In the Background

by Harold_Genhi

Chapter 5: Chaos Rising

The woods surrounded me completely. The bright light and the safety of Ponyville could still be seen through the thicket, but with each step forward the light dimmed. I could feel my heart dropping as well, causing me to question if I had made the courage for nothing when I would just freeze somewhere in the middle and not be able to move. The thoughts wiped my brain clean of anything constructive and I was barely aware that Lyra was trying to talk to me.

“Hey Octavia. How are you feeling?” She asked, still worried from seeing me freeze at the edge of the woods.

I felt embarrassed for having done so. It hurt to even answer considering that I wanted to freeze again and just forget this whole journey. “I’m feeling much better. Thanks.”

“Good!” Her mood perked up quickly in what I felt to be a fake show of happiness. “Now I was wondering about you since I never get the chance to ever talk to you.”

I rolled my eyes as I waited to have to repeat my life story again. Instead, I heard another question that I wasn’t expecting as much.

“How long have you and Vinyl been together?” She looked at me and saw my glare. “I mean as roommates.” She added hastily.

I shouldn’t have given her such a hard time about it, considering I knew what she meant. The game of Vinyl and I living together never became old. Sometimes we would joke with people and make it seem like we were more. Most of the time, it was her pulling the prank while I just took it, taking in and enjoying her amusement. Letting her do something like that was difficult at first, but she would always tell ponies afterward of our standing. Roommates. Innocent.

I could never tell if any of Vinyl’s feelings were real or some form of shroud to hide something. I never questioned them, as I believed that I did not have to, nor did I try to question mine for her. We were friendly, and there was no denying it. Everything else was proper joke material to work with.

“We’ve been together for a few years now. She lived there first, and when the last ponies left because of the noise, I stumbled into her domain. It wasn’t the best of transitions, but our love for music brought us together.” I answered quickly.

“Sounds like it would be given your soft serenity and her power partying. I remember the first time that Bon-Bon and me moved into the same house. We had already known each other before that and have been together for quite some time. Moving in together only drew us closer. I wished that she could have came with us.” Lyra nodded.

Vinyl hushed us and looked around the canopy. Ditsy peered around the woods as well though I doubt she could properly see anything in time. I stood on the padded down dirt road that stretched aimlessly through the woods, breaking and branching in what seemed constantly changing sections. Out of curiosity and fear, I had to share in their observing and looked around the forest. The only sound was of crickets and deep-voiced frogs croaking in the nearby bog. Vinyl sniffed at the air and looked at me.

“Feeling okay Tavi?”

I felt irritated at her questioning if I was okay as if I had to constantly be checked. I rolled my eyes before I answered. “Of course I am. Why did we stop?”

The white unicorn had caught on to my irritation and nodded and beamed at me. I had figured some sort of anger or hurt feelings would be created from my biting irritation.

“Why are you smiling?” The question came off as more of a demand than a question.

She flipped her glasses up and stared me straight in my eyes. “You are back to your stubborn self.” She chuckled.

It had only been a slight realization that my fear had completely vanished in those few seconds that I was irritated. I wanted to join in her merriment, but knowing that she had tricked me into believing it made me just stay quiet and remain irritated; I didn’t take being manipulated too easily.

“Ooo. She got you.” Lyra laughed. “Glad to see you broke your fear.”

My eyelids drooped as I stared at the group in front of me; irritation growing for all of them as the all of the fear quickly vanished. I had ceased caring about my fear and focused more on keeping everyone safe. This was no place to be so smug about something so trivial as getting on my nerves. There was no reason to make another enemy in the forest. I gave an evil grin at the thought of me being the ones to torment them. The irony would be simply sublime.

“Whatcha smiling at?” Ditsy asked, flying over to my side.

“Just thinking about giving someone their just desserts.”

“Like muffins?” Ditsy smiled.

“You could say that.” I winked and chuckled. “How is Dinky doing?” I changed my tone.

“Dinky? She stays out of trouble. We went to the beach a few days ago. I got sand in my feathers.” She groaned, unconsciously flapping her wings like sand was in them.

“And her being a unicorn is okay with you?”

“It is difficult, but that is where Lyra comes in. She has been giving her magic lessons while I deliver the mail.” She appeared humble and content with where her life had taken her.

“And you don’t regret anything?” I questioned, hesitantly.

“Not a single thing. Sometimes hard to explain to her where her father went, but some things are best left as a muffintastic story.” She grinned.

I remembered the day that Ditsy lost her husband. No one in Ponyville could ever truly forget that day. Given her visual limitations and spontaneous attitude and financial draw on muffins, it was surprising that someone had fallen in love with it. They lived happily for many years and one day she gave birth to a unicorn girl. Sadly, the father wasn’t quick enough, and she had already named her child Dinky. I had been there to see his reaction. I had never seen a group of ponies smile and laugh so much. He had been a unicorn and that was the only trait of his that passed to Dinky.

Four days later, I had a knock at my door. I opened it to see a devastated Ditsy covered in tears and quivering from the cold and the tears. It had been storming heavily that night as the Pegasus ponies had been trying to control a wild storm. It was much larger than they had expected, some didn’t fair to well. Ditsy’s husband went missing that night and was never heard from again, marked as one that had been swept away with the storm and deemed dead.

Ditsy had to take comfort in Dinky and she managed to recover quickly, though I knew it was still a touchy subject, one that she normally diffused with eating muffins or making a joke out of it. I couldn’t blame her. Now she appeared to have her eyes set on The Doctor, which I felt was a good sign that she had completely recovered from what had happened. I hoped she recovered.

“Fillies make the world such a happier place. I’ve never laughed as much as I do now with her. I wonder if Mr. Whooves likes children.” She said it just loud enough so that he could hear her.

“Talking about me again I see. I must question what you are talking about.” He chuckled.

Ditsy flew forward and took her place by his side, leaning in close to him. I knew what she was doing and almost had to laugh when I saw it unfold. She took a big whiff of the air around him and giggled, dancing circles around him, singing a song. The only point in her life that I could consider on par with how happy she is was when Dinky was born. It warmed my heart to know that Ditsy managed to let go so easily.

“So do you like muffins?” Ditsy questioned the doctor, still walking in circles around him.

“Muffins you say? I love muffins more than the world itself.” Surprisingly enough, I knew he was telling the truth given his always-existent muffin bowl in his house.

Ditsy squealed and tapped her hooves on the ground happily, stepping closer to him. Simply the look on his face told me enough of his enjoyment at how Ditsy acted around him. I wondered if The Doctor had heard of Ditsy’s story, and what had happened to her. I figured it would be best to tell him later when we were out of earshot of her. Vinyl had dropped back from taking the point causing Lyra to bounce to the front, keeping her eyes open, and glancing around the trees and the canopy.

“Isn’t this nice Tavi?” Vinyl asked when she arrived at my side.

I didn’t want to say anything to her, not out of distaste for having to go, but because I didn’t want to admit that my preconceived notions had been thwarted though still present. Nothing seemed to be too dreadful about this place, and judging by the almost lack of animals around them, I had to wonder what the big fuss was all about. The answer to that question was what I worried about the most.

“Ditsy seems to be quite fond of your friend.” Vinyl nodded toward her and The Doctor.

“I wonder what he thinks of it?”

“I don’t know Tavi.” Vinyl bumped into me. “You know him best.” She winked at me, and smiled. “I think they’d be cute together.” I had to chuckle at the thought. Vinyl gave me a strange look and had to add. “Unless you’ve claimed him as yours.”

“We are just friends, and that is all there is to it.” I nodded.

“I think you two would be a cute couple as well.” Vinyl winked.

“He isn’t my type romantically, but he is a good friend.” I chuckled. “I’m not quite sure who I am interested in quite yet.” I half-lied.

“It appears that I am in the same boat as you Tavi.”

“We always seem to be in the same boat.” I chortled.

“Tavynil Cruise. Only room for two.” She winked and sniggered.

“A cruise would be a wonderful vacation.” I felt an inner excitement compel me to continue with the thought. “We can try to go this summer, just you and me. Enjoy some sun and relaxation then we can go have some fun elsewhere.” I felt ecstatic.

“You make it sound wonderful!” She giggled. “On a cruise with my favorite cello player. “ She stepped closer to me and cuddled against my side, I guessed jokingly. “Then I can work on my tan.”

“Vinyl. You never get tan. You’ve always been white.” I stuck my tongue at her playfully.

“Hey, a girl can try. Maybe get your color, and be as sexy as you.”

“Please Vinyl. You flatter me.” I teased. “I’d love to have your pure white color and maybe some blue hair.”

“I could arrange the blue hair for you! You would look more amazing with green hair.” She winked. “The color is more earthy.”

“Ha, ha. Sure. Make fun of me being only an earth pony.”

“Tavi. I enjoy you the way you are. You don’t need to be a pegasus or a unicorn to be special. Take Ditsy and The Doctor for instance. She obviously finds something fascinating about him to pursue.” Vinyl reasoned.

I had guessed she would reference the quickly blossoming relationship between the two ponies ahead of us, but the reference stuck pretty thick onto my interpretation of the meaning. I looked at her confused. “We are like them. I didn’t know we were dating.” I chuckled at my joke, Vinyl joined.

I took another breath in to steady my senses. I peered around the forest to find that the warming light had vanished, and had done so a long time ago as the forest had completely consumed us. I was thankful that there was still a road in which to walk though up ahead I saw where it forked into at least three different directions. I moaned at the eventual choices that we would face and which possible direction Vinyl would have us go. Gladly, the sun was still out and would be many more hours before setting, which warranted a heavy sigh of relief.

“I just had to set you up for that didn’t I?” Vinyl inquired.

I shrugged and smiled at her. Sometimes it was nice to remind her that I had a sense of humor, one that could quite possibly rival her own. “Of course you had to. We wouldn’t work together so well if we didn’t set each other up for something.”

The strange way that I was able to open up to Vinyl sometimes caught me surprise, and this moment was no different. Jokes always swam around in my head, some causing me to grin quietly in the corner.

The internal commentary began to grind at me. I had been hoping for a bit more adventure or something to get my mind off of everything. Almost as a mixed blessing, the sun suddenly flickered out of existence, quickly being replaced by a crescent moon.

An ear-shattering squeal came from Lyra as she scampered back to our group. She hid within our group as our proximity grew. Something wasn’t right with the sun. I looked around quickly trying to question if it was the result of the woods or if something else, something worse had transpired back in Ponyville since we had left. A shockwave filled the sky, originating in the direction of Ponyville. My fear was affirmed, something had happened to the princess.

“Come on girls, we need to get back to-“ I tried to run forward, but quickly felt my feet begin to slip from underneath of me. My face quickly met the ground as I slid to stop and took in the scent of the road. “Soap?”

A million questions began to fill my head, but my phobia had kicked back into gear. This forest wasn’t going to let us leave. It’s the forest! The forest! My knees were the first to lock as I shakily rose to my feet. The other girls had remained within the group, slipping on the roads. Ditsy rose from the road and tried to help The Doctor keep steady, and Vinyl- My eyes darted around the forest setting, looking for Vinyl. Where did she go? Did the forest take her?

“Get off the road! Everything except the road is normal, now get over here.” She waved her hoof over to her side of the bank.

Fear moved my legs more than my head causing me to slip and fall again, but still arriving at the same destination. What was going on? The question echoed perpetually inside of my fear burned head. My eyes never received a break as the danger of the forest began to hit extreme paranoia. Every tree, bush, and leaf became a potential assailant to my friends and me.

“Octavia? Octavia? Snap out of it.” The Doctor hit my face with his hoof.

I didn’t realize that I was lying on my back in the mud. I hopped up to my feet and pressed myself between Ditsy and Vinyl as Whooves led the group forward.

“My… my… what do we have here?” A voice echoed from seemingly everywhere yet nowhere at the same time.

My heart quickened as I dipped low to the ground, trying to hide my eyes with my hooves, making a total fool of myself. It’s the trees! The trees are talking! I must hide! Hide! My senses skirted along the border of a nervous breakdown. I hoped it was some sort of elaborate joke created by Vinyl to make me loosen up, but when I saw her backing slowly up, I knew it wasn’t planned. Her jaw had dropped slightly as she looked around her for the voice. Ditsy had flew into one of the trees and looked around the clearing and the edges for the source of the voice while The Doctor simply stood his ground, peering angrily in a single direction.

“Another group of friends on a magical adventure? Oh how I love being back to enjoy a double feature.” A large spark of light cracked the air in front of Whooves revealing… something.

I had no idea what I was seeing through the crack between the ground and my hoof. The face looked like a pony, but everything about him seemed off. His body was long like a snake. Every appendage on his body seemed to have been stolen from a multitude of animals. The tone of his voice spoke of an ancient intelligence causing me to question if we were in the presence of Eyn Spyyr. I rose slightly, using the idea as a boost of courage.

“How have you returned?” The Doctor asked, still glaring at the ancient pony.

“How? Oh that was quite easy if you have enough chaos in the world, and I can assure you that there is plenty of chaos to even make me chuckle with excitement! Ha. Ha.” I edged myself toward Doctor Whooves.

“Is this Eyn?” I whispered.

“Eyn? My old buddy, Eyn? Is he still around? Last time I checked he had banished himself into the Everfree for, how long did he say now? Oh yes, for an eternity.” He laughed at the prospect.

“So he is real?” I spoke more to myself.

“No… I am not Eyn. I am Discord, agent and ruler of chaos.” He struck a pose and strutted around the edge of the clearing. “Now I will need all of you to get into a nice little group so I can tell you the game that we are going to play…” He lifted his hand, which sent a vortex of wind howling through the leaves. Ditsy fell from her tree, ripped awkwardly through the air until she was tossed in front of Discord with the rest of us.

“You won’t get away with this.” Whooves growled.

“Get away with what? Ponyville is already mine. All I have to do now is have some fun.” He chuckled to himself. “And what better way to have fun than with some lost and forgotten ponies?”

Comments

[saruSAM]

DUN DUN DUUUUNNNN!!!!

...where did HE come from!?

We're doomed. *just lost his mind*

You have the usual variety of mechanical errors and different portions that need reconsidered, but other than that your story is good. I enjoyed the dialogue you included though I think the portion between Lyra and Octavia could be removed. i don't know how vital that is to the central story, but removing it may help with your concern with the story being boring. Other than the little issues everything is good. :) A lot of this is very well done. I especially enjoyed noticing the little bits of you in the story, mentions of "joke material" and "striking a pose". It's a nice story. Kudos.

[happynoname56]

ok why dose discord... you know what never mind i shall not question the agent and ruler of chaos.
-happynoname56