Where did you come from?

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 3: The chaos

Rarity groaned and rolled over in her bed. She didn't want to remove her eye covers, for a very good reason. She knew Discord was... visiting again. While he had managed to become slightly less tedious to be around since the whole Tirek incident, his visits were still a good reason to sleep in. So long as she didn't see the world, none of his destructive sights could faze her and turn her world into a nightmare. At least, that's what she told herself.

Still, she couldn't shake the feeling she was forgetting something. Something important. She slowly reached a hoof up and took a deep breath. Okay, here she went. She lifted the face mask up. She instantly let out a scream and flew back, flailing her hooves before falling out of the bed, taking her covers with her. Unfortunately, it also took her sister, who had been laying on the covers and staring into her face, as well. The little white filly landed on top of her elder sister with an oof.

“Sweetie! What are you doing?” the mare asked as she untangled herself from the blankets and filly.

“Waiting for you to wake up, duh,” the filly said as she hopped around. “Today's the big day!”

She let out another exasperated sigh. “Yes, I'm aware. Discord's... coming. It's all I've thought about for the last week, Sweetie.”

“Nooo, not that! Silver is coming today!”

Rarity's blood ran cold. How could she forget about her cousin? She looked at her clock and let out a shriek of despair. “Ohhhh! Sweetie, how could you let me sleep in so long?” She put a hoof to her forehead and swooned back.

Her little sister looked at the clock, before looking to her sister incredulously. “She doesn't get in until almost three. It's not even noon.”

“Yes! It's almost noon! So much time wasted!” She then thought about what was likely waiting for her outside. “Then again, it is the perfect day to stay inside and just sleep away. Maybe--”

“Can I go out and play? Applebloom and Scootaloo already came by but you said I can't go out without permission and--”

“What? Oh, yes, of course. Just make sure you're ready to go by two. We need to meet her at the train station,” the elder unicorn said as she trotted towards the mirror and quickly got to work removing her curlers, face mask and then reapplying her face.

Sweetie let out a squeal of delight. “Yay! Pudding avenue looks like so much fun.”

It took a few seconds for Rarity to realize what her sister had said. It then took her a few more moments to realize what Discord had done. “Wait, Sweetie--” But she was cut off by the sound of the door slamming below. She sighed and shook her head. “Discord...”

------

Sweetie giggled happily as she galloped down the street, headed straight towards pudding avenue. She passed at least a dozen ponies on the way, some looking annoyed, some looking happy and a few looking for the best place to hide. Discord had that effect on ponies. She couldn't imagine why. Sure, he USED to be a bad pony. But now he was great. He did so many wonderful things, like turning an entire street into vanilla pudding! Or chocolate. Or... well, he kept changing the flavor she heard, but last she heard it was vanilla.

She arrived to find plenty of other colts and fillies engaged in a pudding ball fight, the off white balls sailing through the air with all the grace of a featherless pigeon. It took her only a moment to find Scootaloo and Applebloom. Namely because they were by the only 'adult' who seemed willing to enter the pudding mess.

“Ha! Is that the best you've got?” Rainbow Dash yelled before throwing a ball of pudding the size of her head towards a small swarm of fillies and colts. They scattered. Her normally blue coat was covered in the pudding, but her mane had suffered the most. It was a solid lump of off white pudding, not even a hint of the rainbow colors peeking through. “Keep them coming!”

Behind her, Applebloom, Scootaloo and a few other fillies were running about, gathering up the pudding and arming the pegasus with a great relish. On the side lines a few other adults were watching, though they apparently thought better of actually engaging in the mess. Sweetie grinned before sliding into the street. To her surprise(and delight) the pudding reached up almost to her belly. She was easily able to sneak down so it covered all of her and slowly sneak forwards. She had to pop out after a few seconds, but fortunately her white coat blended in nicely with the pudding and her pink mane was already completely covered. She snuck forward, silent and ready.

Rainbow had no idea what was going on as she threw little balls of pudding at her opponents, the children only giggling as they hurtled more at the pegasus. Sadly, the mare dodged and weaved between her own assaults, avoiding most of them. She didn't notice when her ammo makers stopped and started giggling. Instead, when she reached down for a ball, she found none. “Huh?”

She looked down, only to get a face full of pudding. “Sneak attack!”

The pegasus shrieked and toppled back, dramatically. “Gahhhhh! Sneak attacks, my one weakness!” Her wings fluttered a few times before she plopped backwards into the pudding, slowly sinking into the dessert. It didn't last for long as the colts and fillies started running up, tossing more on the pegasus to bury her. “What? No! Hey!” she shrieked, twisting around and trying to escape the burial. The children responded by jumping on her. “Wait, stop! Eek!” the pegasus went down, disappearing under the murk. For a few moments there was silence, then the pudding exploded, sending the children into the muck as Rainbow flew up, spinning a few times to get it off her. “Now that was just fighting dirty! Well, two can play at that game.” She then dove, cannon balling into the muck and sending the pudding soaring around, catching the foals in a tidal wave of pudding, as well as the observers who were unfortunate enough to stand too close.

For a few moments there was silence as the younger ponies slowly popped up from the pudding, drenched in the stuff. They stared at Rainbow for a few moments before bursting into little giggles. Rainbow was already doing her mid air strut as they slowly crawled their way out of the mess.

“So, today's the day, right?” Applebloom asked.

“Day for what?” Dinky asked.

“Wait, you're not Sweetie?”

“I'm over here!” the little (now pudding colored) unicorn called out as she crawled out. “And yep! We'll be going to see her around two! You'll love her. I think.”

“Really? You've never really talked about her.”

“W-well that's normal,” Sweetie mumbled. “We didn't even know about Babs until she got here and Rarity says she had no idea Twilight even had a brother until the wedding.”

“Yah didn't really know about her, did yah?” Applebloom asked with a chuckle.

“I didn't know about her specifically, but I knew I had cousins,” Sweetie said, the pudding hiding her embarrassed glowing cheeks. “But Rarity says she's going to be simply divine,” she said in her best imitation of Rarity's voice. “Besides, she's from Prance. Rarity says that means she's cultured.”

“Ah got a feelin' Rarity's gonna be a lot more excited about it than any of us,” Applebloom said with a snicker.

“Rarity told me last night that she doesn't have her cutie mark yet. We can help her find hers!”

That made the two ponies shoot up and grins form on their face. Having just recently acquired their cutie marks, that could only mean one thing. “We need tah go get the club house ready!” Applebloom shrieked.

“Yeah! A new crusader to--”

“SWEETIE!” Rarity's voice cut through the air like a knife, making everypony cringe. The little filly slowly looked up to see her big sister standing at the end of the street, looking furious. “I thought I told you to be ready by two.”

“I still have plenty of time before two, I can shower and-- eep!” the little filly let out a squeak as she was picked up by her sister's magic.

“No no no. This will simply not do. Come along, we'll have to get you cleaned up and proper for your cousin's arrival.”

“All I need to do is take a shower! Come oooon,” Sweetie whined. “Look, the pudding changed to apple!” She motioned towards the now green pudding covered street.

“Lima bean, actually,” Scootaloo called back after poking the goo with her hoof.

“... I think I'm ready to get cleaned up now,” Sweetie mumbled as she looked at the now green pudding covering her body. She could even taste it. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if Discord maybe was a little evil.

------

Sweetie grumbled darkly as she looked down at herself. She'd been cleaned verrrrry thoroughly and now was stuck wearing one of the fanciest dresses Rarity had. It wouldn't be so bad, but there was so much lace and jewelry across it that she could barely walk. Making her way to the train station had been a slow, boring trip that would have normally only taken half an hour, at most, but had taken over an hour this time. It didn't help that they'd had to avoid entire streets due to Discord's play. And she'd had to listen as the other foals were busy having fun. She wanted nothing more than to tear off the dress and run to the club house, where she knew her friends were waiting. But she knew if she even tried to do that, Rarity would kill her.

But there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Even now she could see the train off in the distance, coming closer. When it arrived, her cousin would be here and, with her, her aunt and uncle. Once they had Rarity distracted with news from Prance, escaping with her cousin would be easy. She'd just get outside the station, take off the dress, run back home, toss it on the counter and then make a bee line straight for the club house. It was the perfect plan.

The train pulled into the station, the high pitched squeal of the brakes making her want to cover her ears, but with this gown she couldn't even lift her hooves that high. That, and if she fell she wasn't sure she'd be able to get back up. So instead she suffered in silence, watching the train grind to a halt and the doors open.

She let out a yelp and took a few steps back as a tidal wave of ponies surged out, yelling and stomping their hooves as they went. Rarity quickly moved besides her, keeping her safe against one of the back walls while the crowd surged through. Sweetie couldn't help but notice the thick scent of sweat in the air, all those poor ponies cramped into a little space like that. Soon it began to die down, though there were still plenty of ponies hanging about, chatting away with those who had come to meet them.

Then a small white unicorn filly stepped out, looking around with worried eyes. She had a small trolley tugging along behind her, the end held in her mouth. Her mane was short and a bit limp, a dull gray with small stripes of purple.

“Silverbelle?” Rarity called out.

The filly looked up instantly, dropping her luggage grip. “Ah! Yes! I am... the Silverbelle!” the filly said happily. “You are... the Rarity, yes?” Her accent was a lot thinner than Sweetie had expected, but the mare paused every few words, her nose scrunching up a bit before moving on.

“Yes, I am Rarity. This is my little sister, Sweetie Belle. Aren't your parents coming along?” Rarity asked as she looked towards the train, hopeful.

“Oh! Yes! They will... err...” the little filly scrunched up her nose again before taking a slow, deep breath. “Be... late.”

That made the elder unicorn pause and turn towards the filly. “Excuse me? Late? They sent you off on your own?”

“Wee! I mean, yes!” Silverbelle said proudly.

“I... I see,” Rarity said, her eyes wide and horror stricken. Sweetie let out a sigh of sadness. Just like that, her hopes of escaping while her big sister was distracted were shattered in more pieces than the vase she and the rest of the cutie mark crusaders had once tried to repair. Still, there was a little bit of hope.

“Well, I'm sure she's pretty tired, we should probably get her back to the Carousel to unpack, right?” Sweetie asked with a big grin.

“Hmm?” Rarity asked, her eyes still focused on the train as if she thought the filly's parents might pop out at any time. “Oh, yes, quite.” Her horn glowed and the cart holding the filly's luggage was pulled along. “Silverbelle, please follow us and we'll show you to your new home. Do you know when your parents will be arriving?”

“Arriving? Here now,” the filly said with a smile.

“Really? But you just said--” the mare shook her head. “No, oh dear. Parents. Mother, father.”

“Oh!” the filly giggled a little nervously. “Week, late.”

Rarity gave a firm nod before she started walking towards the exit. “I see. Well, I suppose being... a week late isn't so bad. A month long visit is...” She glanced towards her little sister. “Sweetie, would you be a dear and keep your cousin entertained while I set up her room?”

Sweetie's eyes widened. Hope! Actual hope! There was a light at the end of this tunnel and it said 'Entertain your cousin'. “Oh, of course. Do you mind if I get rid of the dress first?”

“Hmmm? Oh, yes, whatever you please,” the elder sister said, not really paying attention. There was a sudden rustle and when the mare looked back, the two little fillies were gone and there was naught but a small dress, slowly tumbling through the air onto the cart. She sighed and shook her head. “Truly, a week? What are those two thinking? You'd think two such refined ponies such as them would make sure they were punctual.”

She started the long trek back home, her mind still focused on the missing parents. She'd had so many wondrous plans, now they would all be for naught! Or rather, delayed by a whole week. She'd now have to squeeze four weeks of showing the grace and majesty of Ponyville and Canterlot into three weeks!

Her mind was so aflutter that she didn't even notice that small white pony sitting on the steps of the Carousal Boutique. However, she did hear the light scratching of claws against the door. She looked up to see small claw marks dug into the wooden door, along with the pony clawing at it. She let out a shriek of horror. “What have you done?”

The little pony turned towards her and she let out a gasp. It's eyes were slitted purple, just like a dragon's. Its mane was thin and purple, trailing down the entirety of its back like a dragon's scales. Most startling of all, at the end of said back was a tail, an actual flesh and bone tail. At the end of its hooves were small dragon claws, which it had used to tear up her door. Rather than pony ears, it had strange, fin like green ones, like a dragons.

When it saw her, its eyes lit up. “Mommy!” It leaped at her. She let out a shriek and raised her hooves to defend herself, lashing out with a firm right hoof, her eyes closed. She felt it connect and the strange pony tumble back.

Then she heard one of the worst possible noises. Crying. She slowly opened her eyes and found the little pony, laying on its back and staring at her with a look of the utmost betrayal and hurt. Tears were flowing down its eyes like water and its entire body was shaking as it let out little sobs. Weak and pitiful.

She cringed and slowly moved forward, forgetting the cart. “W-wait, dear. I'm sorry, you just startled me. Please stop crying, please,” she said as she lightly tapped the pony's head. “Are you a customer? Are you--”

And then the creature lashed out again, its hooves wrapped around her neck in a tight hug. She readied to defend herself, but all of a sudden its head was buried in her chest and it sobbed into her.

“Wahhhhhhhhhhh! M-mommmmyyyyyyyyy!” Even muffled, the words were so strong and high pitched it made her ears hurt.

Rarity stared down awkwardly at the creature. She wanted to shove it away, but the poor thing very much needed some comfort. With no other choice, she gently reached out and patted it on the back. “Err... there there, little... dear. Where are you--” Then her mind finally caught up with what was going on. Discord. There was no other explanation. “Oh you poor darling!” she said as hugged the sobbing pony. “What has Discord done to you? Well, don't you worry. I will have a firm talk with Fluttershy and we will have you returned to normal before you know it.” Her horn glowed as she opened the door to the Carousel, before sliding the cart inside. “Also, we'll make him fix the door because this is most definitely his fault. There there little dear.”

The sobbing creature slowly looked up with tear stained eyes. “D-Discord?” it asked softly.

“Yes, don't you worry,” she smiled softly and kept rubbing the ponies back. “It's all going to be okay, I promise.” She swore she would find a way to make that monster pay. Turning the streets to pudding was bad enough, but actually turning some poor pony into... into THIS? There was no justification in the world for it! If only they'd left the monster trapped in stone where he belonged.

Author's Note:

Psst. Just saw new episode. Ohhhh, this gives me ideassssss. I have to rework a few things, but cmc forever. <3

Comments

[Hillbe]

MOMMY?
PaPa?
Wut?

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That's what you get with those sleep overs in the crystal castle!

cutie mark crusaders MATCH MAKERS YEAH!

HONEST! I only touched her a little bit! when she asked!
Oh I talked in my cushion? Dreaming in my sleep with dragons on my mind?
DREAMS?!?
THE DRAGON DIDN'T MIND!
late night cowboy?
DISCORD?!

* THINK OF ALL THE ART WORK WITH THE cmc that needs redone!