guard. There is even a little section where Shining Armor did an interview with the author and I decide to read a little bit of it.

The interviewer asks Shining Armor what he enjoys most when he isn't caught up in his royal duties or guarding duties. He responds by saying, and I quote: "I enjoy just having fun and relaxing. I especially love spending quality time with my parents, my beautiful wife, Cadance, and my little sister, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight? The Twilight I know? She's related to the commander of the Canterlot Royal Guard and is an inlaw to a princess?! That is so cool! How could she not tell me about this? She should have bragging rights for this. Twilight could boast about it until her heart bursts...but I guess she just doesn't want to rub it into other ponies faces. Hey! I think I got the dialect down.

I skim through the book again, and funnily enough, Twilight is in this book too. Not just her, everyone else is in it. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. The heading of this page in entitled: The Elements of Harmony. This I have to read.

I might as well make myself comfy while I read. I grab two cushions and place one against the wall, so I can lean my back a bit. I use the other one for setting my rump down. I reopen the book and start reading about the Elements of Harmony.

2:43 P.M.

To put it in a nutshell, the reading says that the Elements of Harmony are supernatural artifacts that represent the six aspects of friendship and harmony. These aspects are: loyalty, laughter, magic, honesty, generosity and kindness. Each one of my friends represent one of these elements. Rainbow Dash is the element of loyalty, Rarity has generosity, Pinkie's element is laughter, Fluttershy gets kindness, Applejack is honesty and Twilight is the element of magic.

These elements are known for their magical uses to stop the spread of chaos, corruption and evil. When the six elements are joined together and are held by the one's who properly possess the element, the magic in those elements can be used to stop any sort of evil.

So that's why this show is called Friendship is Magic! Because the traits of the Elements of Harmony are traits that represent friendship and it can be magical. That makes sense. Props to the creators and producers.

I read about the times the elements were used in the past. The usage of these artifacts were mostly used on this foe named Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. This guy has brought mass chaos to Equestria in the past. He made streetlamps walk, clouds rain chocolate, turned corn stalks to popcorn, had houses flipped upside down and float and even more than that! A Terry Gilliam cartoon appears normal compared to this guy.

He was defeated by the Elements of Harmony and the punishment for his actions was being turned into stone...twice. I knew my new pony friends were pretty cool, but I had no idea they were full out bad-asses! Well, the first time was Celestia and Luna, but the second time was done by my friends. But this Discord guy intrigues me. I do have a book of icons, he might as well be in here.

And he is. Just a couple of pages after the Elements of Harmony. I read up on this guy and his picture...well...how does one describe what he looks like? A leg of a lizard, another of a deer, a lion paw, an eagle claw, brown, snake like body, pegasus wing, bat wing, a deer antler and some other horn is the best way I could sum up this guy's appearance.

The more I read about him, the weirder and more evil he gets. He has been known to cause disharmony and chaos throughout Equestria. He was able to get Twilight and the others to turn on each other at one point. But Twilight was able to bring them back together and were able to stop his reign of chaos. Man, Equestrian history is exciting! "This guy really sounded like he wanted to cause trouble," I say out loud, sort of chuckling.

"Believe me, I did," a very glib voice says. I jump at the sudden voice, then freeze for a second or two. I slowly turn my head to the owl, still sitting on its perch.

"Was that you?" I ask sort of shaken.

"Hoo," It responds.

"Didn't think so."

"Down here," the voice says again. I look down at the book. More specifically, the picture of Discord.

"Was that you talkin'?" I ask the picture. Jesus, I'm talking to pictures. This is just plain stupid.

"Why yes my young lad," the picture of Discord responds. Never mind, this isn't ridiculous. I quickly slam the book shut and an 'Ow' escapes from it. "That really hurt," the book says muffled. Suddenly, half of the full figure of Discord arises from the book, like how a genie would come out its lamp. "Hasn't your mother ever taught you to not to slam things in other's faces?" I drop the rest of the book, with him still in it. I try to stagger back, but the wall has me pinned.

"Jesus Christ!" I exclaim, with my eyes wider than saucers. "What do you want?!"

"Calm down there my lad. I'm not here to hurt you." He gets the rest of himself out of the book. He looks like he would be as tall as Shaquille O'Neal. Definitely not as big in width, but definitely just as tall. "Here." He snaps the fingers of his claw and a chocolate ice cream cone appears from literally thin air. "Something to calm your nerves with." He hands it to me and I gently hold on to the cone.

"You're the master of chaos. How do I know this thing won't explode in my face, or a tree will grow out of my stomach if I eat it?"

"I would not think about doing that."

"Likely story," I say sarcastically.

"Believe me, I am being reformed. My dear friend, Fluttershy, is helping me change my ways of evil and chaos and she is urging me to use my powers for the purpose of good."

"Fluttershy? Yellow pegasus, pink mane, very shy, good with animals? That Fluttershy?" He can't be talking about the same pony I know.

"Why yes. She is the only one out of the group of your new pony friends who would give me a chance." Now I see why Fluttershy is the element of kindness. She is willing to help this guy change his ways for the better of Equestria, and possibly, himself. Wait, that last part he said?

"How do you know that I'm friends with the Elements of Harmony?"

"I'm Discord! I can do anything and I know almost everything. I can even do this." With another snap of his finger, almost everybody part of him changes. His wings and arms swapped places, and his legs and horns swap places. If he didn't look ridiculous before, he certainly does now. Then, he quickly changes back to his 'usual' self. "Plus, you are bunking with Twilight Sparkle, I would assume you would be friends with them. And Fluttershy also told me about you living here." Figures.

"You didn't answer my other question. What do you want with me?"

"Nothing really. I was just waiting for someone to open that book to give them a scare." For real? That is so stupid. But at the same time, it's Discord. His antics are very questionable.

"How long were you in there?"

"Umm..what's today?'

"Tuesday."

"Since Monday morning's dawn."

"You've been inside the library since Monday?" I sort of feel like my privacy has been invaded. Not just mine, but Twilight's, Spike's and the owl's.

"Why yes. Fluttershy told me you were staying here in the library and I knew you would pull out a book eventually. So, I just hid in the pages and waited for you to open up." This guy must have a lot of patience for waiting inside of a book that long. Not even the rides at Disney World have that long of a wait time.

Come to think of it, why would Fluttershy tell a former foe of her's about me living with Twilight? Then again, news would travel when word gets out that a new being from a completely different world comes to another one. I wouldn't be too surprised if all of Equestria knew about me by this point. It just would have been a matter of time really.

The door of the library opens up to reveal Twilight and Spike, both pulling in wagons of...things. "Hey Nick, hey Discord," Twilight says casually. She stops pulling her wagon for a second and she notices the weird looking creature. "YOU!" She shouts. "What are you doing here?!"

"Relax my dear friend, Twilight," Discord says calmly. "I'm just giving this young lad a little welcome to Equestria."

"I have a name you know," I say. He doesn't have to call me "lad" or "young lad" all the time.

"I know. Fluttershy told me your name is Nick, but I enjoy calling you "lad". It has such a nice ring to it."

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Twilight asks me.

"If you count giving me ice cream hurtful, then no," I reply, showing her the ice cream cone Discord gave me.

"Any good?" Spike asks. I give the ice cream cone a lick and I'm surprised. It's pistachio flavored!

"Pistachio?" I look at the cone confused as ever. The ice cream looks like chocolate, but it tastes like pistachio!

"Like what I said, I'm Discord, I can do anything," the spirit of Disharmony says proudly. "I could turn a fish into a whale, make a window pane talk back to you, even make ice cream look like one thing, but taste like another. Be lucky the flavor isn't rotting wood." That would have been disgusting. I shiver just at the thought of rotting wood ice cream. "Well, I should be off. Fluttershy may be wondering where I am, and we have tea time today. Take care my young lad and goodbye my little pony" With a snap of his lion's paw, he vanishes.

"Well, that little encounter was odd," I say.

"He's Discord. Everything about him is odd," Spike says.

"How'd he get in here?" Twilight asks.

"He said he hid in the pages of that icon book over there," I say, pointing to the book Discord appeared from. "I was just reading about him and the next thing I know, he emerges from the page." Twilight lets out a sigh. An annoyed one.

"That's Discord for you. I still don't trust him. Fluttershy said the strides he is making to change are big ones, but I still feel uneasy around him."

"Yeah, this guy is certainly strange." I take another lick from my the pistachio flavored ice cream that looks like chocolate. "I have to give him props for making good ice cream. So, what's in the wagons?" I want to change to a more, light hearted subject so we don't have to play 'Twenty Questions on what Discord did to you'.

"Oh these,? It's just some more papers, quills, and some supply to help send you back home."

"Oh, cool."

"So, what did you do while we were out? I know Rarity wanted to show you your new outfits, but what did you do after that?"

"Well Rainbow Dash gave me a tour of Ponyville, I met Mrs. Cake and her son, meet Lyra and Bon Bon, Sweetie Belle, the Mayor too, Octavia and Vinyl Scratch. Dash also introduced me to Cheerilee and Zecora and we saw that Trixie is in town."

"She is?" Twilight asks raising an eyebrow.

"Well, was. She only stopped by just to pick up some medicine from Zecora for her travels. After she got her medicine, she left."

"Huh. Well, sounds like your day was pretty eventful."

"Yeah. I've already made plans to see Vinyl tomorrow."

"Look at you, getting to know everypony here," Twilight says, nudging me with and giving me a wink.

"I get around." The two of us chuckle. Then, the owl flies over to us and lands on my head.

"Hoo," it says.

"Oh yeah, I also met this guy." I point up to the owl resting on my head. How the owl is not digging its claws into my scalp is a mystery to me. Still, its kind of funny to see an owl on top of me.

"Oh, that's Owlowiscious," Twilight points out. "He's my nocturnal assistant. Whenever Spike is away or asleep-"

"Heard that!" Spike interjects from another room.

"-Owlicious is here to help me out."

"Nice to see you're on top of things," I say to Owlicious, looking up. "Literally."

"Hoo," he lets out.

Twilight trots over the the book Discord was in and magically levitates it to us.

"Did you learn anything interesting from the book?"

"I learned about Discord, the Elements of Harmony, and the fact you have a brother and a sister in law who is a princess." Twilight smiles a little more.

"I meant to tell you, I just haven't found the time. Were you surprised?"

"Very! I never knew you had brother in the royal guard, or a princess for an in law." Twilight giggles.

"I'm not one to brag, so I don't really boast about it." Very humble of her.

"It's still pretty cool though." Seriously, her being an in law to a princess and being related to the Royal Guard's commander is like finding out your second cousin is Paul McCartney! I still can't believe it though. I'm probably making it a bigger deal than it needs to be, but still! "When I read the interview from your brother's section of the book, it sounded like he cherishes the time between him and his family."

"We always had fun when we were kids. I always cherish the fun times he and I share, just like him. I mean, he is my B.B.B.F.F."

"Bee boo what now?" I have never heard that one used before.

"B.B.B.F.F., big brother best friend forever."

"Oh."

"You know, I actually wrote to him yesterday while you were out. Even discussed you a little bit."

"Really? Did he reply back?"

"Not yet," Spike says, returning to the main room . "I didn't get a letter from him yet, but I know it'll come soon." Him getting the letter? Won't the mail pony just give it to Twilight? I guess I'll find out what he means in due time...hey, I got the pony dialect right again! I think I'm getting the hang of this.

"What's he like?" I ask.

"Shining?" Twilight asks. I nod. "He is one of my best friends." Not like you already said that. "He is super nice and friendly to everypony he meets. He treats everyone like family or a good friend. But he does know when he needs to be stern and firm. Being a leader of a royal guard and ruler and all."

"And what about Cadence?"

"I've known her ever since I was a filly. She and I are close friends. Sister-like really. She is super sweet and super kind. So kind, she gives Fluttershy a run for her money." Wow, sounds like this mare is up to snuff when it comes to being a princess.

"I'll take your word for it." Twilight finds the respective shelf for the the icon book and gingerly puts it back.

"So, what do you wanna do now?"

Comments

[NickyD]

5298059 Thanks for the input. I'll try to fix that when I get the chance. Much obliged!