Brittle Deformation

by BlueSkyHeadLeft010

The Mad Tea Party

It wasn't until later on in the evening did Twilight get back.
Spike and me had mulled about doing our usual chores, Spike sorted the books and I cleaned the place, before we found ourselves out of things to do...
"Does Twilight keep any board games around?" I had suggested, mostly to keep the young drake from whining. Spike tilted his head confused and shrugged, "Bored-games?" He tried to repeat, "No, I don't think so. Other than her own personal collection of books, everything else we own is stored downstairs." Spike mentioned as I thought up a better idea.
"Well, do you happen to have any spare parchment and ink?" I offered, as Spike nodded. "Yea, but why?" He asked confused.
"I have a game we can play using the items, and I think you'll find it to be fun." I smiled as Spike perked up. "A new kind of game?! I'll go get the stuff right away!" He cheered as he sped upstairs determined.
In the meantime I shifted back to my human form to be more comfortable.
I immediately regretted it, as I felt my cold clammy skin and snot daring to run down my face. I felt a wave of fatigue hit me, and I dared not try to shift back until I had a little more energy to spare.
I guess shifting form eats up more mana than I thought.

Spike wouldn't mind though. He knew I hadn't been feeling good, and he wasn't going to tattle. (Such a good drake he is.)
Besides, I needed hands to play the game I had suggested to Spike. Surely we would be done before Twilight came back, and it would give me the break I needed so I could continue to shift back and forth between my forms.
"Hey I got the items Crystal! And I- Woah!" Spike hollered once he saw my face. "Uh, you look really-"
I dared him to finish that sentence with a glare.
He coughed and shook his head as he sat down the items on a table. "-Erm, great? Yea that was what I was going for...!" He chuckled nervously as I sighed. Nevermind that.

"So what game are we playing?" Spike quickly changed the subject as I turned my attention back to the quill and paper.
I picked up the quill and begun to make four quick strokes across the page, forming a loose square shape in the middle. "It's called Tic-Tac-Toe." I stated, as I made three more copies of the shape and explained the rules to him.
Spike listened attentively without interrupting. "So if the goal is to get three in a row, then why isn't the game called that?" He asked confused.
I shrugged, "I don't know. I never bothered to question. That's just its name everyone back home uses." I explained as I went first and put an 'O' down the middle.

I won the first two rounds mostly because Spike was new to this game and had no idea what kind of strategies were going through my head...

I was in the middle of drawing out the next set of lines when I felt fatigue hit me like a sledgehammer, and decided that it wouldn't hurt anything to close my eyes for half a moment...
Spike was saying something, but it went in one ear and out the other as I nodded tired. "D-don... -ry, I'll g..........." I recall saying before I climbed aboard the snooze train...
-------------------------

A gentle hoof was shaking me awake.
"Crystal? I'm back." Twilight's voice spoke as I stirred awake.
Snot was everywhere.
I had fallen asleep at the table, but somedrake must've brought me a pillow to rest my head on because it was now covered in both my dry and wet mucus.
It was disgusting, but considering how lightheaded I felt I didn't whine.

What had I been doing? Oh right, the game.
I sat up to find Twilight looking at me concerned, as I eyed the sheet of paper we had used to play. I'm upstairs if you need me. ~Spike The drake had scribbled on a blank section of paper.
How thoughtful of him.

"You ok? You look pale." Twilight asked concerned, as I snapped back to the present.
"Just allergies..." I muttered through my congested nose as Twilight didn't look like she was buying it.
"You sure you're alright? Fluttershy asked us to join her and Discord for dinner, but if you're not feeling well-"
"No, no I'm fine! It just looks worse than it is! Trust me, I'm fine." I reassured Twilight as she just shook her head and dropped it. There was no way I was letting her near that thing without me around to protect them.
"Ok then." She leaned over and eyed Spike's note too. "I'll go see if I can find Spike and tell him to get ready." She explained out loud as she began to walk up the stairs.
"Dinner's in two hours at Fluttershy's!" Twilight hollered, before she opened the door to her bedroom and quietly closed it behind her.

As soon as she shut the door I grimaced.
I actually didn't feel any rested after the nap. In truth, I felt horrible...
I would have to tell Twilight soon. Otherwise she'd flip and be mad at me for not confessing sooner. Still, I rubbed the leftover snot from my nose as I got up, it was likely just a gem cold or something... Nothing I couldn't handle.
I got up slowly and went to the bathroom to clean off the snot. If I can just hold it together enough for supper with Discord, then I could rest properly...

--------------------

"Oh, our pony guests! We're so delighted that you've come. Please, do come in." Discord bowed as he spoke and opened the door for us.
"See what a beautiful job he did helping? Discord set the entire table himself. I'm so proud." Fluttershy whispered to Twilight as we walked in. Frankly setting a table was child's play. I still wasn't impressed.

"May I take your... hats, ladies?" Discord cleared his throat as he suddenly materialized his head from one of the coat hangers.
His eyes were set on the elements each of my friends were wearing. (For insurance purposes Twilight had made sure everyone still had them on to avoid Discord from doing anything sneaky.)
I pushed his eager hands away, "Keep your grubby hands off Discord." I growled as I made my gem glow in warning, "You may be on parole, but we're watching." I hissed as Discord backed off.
He had this sort of amused look on his face; the kind that didn't seem fazed at all.
Briefly I wiped away a stray band of mucus running out my nose as I looked away annoyed. He wasn't fooling anyone...

"Hang on to your elements, girls. It's gonna be a bumpy night." Twilight spoke in a hushed manner as Discord politely seated us around Fluttershy's dinner table and brought out the food.
"Bon appetite~!" Discord bowed again as everyone tried, and I use the term loosely, to eat their food like there wasn't an elephant in the room.
Since gems didn't need to eat, I just picked at my food; feeling rather repulsed and sickened suddenly...

" *ahem* As you all know, Princess Celestia hoped we'd help Discord use his magic for good instead of evil." Fluttershy spoke shyly as we ate.
SPLAT!
Pinkie Pie proceeded to smear her face in the mash potatoes, earning a wth? confused look from me.
Fluttershy was surprised too, "Um. Did you need some gravy Pinkie Pie?" She asked, smoothly transitioning from surprise to modesty, so not to embarrass the party pony. Well, anymore than she had already...
You'd think after all this time she'd learn some manners, especially since she is Ponyville's party planner, but Que sera, sera...

"You bet!" Pink cheered as Fluttershy reached over to grab the gravy bowl when Discord popped up.
"Please, allow me." He said with a thick British accent as he snapped his fingers and the gravy bowl sprung to life, running straight over to pinkie.
"Oh, what a cute little gravy boat you are! Yes you are! Yes you are!" Pinkie chuckled as she petted the thing.
I just shook my head and went back to looking at my food.
Rainbow leaned over to Applejack and muttered something rude probably, as I toyed with the fork in my hand and noticed something odd on my right arm.
A small piece of my skin, if you can really compare it to that, was a discolored sort of pale grey almost... It wasn't even hardly the size of a needle's eye, but it stuck out and was curled upwards like it was peeling...
It also itched terribly...
I couldn't help but scratch, which only made the piece bigger as it peeled.
Eww....

"He did that on purpose!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she stomped on top of the table, distracting me from scratching.
Discord shrugged, "Oh, well, I don't know about that. Mistakes happen. Oh look, everypony! Dancing candles~!" Discord said as he snapped his fingers and the candles on the table came to life, dancing around and humming a familiar tune.
"I'm not falling for that! Discord's just trying to distract us from–" Suddenly the candles started attacking Dash as she screamed in shock.

"There's something fishy going on." Twilight narrowed her eyes as she suddenly was squirted in the face by a fish shaped tureen. Yes, a tureen. I swear I don't write this in...
The place suddenly turned into one giant food fight as the candles attacked and the silverware defended. The fish shaped tureen was in the middle, going about squirting ponies as it pleased.
I'd had about enough of the whole thing when the stupid sucker came towards me.

Now I'm usually a fairly patient and passive person when it comes to chaotic situations. Usually I just sit still and calmly access the situation before doing anything action oriented; but between the cold, the chaos, and the loud noise making my head pound, I'd had it.
Like a frog catching a fly, I snatched the tureen before it could react to my movement and proceeded to shatter it in my hands. The shards fell to floor but didn't cut me since I was technically hard as a rock at the moment.

This seemed to quiet everyone as the witnessed me murder the ceramic fish in cold blood.
Rainbow took this opportunity to speak openly. "Fluttershy! Can't you see what he's doing? He's playing innocent with you so you'll never agree to use the Elements of Harmony against him!" She spoke painfully as the excitement of the other utensils died down to a halt and the mood dropped a few degrees.
Rainbow, expecting Fluttershy to finally listen to us, looked at her best friend with a plea in her eyes.
Fluttershy was not swayed though...

"You know what I see? I see that Discord's far from perfect, but I also see none of you giving him a chance!" She said sternly as the rest of us looked away and Rainbow Dash groaned.
"What's gotten into you?! Why do you keep cutting him so much slack?" She whispered, taken back by her friend's words.
Fluttershy looked at Rainbow before she leaned over to give Discord a hug "Because that's what friends do." She stated simply, supporting Discord with a pity pat.

"We're friends?" Discord blinked confused, as Fluttershy simply smiled. What kind of sitcom is this?!
"Why, of course! I can't remember my house ever being this lively before you came along." Fluttershy proclaimed as she did a little spin in mid-flight.
"Oh... Well, I've... never really had a friend before." Discord said shocked, as the rest of us simply watched the scene unfold.
I couldn't speak for the others, but frankly I felt like I was being pranked.
Discord making friends?! Pah! I can't believe this nonsense! He has to be tricking her....
I narrowed my eyes as I kept a sharp eye out.

Fluttershy's bunny decided it was high time to make an appearance at this point, chitchatting away about something as the ponies; humoring the thing, played a guessing game with him.
"Apple!"
"Applejack!"
"Wait no... Apple Cider??"
"Oh Oh! Sweet Apple Acres!" Rarity guessed right as the bunny chirped and jumped up an down frantically before running out the door.
"Sweet Apple Acres is a floodin'?! Sorry gang, but I got to go!" Applejack burst into a sudden gallop as she ran out the front door. (And cue Lassie!)

"Ooh Dear! That sounds like trouble! Shall we?" Discord floated over to the front door that was now open as he motioned for everyone to follow.
I rolled my eyes annoyed as we decided to leave as well... If sweet Apple Acres was flooding, Applejack would need all the help she could get.

---------------------------

"I've never seen the floodin' this bad! They've built dams 'round here before, but never like this! What's goin' on?" Applejack huffed as she ran around the dry areas of the land, trying to sandbag the place.
Of course I pitched in as well, no use in just standing around, despite my throbbing head.
"Umph! There's that wall! Where to next AJ?" I huffed as beads of sweat dripped off me and Applejack pulled out another row a sandbags.
"Over thar!" AJ grunted as she pointed behind the barn where the water was beginning to pool and I nodded.

"You see Discord's behind all this, right?" Rainbow Dash shouted above the noise of the beavers building dams and the water rushing.
My head throbbed at every syllable Rainbow Dash spoke, but I refused to give in to pain as I hoisted another sand bag up and moved it into place.
"Oh, of course I do! Do you all think I'm a silly, gullible fool?" Fluttershy said aggravated, as I turned to listen in on the conversation.
"I've just been trying to gain his friendship any way I can, so he'd come to trust and listen to me!" She said upset as she landed and I instantly felt bad for even doubting her...
I should've known, and trusted my friend better...

Speak of the devil, Discord chose this time to show up water skiing as he waved.

"Hey there, Fluttershy, you want a turn? The water's great!" He smirked as Fluttershy muttered something I couldn't hear and then flew over to discord.
"As you can see, there's a big mess down here at Sweet Apple Acres." Fluttershy hinted, as Discord's eyes seemed to flicker in acknowledgement at her comment, but his face remained stoic. "Oh, yes. Awful business, that. Mm." He turned away so as to avert his gaze.
Fluttershy flew in front of him, frowning. "It is awful. This is Applejack's home, and it's being destroyed by innocent creatures who would never be acting this way if it weren't for your reckless behavior. You need to fix this." She said as Discord looked slightly surprised.

By now I had stopped piling sand bags with the others altogether as I watched the scene unfold.
What would Discord choose to do? He can't get away because we'd just find him and turn him to stone, he seemed to realize this too, but appeared unafraid. In fact his smirk got wider as I saw his eyes grin.
"Oh yes, very well, I will fix it. I only ask one thing in return." He said as his voice got all melancholy. He was up to something.
Finding my wits, I waltzed over to where the others were, (they too had stopped working to come watch the scene), and readied my weapon if need be.
"Yes?" Fluttershy asked curious and confused as Discord's grin grew wider.
"I ask that you never use your Element of Harmony against me. As a sign of our friendship." As he spoke you could practically hear a pin drop at the sudden silence.

He was asking her to, never use the one thing that could stop him??? No, that was too far! He wouldn't dare! She wouldn't dare!
"Enough of this!" I said upset, as I summoned my weapon from my gem and pointed at him. He looked at me in mock fear. "Oh noes! I'm doomed!" He chuckled, as he simply flicked my spear in my hand, causing it to wiggle, before the intense vibrations made it to poof into sparkles.
I blinked confused as Discord crossed his arms, "Please. You're much too weak to go against me, Guardian." He spat as I reared back insulted. Whuh??

Fluttershy looked from us to Discord and then back. The tension was so thick as we awaited Fluttershy's response. We held our breaths as she hovered in thought.
The choice was ultimately hers, and despite the cold I had, nothing I did would help her decide....
She swallowed as she looked at Discord and then undid her charm. " I will never use my Element of Harmony against you." She stated simply, as she threw it to Spike as we all just blinked and gasped in surprise.

"Excellent!" He cheered as he snapped his fingers and the water suddenly turned to ice?!

Author's Note:

Finally got around to editing this. :) Thanks for being so patient with me! :D

Comments

[Flutters Is Shy]

Yay new chapter!~

[Fictional Fanatic]

Hm... I'm intrigued by the story so far. Perhaps a crossover in the future? That is, if I get around to editing anytime soon...

[BlueSkyHeadLeft010]

6870755 same X/

[Flutters Is Shy]

Watching her stumble through the day, trying to convince everyone around her that nothing's wrong... I feel so bad for Crystal...