A Golden Afternoon

by Gallifrey

Callooh, Callay!

A Golden Afternoon
by Gallifrey

Chapter Ten
Callooh, Callay!

Rarity was not at all happy when she woke up to discover that her mane looked like it had been dragged through a hedge backwards, and was outraged when she was told that that's exactly what had happened. About four times.

Currently, the five mares were lined up, not outside the imposing gates to the castle, but by the small hole Twilight had previously used to gain entry. All eyes were on it, especially Twilight's, who had no desire to ever enter it again.

"Do we have to?" the unicorn pleaded.

"You led us here," said Rainbow, puzzled.

Twilight danced nervously on her hooves. She found it darkly amusing that she was more scared of this tunnel than she was of the Lord of Chaos who was on the other side of it. "Can't we just use the gates?" she asked.

The other four ponies exchanged glances, and Rarity took it upon herself to explain.

"Twilight darling, if we use the gate, we may as well have a huge banner that reads: 'We're out here! Come and get us!'"

"Ooh! Ooh! I have a banner here somewhere," said Pinkie, whipping off her hat and pulling out a big red flag. "What did you want writing on it Rares?"

"What? Pinkie, no banners!" sighed Rarity.

"Aww," sulked the pink pony, pushing the fabric back into the hat that was far too small to logically contain it. "Shall we just go into the hole then?" she asked.

"Yes," said Applejack, "Twi, you go on in first, we'll all be right behind ya."

A bead of sweat fell off Twilight's brow as she swallowed and steeled herself. Nodding, she reluctantly but determinedly lowered herself into the cold earth, Rainbow Dash following in pursuit.

"Nice angle of you Twi," sniggered Rainbow Dash, as Twilight's rump moved from to side to side in the near darkness.

"Wish ah could say the same," said Applejack dryly from behind the blue pegasus. Laughter from Pinkie and Rarity came from the back. Twilight would have laughed too if she weren't so convinced she was about to die; the tunnel felt much longer than it had done before...

Eventually, the tunnel widened up, but instead of the open exit she anticipated, Twilight was instead confronted with what appeared to be a trapdoor. While she was hesitating, Rainbow bumped into Twilight's rear.

"Hey what gives?" asked Rainbow.

"There's a door," trembled Twilight, giving it an experimental prod; it didn't move.

"Open it then," came Rainbow's voice from behind her.

"Oh, yes," Twilight replied absently, forgetting in her discomfort that she could even use magic. Pressing a hoof to her face, Rainbow groaned as Twilight nudged the lock into opening and tentatively stuck her head out. Relishing the fresh air that greeted her, Twilight was surprised to find that she was inside the castle: in fact, it was part of the castle that by all means should have been impossible to reach via a tunnel.

"Where are we?" asked Pinkie when she emerged. Twilight gathered her thoughts and straightened them out so she could reply.

"My old bedroom from when I was a filly," she whispered, "at the top of the Aurora Tower– b-but what has he done to it?"

Her bed had been flipped over and broken at its middle; Twilight was very fond of her old bed, but that was the least of her concerns right now. Dolls that she had left behind, small plushes of the Wonderbolts that would have made Rainbow jealous, Jammy the hedgehog and Little Miss Buzzy the stuffed bumblebee were hanging from the ceiling with ropes around their necks, swinging creepily. Her eyes slid down to the wall, where the words 'YOU NEVER HAD ANY FRIENDS' were written via slashes in her wallpaper. But worst of all, for Twilight at least, was what fate that had befallen her books. They were mutilated, some beyond recognition; pages torn from spines, covers rent with vicious slashes, and all their meaning lost. A thousand adventures she had enjoyed as a child, a thousand dreams, dead, ripped and strewn across the floor before her.

Falling to her haunches, Twilight let out a pathetic whimper. Applejack was the first to comfort her, rushing to her side and throwing open her hooves to hug the distressed mare.

"W-Why is he doing this?" sniffed Twilight, "That's my childhood, and he's destroyed it entirely!"

"Shhshhshh," comforted Applejack while the others looked on in sympathy. "He's trying ta make you lose hope sugar cube, by taking away what's important to ya, like when he tried to take us from you last time; it didn't work then and it won't work now."

"B-but it's true!" she wailed, pointing at the writing on the wall.

"I- uh," faltered the cowpony, looking at her friends for help.

Pinkie took over.

"Hey, Twi?" she said gently. One of Twilight's ears pointed in her direction to show she was listening. "Who did you have when you were young? You had the Princess, you had your brother, you had your parents. It's a big fat lie to say that you didn't have any friends!"

"But they were all a lot older than I was!" Twilight sniffled into Applejack's fur.

"Your brother is only a year older than Flutters, ya know," the pink mare observed.

"Well, you're right there," admitted Twilight, raising her head to look at her friends, the friends she had now. The ponies who mattered. Sniffing, she drew a hoof across her face to wipe her eyes. A smile crept over her muzzle and she held out her hooves in an invitation for a group hug.

Up above, and unnoticed, the toys of Twilight Sparkle's childhood detached themselves from the ceiling and drifted sinisterly over to the huddle of pastel colours.

Twilight surfaced for air and was greeted by Little Miss Buzzy floating like a marionette, exactly like a marionette. Shifting her gaze up, she was greeted by the grin of one of the last things she wanted to see: the Cheshire Cat, who was manipulating the toys around her.

"Cheshire," she said stiffly.

"Twilight, good to see you," it said, dropping the toys with a clatter and bringing the attention of the others.

"Goodness me, your fur!" said Rarity without thinking, seeing its mangy and ill-kept hair.

"It's nice to know what you think of me," said the Cat with a voice so neutral, litmus would have been useless.

"Sorry?" Rarity ventured, unable to tell if it was offended or not.

"What are you doing here?" questioned Twilight, still slightly coldly.

"I have a present for you," it said and snapped a paw, causing a puff of smoke, which cleared to reveal a Fluttershy.

The timid yellow mare stumbled slightly at her unexpected teleportation. As was entirely expected, fear gripped the pegasus and she panicked, eyes darting to each of the five mares. Hooves scrabbling over loose pages from books, she threw herself behind the bed with an "Eeep!", her long pink tail sticking out.

"Fluttershy?" said Twilight as gently as she could, nodding at Applejack, who readied the sword.

"Don't hurt me! Please, I'll do anything you want!" she squeaked.

*pomf!*

Rarity tilted her head to Rainbow Dash, an eyebrow raised. Rainbow gave her a sheepish grin and blushed furiously.

Twilight, intent on soothing her petrified friends, didn't notice this and continued.

"You know, I have a fuzzy lil' bunny with me that might need some medicine for his cough," she said nonchalantly. It worked like a charm, and Fluttershy zipped out from her hiding place, her usually soft eyes wide open and excited.

"Yarrgh!" yelled Applejack, diving on Fluttershy before she could even react. There was a strangled yelp and a bright flash of light.

Twilight breathed a sigh of what little relief she could afford. At least all her friends were back in their right minds, and Twilight felt much braver: together, they were nigh on unstoppable.

"Hey Twilight, check this out!" said Pinkie, jabbing a pink hoof at the sword. Standing next to Pinkie, Twilight saw three luminous jewels of white, yellow and orange embedded in the crossbar. Twilight turned it over in her hooves to reveal the blue, purple and pink gems on the other side.

"They look like the Elements of Harmony, but tiny," said Twilight in an awed voice.

"It adds to the magnificence of it," commented Rarity with wide eyes.

"Oh hoho! What's all this then?" said a certain disembodied voice. Fluttershy seized up and fell into Rainbow Dash's sides.

Twilight, suddenly rapt and alert, spoke out.

"Discord," she muttered, trying to sound much braver than she felt. "This is far enough. You don't have to be like this!"

"Please, spare me the lectures. I am here to deliver a message."

"A message?" asked the unicorn, thrown off guard.

A chuckle as dark as coal and even more abrasive permeated the room.

"Time is running out my dear,

Smile at the death of the Sun,

A flame ignites of doubt and fear,

Stand and fight or run.

"A linear arena springs to mind,

Time to perform your best,

If you're willing would you be so kind,

And play a game of chess?"

He let the message sink in, before saying

"Ta ta for now, I expect I'll see you shortly."

Silence reigned.

"Uh, what was that about?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight was rubbing her temples. She couldn't believe this. What was the point of that? Was he trying to scare them with vague riddles, playing on a primal fear of the unknown? If so, it had worked quite well on Fluttershy, who was still cowering.

A game of chess... that didn't make sense at all for Twilight; why was he challenging her to chess of all things? She was certain that the draconequus could easily strike them down if he so wished, so why didn't he? Why would he stop himself? A gleam of comprehension glimmered in her eyes: he was toying with them, like Twilight's stuffed animals. He was treating them like marionettes from a string– or, at least, he had been until Twilight had slashed all the strings with her sword.

The cogs whirred in Twilight's mind.

So now... he was trying to regain his dominion over them with bodiless voices whispering vague and ominous words, corrupting childhood memories, and fabricated falsehoods.

"No!" shouted Twilight, startling her friends. "We can't let him try to get to us!"

"Uhhh," said Rainbow.

"He's trying to trick us into fear and mistrust!" she said fervently. "We can't let that happen!"

"So what d'ya suggest, Twi?" asked Applejack. "Take him up on his offer?"

"Exactly that. I think we can take him on, after all: we're all in this together."

"But," mumbled Fluttershy, who was cowering behind Rainbow Dash, "what about the sword? Are you supposed to- to kill him with it?"

Twilight's eyes softened, and she locked gazes with her pegasus friend, but remained silent.

"Come on," said Applejack, noticing how uncomfortable her purple friend looked. "Let's get this over with."

---

Discord was sitting amiably on a large throne that represented the king on his enormous chess board. Biding his time was a skill of his– he had spent a millennium trapped inside stone after all, and there was a lot less he could do in that time than now. To entertain himself, he turned a few birds that were flying overhead into balloons.

"I think I'm losing my touch," he said, musing over his latest creation. "I used to be able to raze whole cities to the ground, and turn it all into water vapour, and set it into the sky... Cloudsdale never knew who their founder was... alas."

Cloudsdale: that little brat Rainbow Dash hailed from there. Ever a thorn in his side, ever a constant nuisance, her and her other friends. Speaking of which, where were they? No doubt preparing to strike him down as usual.

He heard the faint clip-clop of hooves across the way, heralding their arrival. With a wicked smile, he jumped up into the air to greet them.

"Good afternoon ladies! How nice of you to drop in! Would you care for some... tea?"

"Yes!" yelled Pinkie and Rainbow in unison.

"Girls, no!" barked Twilight, "We can all have tea later when we're done with this." She walked through the chess pieces to approach her adversary. "Discord, since we don't have much of a choice right now, what do you have in mind?"

"Twilight Sparkle, I gathered you here on the premise of challenging you to a game of checkers."

"But I thought it was chess?"

"Then why did you ask? Was this not obvious enough for you?" he asked, gesturing to the board they were standing on. "We best start playing immediately, lest you forget who you are in the meantime."

Twilight didn't rise to his condescending tone, but she did snort involuntarily.

"What do we get if we win this game?" she demanded.

"I suppose I'll submit and revert everything to its former, disgustingly ordered state."

"And if you win?"

"Then you can be my servants of chaos or something, I dunno."

"Great," deadpanned Twilight.

"Take your places, ponies!" shouted Discord.

A few minutes later, they assembled into position: Twilight was the king, Rainbow the queen, Fluttershy was a bishop, Pinkie a knight, Applejack a castle, and a disgruntled Rarity was left with being a pawn.

"White moves first," called the draconequus. "Let's dance."

"Yippee, I get to move first," muttered Rarity, glumly walking forward two spaces.

And so it began: a game that ever appears passive at a distance, but is fuelled by cold logic and raw thinking power. A war game for the ages, and never had the stakes been so high as they were then.

It was a very evenly sided game, even when it was six against one and one of the six was a Twilight Sparkle. Pinkie was the first to leave the battlefield, having been knocked out by one of Discord's bishops. Fluttershy and Applejack followed suit, but not without taking a few pieces down with them. Rarity, under the protection of Rainbow Dash, slowly advanced up across the board, getting closer and closer to the opposite side...

"Waahaha!" came an elated shout, as Rarity ascended into royalty and became a queen. Unfortunately, during the time spent getting Rarity across the board, Discord had laid a devious trap for Twilight and had put her in check.

"Come on Twilight, you can do it!" cheered Pinkie Pie from the sidelines.

Twilight's brain was running overtime to find a solution and after a few painfully taxing minutes, she found one. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she surveyed the scene. The tides of fortune were turning in her favour now that Rarity was a queen, and she gambolled across the board, unleashing a tirade of slaughter over Discord's pieces.

The afternoon wore on, and when the Sun began to set, the end game was close at hoof.

Rainbow and Rarity had collectively backed Discord into a corner. His mismatched eyes flitted around wildly, looking for an escape...

"Checkmate," declared Twilight. "We win."

"Oh, did you really think it was going to be that easy, Twilight Sparkle?" sneered Discord, snapping his fingers, and dissolving the chess board.

"Hey! That's not fair!" protested the unicorn.

"You really are losing your memory!" he said, poking her nose with a paw, "I told you before: life isn't fair." He flicked his fingers underneath Twilight's chin, sending her reeling backwards.

"How dare you!" she stammered, rubbing her neck.

"My apologies," said Discord with a mock bow, "let me help you up."

"Don't touch me!" she snarled, aiming a kick at him but missing, overbalancing, and falling over again.

"Ooh hoohoo! I appear to be duelling with a rag doll today, how novel!"

Twilight had reached the end of her tether. Enough was enough: this had to end. She kicked out again, and this time, it connected with his stomach. Snarling, he snapped his fingers.

"Try that on for size," he chuckled.

"Try what?" said Twilight in a voice much deeper than she was used to. Startled, she looked over her shoulder to see a larger frame and shorter tail. Pulling at her mane revealed short and floppy bangs... looking down between her legs revealed...

"Oh... my..."

The now male Twilight Sparkle drew himself up as proudly as he could, as though nothing were amiss.

"Hey, look at Twi," said Applejack, wide-eyed.

"I must say, she looks rather comely as a stallion doesn't she?" said Rarity, a blush apparent upon her white coat.

"Do you like it?" asked Discord to Twilight.

"That's neither here nor there, Discord," he sniffed.

"I'm not hearing a 'no.'"

"Oh shut up!" yelled Twilight, charging at him, and missing spectacularly.

"Not used to a stallion's body eh? Well, it's to be expected, when have you ever known a stallion's body?"

That struck the young unicorn harder than expected and he was surprised to feel tears welling up in his eyes. Discord noticed this and rucked up laughing, which was when Twilight took his chance.

Taking the vorpal blade in hoof he swung it with a snicker-snack. Jumping up on Discord, he pinned him down with his body and magic, the point of the sword directly against his throat.

"First," he growled, "turn me back."

"Fine..." he grumbled, snapping a finger.

"Next, change everything else back."

"Make me," he whispered, without a trace of fear.

"I could kill you..." she murmured, "and end the nightmare once and for all."

"But you won't," he sneered in return, "you don't have the nerve."

"All the times you've underestimated me before, do you really want to try that again?" She emphasised her point by pressing the sword more forcefully against him.

As Twilight stood there, holding his life in her hooves, a small blue butterfly with white specks fluttered down onto her snout. Crossing her eyes, Twilight looked at it in puzzlement; it flew off to her right, and that was when she noticed two alicorns, the blue one staring at her penetratingly, the white one with her hooves covering her face in fear.

Twilight saw through the swirling vortex of chaos and malice in Discord's eyes. She saw the flickers of fear, and the glimmers of a redemption long desired, but forever denied, for in his eyes, redemption was weak. Nevertheless it was there, for Twilight to see for herself, floating in the depths. Her hooves wavered, wondering whether what she was about to do was the right choice... and she lowered the sword, casting it aside.

"What are you–" began Discord, but he was stunned into silence when Twilight flashed him a bright smile, a genuine smile; why, he hadn't received a smile like that since... Celestia...

Twilight, seeing the opportunity, pointed over to the Princess, who was still cowering, despite a soothingly toned Luna trying to convince her everything was fine.

Discord, naturally confused, rubbed his hands together, unsure what to do. Leaving him to his own devices, Twilight returned to her friends.

"Twilight? Are you insane?! What are you doing?!" asked Rainbow.

"Giving him one last chance," said the purple mare calmly.

"You think he deserves it?" asked Applejack.

"Doesn't everyone?" replied Twilight, as Princess Luna tactfully moved to join them.

"And hast thou spared the King of Hearts?" she asked, smiling warmly. "You did well, Twilight Sparkle: my sister was right to leave you with such solemn responsibility."

"Aha, just as expected," said a voice from high above them. At first, they thought it was the Moon, but of course, it was the Cheshire Cat's grin.

"What are you doing here?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, you know, just seeing the conclusion of the story," it said amiably. "Any second now..."

Celestia was trotting towards them, a huge grin plastered on her face.

"Come to my hooves, my beamish mare! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" she chortled in her share.

"There we go," said the Cat with an air of finality. Clearing its throat, it began

"'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the King of Hearts, my girl!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!

"She took her vorpal sword in hoof:

Long time the manxome foe she sought–

So rested she by the Tumtum tree,

And lay awhile in thought.

"And as in uffish thought he stood,

The King of Hearts, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

And burbled as it came!

"One, two! One, two! and through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

She spared its head, and in her stead

He went galumphing back.

"'And hast thou spared the King of Hearts?

Come to my hooves, my beamish mare!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'

She chortled in her share.

"'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe."

And with that, the Cat vanished into the twilight.

"What's that thing's deal anyway?" asked Rainbow, staring at the spot the Cat had occupied but seconds earlier.

"I honestly don't think we'll ever know," said Twilight wearily, rubbing her tired eyes. When she opened them she saw Discord standing before her, looking meek.

"Go on," encouraged Celestia.

"I- I'm sorry," he mumbled. "'Tia reminded me that chaos doesn't have to ruin ponies' lives like this. Quite frankly, I'll be content with a storm or two here and there if it means anything to you... maybe a few power outages too if I'm bored... or an earthquake..."

"I suppose we can forgive you, right girls?" said Twilight. They all nodded in agreement. "But, please fix everything to how it was."

"Do I have to?" he whined, looking to Celestia, who nodded. "Very well..."

He snapped his fingers, and the world started spinning, slowly at first, but rapidly gaining momentum. Twilight felt herself being raised into the air along with her friends.

"Hey, I'm thinking of something beginning with T!"

Twilight rolled her eyes, which only served to make her feel ill in the midst of the vortex she was in.

"It's Twilight!"

---

Twilight's eyes flew open. She was lying underneath her favourite tree, in a quiet corner of Ponyville Park by the shimmering stream. The sky was burnt orange in the warm dusk that had fallen around her. A truly beautiful time of day, twilight...

However, the unicorn was confused. Was that all a dream? Or had it just happened? The problem was that Twilight had no way of distinguishing one from the other, and the details were leaving her rapidly, like trying to carry sand in a sieve.

Irked, but happy to find herself back to normality, she cricked her back and stood up, picking up her poetry-laden saddle bag, prepared to go home to some tasty salad for dinner, maybe with some ice cream for dessert. Spike could have some too if he had minded the library well today.

With pleasant thoughts in mind, the unicorn bounced happily to her treehouse, quite oblivious to the small blue butterfly with star-like specks that was fluttering lazily along behind her.

The End

Comments

[Doublesims]

aw I was going to look forward to have Spike in wonderland (or is it Underland)

[Gallifrey]

2155890
More Wonderland at the start, more Underland to the end.

[Doublesims]

2156649 You still didn't fit Spike into it

[The Diplomat]

Oh this is good

[Subatomic Seal]

*Nods* Two musics this time! Here's the other one.
Play the second one first, and the first one second.

[Evil-Lovieness]

2507006 Doubtful that I actually need to say who it is. Just continue reading this thing and it will make itself clear soon enough.

[StudyingTwilight]

I Have Read All The Chapters And Have Been Checkmarked Read But I Have A Question? Is The First Chapter Twilight In Wonderland A Homage To Alice In Wonderland (You Know? The Book The 1951 Disney Movie And The 2010 Tim Burton Film? Oh By The Way Back In My Middle School Days In 2008 I Was In Alice In Wonderland Jr, Trust Me I Was In The Chorus After All My Singing Was Getting Better And Better As The Play Went On.