Agents of Discord

by Scarlett Haze

Dreams into Nightmares

"That's what happened, I wouldn't bullshit you if I could try."

I had finished explaining the situation that happened after I had raised hell at my former workplace to Richard, I had taken up temporary residence in his house and threw the paper bag with the money on the coffee table.

Richard's place isn't too bad. Simple little place that had a basement, kitchen, living room, and bathroom. The living room doubled as the place where he and I would sleep, myself on a futon that folded in half to resemble a couch, and he in a chair that was extremely over-padded with foam. It was designed so perfectly to be able to have both pieces of furniture aimed at a 32" TV that was hooked up to my Xbox 360 and his Playstation 3. The coffee table that I had thrown the paper bag on, had a box of pizza that had already been opened and almost eaten entirely from yesterday's 'dinner'.

Richard kept gawking at me before he grabbed the bag and looked in it. He pulled out a roll of the money and started hyperventilating. "There's no way that this is, like, legally owned money. At all."

I shoved a slice of room temperature cheese pizza in my mouth and yanked off a piece, "Ah domph care, I-" I gave a gulp of the chewed slice before continuing, "I needed some luck after decking Bradford in the face, and karma sought fit to grant me some."

Richard cautiously removed the tape around the roll and gently unfolded the large wad. He started holding the bills in some light to see if they were fakes and pulled out his laptop. "If they aren't real, then I think you can say that you were simply conned. If they are, we're finding out what bank got fucking robbed and sending this back."

I had to agree with him. As horrible as my moral compass was at that point, I wasn't going to be a scumbag and keep money that belonged to someone else. He did some Google searches and tried to find everything possible that could say if the bills were faked, but they weren't. He then started trying to find if any news articles came out with recent bank robberies in town, one came close, but the criminals were already caught, money returned safely.

Richard shut his laptop as I had drawn my attention to Tyrone, who was laying his head on my knee and looking at the pizza slice I held in my hand. "Well, Quentin. Congratu-fucking-lations. You've got easy money to last for a good year if you don't waste it all, and somehow find a job that'll take a guy that got fired for employee abuse."

"I'll argue against it, I got released before that, the company can't put that on me if they had all the papers and shit done," I snapped back. We looked at each other and then slumped into our seats in exhaustion. "So. Back to square one."

Richard rolled his head back and looked at the ceiling, "What would Twilight Sparkle do?"

My eyes looked over at him, "Who?"

Richard's head snapped forward and his reaction of fear caught me off guard, "Oh, um, no one in particular. Just a character." He leaned forward and grabbed the last slice of pizza on the table and started inhaling it, giving me a signal that he didn't want to talk about it.

I only sighed and pulled out my cell phone, checking it for any messages before calling up the usual number. "Can't let good money go to waste," I muttered as the line picked up. "Hey, order for Clemens, quick question before I give the address, how much is a large Meat Lovers pizza and how much is it if you double the amount of ingredients you would put on it?"

***

The rest of the night consisted of caffeinated beverages, video games, and stupid arguments on who's fault it was that the mission was failed. I had learned to play Battlefield 3 with one hand and knee as I unloaded clips of ammunition onto the incoming forces that came for my head.

"Ha Ha! See that shot?! I got the sneaky, snakey, son of a bitch as he jumped out the window to try and ambush me!" I yelled out, finding the pizza slice I had held in my mouth land in my lap before I snatched it up again and saw that I had got shot in the head by a sniper. "FUH!" I angrily shouted through the baked dough and sauce.

"This is exactly what we both needed," Richard remarked, throwing a grenade in a corner and watching an unsuspecting enemy rush by it and blown up.

The match ended and Richard set his controller down as I started to shut things down. He pulled out his sleep items that consisted of a yellow blanket and a neck pillow, getting comfortable in his spot. I had only brought my Oakland Raiders blanket and two pillows that were shoved into a single pillow case.

I laid down on the futon, making Tyrone worm around me before finally just getting off. Giving a sigh, I shut my eyes.

***

The instant my eyes shut, I found them wide open again. I was still in Richard's home, but Richard was no longer in his chair. Tyrone was missing as well, which only made me feel concerned. I pulled the covers off and set my feet on the floor, stopping as I thought the creak of my weight shifting sounded like laughter coming from a woman. I stood up and noticed the bathroom door was open, the light was on as well.

"Rich? You takin' a dump or something?" I called out, still feeling tired after staying up so late. The lights went out and I saw a creature hidden in the shadows, it was on four legs, but it was bigger than Tyrone. A light shown above it, letting off a yellow glow that let me see it was a pony, yellow fur, black hair with white streaks. It's eyes were black, no sign of coloration whatsoever. I felt a need to run and turned to do so, only to see a light green pony with glasses in the way. It too had no color in its eyes as it looked at me.

I kept trying to find a way around, but kept meeting pony after pony that would stand in my way. A grey pegasus, an aquamarine unicorn, another light green pony. They all didn't attack, but approached me slowly. I couldn't move as I felt myself shrinking as their eyes kept staring into me. I tried to scream, yell, anything that could give someone warning, but nothing escaped my throat.

"You are alone, there is no pony you can trust besides yourself. All of your friends will betray you, and then you will die." I heard the voice of the laughing woman talk out, only making my fear worse as I finally got enveloped in the pure darkness of the ponies soulless eyes. "But that's all you need, let us take over and we'll let you have all of this..."

The darkness was now replaced by a burning world, the sun and moon were high above the sky and meeting together to form an eclipse that only seemed to make the heat only more intense. With no control, I felt myself walking. I wasn't walking on two legs like I was, but on four.

I had been walking on four legs for some time.

As I stepped, I felt my wings flare up and engulf the ground in its shadow as I began to approach an edge of water that had remained, despite the ungodly dry earth.

I have had wings, I haven't been human for a few days...

I reached the water and saw the reflection show a dark orange unicorn with wings opened up, his eyes betraying his madness as he revealed sharp rows of teeth.

"Now, JOIN US!" The reflection screeched and reached out for me.

***

"NOOOOOO!!!"

I shot up from my slumber and looked around where I was at. Back inside Discord's old base, surrounded by a few good ponies and beside me was Linda. Despite my loud scream of fear, no pony seemed to have noticed. I sat quietly as I let my heart start to slow down as I looked down at the watch that glowed a good shade of green.

2 days, 19 hours, 45 minutes, 29 seconds, 0 firsts.

I rubbed hooves down my face and removed the sheet that was on me, heading to the direction of where the food was. My head pounded, the sound of that woman chuckling following me from the dream land into my reality. Or at least this reality, I still have yet to understand anything at this point. When I had got there, I noticed a beefy white pegasus was up as well, cracking eggs and eating them raw in front of my eyes. He noticed my awkward staring and gave a wave.

"What's going on, brother? You have a workout regimen for your mornings too?" He asked, coughing slightly to keep the egg down.

I felt sore, the word 'workout' only made me elicit a groan of protest.

The pegasus seemed to understand and he pulled out a banana and a juice box. "Yeah, I figured that'd happen. When you conked out, it looked like you overexert yourself. Your muscles must be torn to Tartarus and back, but that's still cool. Have a banana and drink that orange juice, trust me, it's good stuff for helping out getting it back together."

I didn't even bother protesting and went right after the food, speaking words felt like it was going to hurt to do anyway. I jammed the straw into the juice box and sucked it dry before going to the banana and ripping off the peel. Taking a bite into it, I unconsciously started thinking that this was Richard's kitchen and went to start up the coffee machine. After taking another unnoticed bite of banana, my mind finally told me that there wasn't a coffee pot to be seen.

"Alright, brother. Seems like you and I are ready to go, let's get out and start it up!" The white pegasus gave me a pat on the back and caused me to choke a little on banana mush.

***

"Come on! Just one pull up is all I ask!" The white pegasus yelled at me as I hung off a branch.

"I've never been able to do one before," I yelled back, already feeling my grip start to falter. "I could barely fly high enough to reach this branch, and I swear to Celestia if you don't catch me, I'll punch you!"

I figured my anger was justified, especially after learning that Snowflake was only kidding with me about doing a workout with him. He did promise no charge for the lessons, but still, exercise is something that I avoid even harder than the Bubonic Plague.

Snowflake moved away from where I was and watched my reaction, a bit of a smirk on his face as I flailed my lower limbs..

"YOU SONOFA-!" A hoof slipped out and I was only hanging on by an arm. I kept there, trying my hardest not to fall off. I had felt so frustrated about this unexpected turn of events, but part of me knew I had to do this. I had to get stronger, faster, anything to get an edge over Discord. I felt something snap inside my mind as I wrapped the loose hoof up and struggled to pull up on the branch. I soon got the pull up and felt myself slowly doing more, gaining a rhythm and feeling a lot of energy pouring into me.

"That's it, and you say you haven't done a pullup before!"

***

I felt myself going through actions faster than I could believe. Doing situps by hanging off the branch I felt my abs get tight and ready to go. In another moment, I was at a tree, punching it for a few moments before bucking once and rolling forward from the impact that I had made. Going from bucking and punching, Snowflake then started applying holds on me. In an impromptu wrestling match, I was learning how these holds were applied and what to look for as a signal to apply it. My attempts didn't seem successful at first, but Snowflake went easy on me and continued to help as best he could.

Every time I hit the ground, I could only feel more frustration than pain. After around the sixth time of eating dirt, I had resorted to just trying to tackle Snowflake to the ground.

"You keep making mistakes and not adjusting because you're so mad, you need to learn to keep calm, brother." Snokwflake looked at me as I laid on the ground, trying to catch my breath after getting gator rolled again. I took a few more breaths and then got back up again, ready to go once more.

More ponies came from the exit and noticed our segment. Each of them started going through a group regimen led by Snowflake while I continued to punch at the tree, each blow breaking off bark as I finally reached the actual hardwood. I kept the image of Discord in my mind and realized at the height I was at, I would be only hitting his legs and went higher with a flap of my wings. Going into hard, right haymakers, I began to feel my forehoof start to hurt and went down to the ground, holding the hoof to my chest before shaking it and going back on the attack.

With the little I could remember from Tae Kwon Do, I had used my wings to lift myself before swinging a hind leg into a roundhouse kick and trying to not have my back turned. I taught a few of the locals on how to rear up and stand, showing a few of them that they can perform a few boxing jabs and different punches, which was surprisingly a new concept for them.

Running through the forest gave my legs a good workout, and only served to make me face against random animals that jumped out. Grabbing hold of a random Manticore that decided to take me on, I began dancing around it with fast jabs with my left and right hooves. After a few punches, I managed to reposition myself on top of the beast and forced it to run off and try to get me off.

"I'm getting them back, and I'll get us home. No God is going to stop me!" I screamed, finally jumping off the beast and extending my wings; flying off to a mountain and landing at the base. I was going to scale the sucker. The slope came up fast, and I resorted to climbing up the rock face. My focus seemed so intense as I reached for any crevice and jammed a hoof into it before pulling up and doing it again. The mountain was really high, and I could smell the remnants of smoke. I didn't care, come hell or high water, I was getting to the top.

Nearly falling off, I gripped with the only free hoof I had and continued on, ignoring the large cavern that contained the smokey smell, until I reached the peak. Standing on my rear legs, I looked out to the yellow bubble that now had a castle being built inside it. My rage and testosterone had finally hit its peak as I screamed out a single name.

"DISCOOOOOOOORD!"

***

Inside my castle, I felt drawn to look out the window at a mountain from far away.

"What in the?" I asked, passing by Conquest as he replaced a pillar and looked to the peak as the sun began to rise alongside it. Even with the orange color of the horizon, I could see him looking at me. Bait was calling me out, and he was mad. I kept looking out the window as I heard his scream. I could only stand there, my nervousness beginning to show as my talon twitched.

"Lord Discord, will you move so that I may replace the glass?"

I moved away and allowed Conquest to reform the pane glass for the window, unable to speak. If they asked, I could blame the fact that it was early, but I knew that it would only be a weak excuse. I couldn't stop now, I was too far ahead on my plan to be stopped. "Cloudsdale, the next town to fall."

I started chuckling lightly and then went into a full laugh. I couldn't wait to make Cloudsdale fall to the ground and be destroyed, and along with it's fall would come the fifth member. I cracked the knuckles on my paw before mimicking a phone, "Yes, Plan B? Please be sure to take Trigger tonight, after the Elements are taken by Plan B."

***

I stood on top of the mountain for awhile, taking in the sight that the early morning sun was giving me. The open fields covered by long shadows from the trees, the town of Ponyville looking barren with no sign of life from this height. The chill of the air around me made me shiver for a moment before trying to descend.

"All yours."

The whispering voice of the beast from my dreams echoed out, making me stop and look around me. I hated to say this to myself, but I felt like I was nearing my mental break point and I needed to stop and breathe for a moment.

"Is that you causing this, Luna?" I whispered aloud, perhaps hoping to get answers as to what was causing these pieces of mental duress.

"Me?" The voice in my mind responded, "Of course not, we are!"

The voice in my mind now sounded VERY similar to the female voice in my dream, and I felt dread fall down around me.

"We? There's no 'we' there is only-" I tried to say 'I' but felt my voice cut off before it would come out.

"Quentin Clemens, the boy that has fought for himself for nearly twenty years. Your pain and fears were what drew me to you, and they are what will give me the strength to return to the host body." The voice calling itself Luna spoke, her confidence and a hint of sultriness. "It also gives you strength, as you can recall with your interaction with the windigo. Even now, you are able to use some of it."

I started connecting pieces at that moment, the dream, this voice, and more importantly what I know had to deal with on top of the issue with Discord. "You want me to beat him so you can take over..."

The voice in my mind laughed and I soon found myself laughing alongside it with no control, our voices merged as they passed through my lips. "We only need one goal, Quentin. All of this land at our command and the night lasting for all eternity. If not by our host, then we can certainly use ourselves. After all, you only continue to lose yourself in us, and soon we will merge together and become one."

The image of the beast I had seen in the lake of my dream shown up again. The dark orange coat, the flaming mane, the horn, wings, and pure stature, that is what the creature wanted me to become.

"We need a new name if we are to merge with you, for the old name would not be suitable for our needs. The control of sun and moon would indeed be at our disposal and when they meet, we could become even greater in power. Yes, our name will be Solar Eclipse, and our rule will be indomitable."

With that statement, the control of my body finally returned and I sat down on the mountain top, unsure of what to do anymore. Things kept becoming harder for me to try and control, when I would make a step forward, I somehow find myself taking five steps back. On that mountain top, I went through my options. It was either allow Discord to keep my friends under his control and take over the world, or I would defeat him, save my friends, but in turn would be used as a puppet for the beast that now lived as a part of calling itself Solar Eclipse.

With nothing else to do, I decided to go back to the ponies at the base camp, or more specifically to Zecora. She had to know of some way to fix this new problem, or if not fix it, perhaps hold it off so that I could beat Discord and then shove it off to whatever this 'host' was. Instead of flying, I made a slow trot back down the mountain side and to the camp, hoping that perhaps the slower route would give me more time to try and come up with a plan.

***

As I arrived at the base camp, there was a large stir of activity that seemed to be going on. All of it was about Elements or something...

"I can't believe it! Lyra has never acted like that before, and Ditzy as well! Why would they steal Elements and then take away Limonade?"

When I heard that statement from one of the ponies that gathered, I went into a rage. "What happened?!"

"Is that you, Quick Fix of Fillinois? I must tell you a truth, you will not enjoy..." Zecora spoke up, passing through the crowd and looking slightly up at me. "As we set for the day, a unicorn named Lyra took away Limonade like she was prey. She wore an Element of Harmony, to add to the absurdity."

Zecora then shifted a little bit as I continued to process what she was telling me. "She ran with Ditzy, who helped her escape with a lift. And as they left, they wished for you to have a gift." She then revealed a necklace, the chain was closely knit together and the pendent had shown a cracked star.

All I could do was stand still as Zecora set the necklace down in front of me, my head going low from the heavy depression that now set down on me. I took the necklace up and shoved it into my shirt pocket before pushing through the crowds towards the entrance of the base.

"Fix, if there is anything that I could-" Zecora started up, but was cut short from me ignoring her as I descended. It happened, and I wasn't there to stop it. To add to the pain, I was given a necklace as a mocking 'thank you' from Discord. I couldn't trust these ponies to do a damned thing, who was I kidding? With an entire town watching, somepony took my girlfriend away and watched her escape.

I found a table and a chair, not caring what it was for and sat down. I slumped onto the table and covered my face with my arms, trying my best not to cry or show my complete frustration now. I knew I had to try to get calm again, or at least allow myself more time to think over what has happened in only a few hours. I looked down at the watch on my wrist and watched the seconds go down for a few moments.

2 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, 0 seconds, 12 firsts

I had a lot to think about, and if it meant having part of the outside collapse for a little while longer, then I was going to let it happen.

***

The news of Cloudsdale falling from the sky was nothing shocking to me, I didn't live there, so why would I care? The ponies at the base started looking to me to do something, but I didn't move. All I had been able to do was play the same situation in my mind. I would come up to the castle gates, armed to the teeth in weapons and armor, and as I would take the first step forward, the entire town would take a step back.

"Enough moping."

My face rose up from the wooden desk to see Zecora, Trixie, and a brown pony with an hourglass cutie mark in front of me. Zecora looked the most stern out of the three as she continue to speak.

"You've had enough time for your coping."

I rubbed my eyes for a moment, still trying to hide the fact that I had practically fallen asleep with my eyes open. "Why wasn't she stopped Zecora? Why didn't anypony stop Limonade's capture?"

"That was my judgement," the brown pony spoke up, a bit of honor backed up in his voice. "Because Lyra was acting so differently, I made the call to try and reason with her instead of allowing the ponies around her to tackle her or hurt her." He then lowered his head slightly, "When Zecora had told me that Limonade was somepony close to you, I could understand why you would feel so hurt."

"But we have no more time to waste on hurt feelings and bruised egos," Trixie interrupted. "There must be a focus on the now, not of what was in the past."

I tried to let those words seep in. She was right. I... no, we could save them. The town wanted Canterlot back, and I wanted my friends to be returned to me. This was going to be a war, and we weren't going to be able to do it so far away from the battlefield. I looked up to Trixie, a plan formulating in my mind.

"Do we have carts, baskets, or anything that we could store these weapons and armor in?"

"What's the plan, leader?" Trixie smugly grinned.

I got up from my chair and set my hooves up on the table, "We're moving the camp to Ponyville."

Comments

[toasty_muffinz]

moar update pwease?