Chaos Mark Crusaders: RotE Episode 8

by Dream Volt

Scootaport!

A full week away from the other crusaders. The way Luna was muttering about how much work it would be to put it back to normal it really wasn't that bad a punishment. Also Dash delivered the bad news and we had fun that whole first day. That was awesome, but it couldn't last. Today my guard was really clumsy and obvious, and he eventually fell asleep. I don't think Luna's stallion guards had been looking after us any other day, but I could be wrong. I left him behind so could get things going. Unlike Applebloom I could lie great, but I still really wanted to fly.

I was on this big rock just inside the Everfree. It wasn't deep enough to be dangerous, but since it was inside nopony would come here. It was a great place to be alone. I didn't come here too often, but it was a perfect place to wait. Except it was taking forever. Discord then appeared in front of me a smirk on his face.

"Ugh, what took you so long. That was so slow."

The smirk vanished. "What?"

"I was waiting for you obviously. I don't want Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to know about this since they'd be all…" I tired to imitate Applebloom, but did a bad job of it. "No it's too dangerous. They say that about everything. I want to fly now, not wait until it's time like mom and dad say."

"Just like that. This seems too easy somehow."

"What do you mean? I know what I want and that you can help me. I also know I'm way smarter than you so I don't have to worry about you tricking me."

He smiled. I knew I probably wasn't smarter than him for real, but I was sure Luna was, and she had this all planned out. Well probably not the moon thing, it was still green, though it looked brighter so it probably wasn't cheese anymore.

"Anyway, lets get going. I wanna be flying now."

"How do you plan to solve this little problem of yours? Frankly if you weren't a failure of a pegasus you could be in the air easily by now."

I rolled my eyes. "Well I can fly on the moon. You made a bunch of stuff float when you were messing with Ponyville. Can't I do the same?"

"Oh yes, I'm sure you can. It is great fun too. But first lets see if you can master what you've already done before."

"The teleporting? That's fun if it works, but I so don't get it. Twilight tried to help me but I don't get it at all."

"Well there's your problem right there." He then swept me up in one arm "See Twinkle is what I call a great big stick in the mud. She doesn’t understand how my power works at all. You need to think less."

"Less, but Twilight said…"

"As I said, ignore her. Also don't focus on the location so much. Focus more on how surprised the ponies will be when you arrive, and the looks on their faces. It's just a tiny bit of chaos, but every little bit helps."

"Huh?"

"Come on now, give it a try. Think of some bustling metropolis and us just appearing out of nowhere in the middle of a crowd. Think of the look on their faces."

I smiled. It was pretty fun to surprise ponies. Then he dropped me. I flapped my wings and suddenly we were in the middle of Cloudsdale. I wasn't sure exactly where we were but it was a really busy intersection and there were a lot of ponies in it. A few of them went running when they saw Discord.

"Well at least I can still get a scream of terror or two out of them."

"Hay, that was easy."

"Yes, that's the way it works. Simple as that." Then he looked up. "But what you want is a bit more complicated. A visual aid would be nice but I can't really teleport more than one pony. Never cared to learn that sort of thing without my magic."

"Hey, I just teleported us here."

"Yes, but the moon is much further than the nearest clump of cloud huts."

"I'll show you."

Then Discord smiled again. At first nothing happened, but I then remembered something and flapped my wings while thinking about the moon. I wanted to go there again anyway. Just like that we were there.

"Why do I have to flap my wings."

"Huh? Oh, I guess you're a pegasus and you do have to do something. Depending on what you're trying to do waving your hooves around or even just bobbing your head might be enough. Most of the time I simply go with a simple snap of my fingers, but obviously because of one of the many things you lack, you can't."

"Hey, that was an insult, wasn't it?"

"Probably, honestly I'm not paying that much attention to what I'm saying. The point is I think we can move on. What you want to do is learn to mess with gravity. It's a neat trick and one I'm fond of myself. Most ponies hate being absolutely weightless."

I took to the air. "Screwball doesn't."

He laughed. "Yes, and she is a delight. She's far too concerned about inconveniencing others for my taste, but still a great deal of fun."

"Like Pinkie Pie?"

He frowned. "Oh yes, she is indeed chaotic, but far too nice."

"Whatever. Just tell me how to do this."

"It's so easy even you'll figure it out I'm sure. Stop thinking about up and down being so, absolute."

He then laughed. He was now upside down and seeming to fall upward. Then suddenly everything was topsy-turvy. I didn't like it at all. I just wanted everything to be normal again. Suddenly I was struggling to keep airborne and Discord crashed into the ground really fast. It looked like he was trying to get up, but couldn't. Once I landed he soared high into the sky, then came back down. He laughed.

"Wow, I didn't think that would work at all. You're just a barely contained ball of chaos under there, aren't you?"

"What. But it got harder to fly and…"

He waved his paw. "Minor issue, I assure you. You reversed gravity, then increased by a huge margin. If you weren't a pegasus you would have surely hit the ground same as me. With just a little bit of practice you'll get a feel for it."

"Really?"

"Yes, now lets get off this strangely green rock and get some real practice in. Try to take us someplace interesting this time."

"Oooo, I want to visit Griffany. Gilda and Dash made it sound awesome."

"You've never been there? Wait the boring pony is right about one thing. That…"

It was awesome. It was all dark, but majestic too. The pink banners everywhere were sorta weird but Pinkie was in charge now so something had to change. I think the guard's armor being pink had to be her too, but it was still spiky just like Dash said, even that weird silver spike on their helmets, just mostly pink. The guards in front of the big building, whatever it was, looked at us intently, but that wasn't a surprise. I think they had narrowed their eyes cause they were suspicious. The rest of the Griffins around took a quick look, shrugged, and went on their way. I heard Discord sigh.

"You really shouldn't teleport to somewhere you've never been. Oh well, it could have been worse I suppose. Griffins always did really need to lighten up. Now if you wouldn't mind could you get me out."

"Out of…"

Then I laughed. Discord was stuck in the ground up to his neck. The lion's paw was also sticking out of the ground. So Awesome. Then I got a really great idea.

"Why?" I smiled

"What?"

"I mean it shouldn’t really matter if you're stuck at all, and I'd say it's pretty chaotic to be stuck in the ground. You can just teach me from there I'm sure."

"Now listen up you little brat. I'm Discord the lord of chaos. The rightful king of your land, the…"

I walked up to him and whapped him lightly on the paw. "No you're not. We are. We have all the power and you don't. You're totally lame without it, aren't you?"

"I am not a nobody. I am Discord. You will bow down before me. You will all bow. I will have my power back. No matter what I have to do I will take it back."

His eyes were glowing red. I really didn't want to be there right then. So I wasn't. I was back in Ponyville, and he was nowhere around me. This almost seemed easy. Don't think about it just do. Forget all that stuff Twilight said just flap my wings and make it happen. So I did, and I launched into the sky. It had worked. I flew high into the sky with my hooves up.

"Whoo hoo."

Then I fell. I tired to flap but somehow that wasn't working. I suddenly really wanted to be back in the ground and safe. I hadn't thought specifically of Sugar Cube Corner, but I ended up on top of Pinkie's head in the kitchen anyway. Her head then suddenly shot up.

"Scootaloo, I didn't leave you in my mane did I? Sometimes things get lost in there but I didn't think I put a whole pony in there, and I totally don't remember you being in there, but maybe I did."

"No, I just teleported on top of your head."

"Oh, okay. I hate it when I forget important things like that. So, do you want some muffins? They'll be ready soon and…"

"What type?" said a new voice

Then the back door fell inward, Derpy hovering there with her hoof about where the door handle had been. She looked down, and crossed her hooves in front of her.

"I'm sorry."

"OOO, you like muffins again?" said Pinkie

She nodded. "Dinky asked me what I could eat if I didn't eat anything that tried to eat me at least once. She made a really good point, so now I eat muffins again."

"She did?" I asked

"It's not that bad unless you include the foods that tried to ensalve me, but I shouldn’t live in fear because of a few pony eating muffins. Most muffins aren't like that."

"Yah." Pinkie threw her hooves up. "You'll have to pay, but that's never a problem."

Derpy nodded. "If the mayor just told me they needed some money I could have given it to her. I have plenty. Immortality is good for the finances."

"Ooo, I know. We could have an immortal party. I can invite the princesses, and you and the crusaders, and the rest of the elements and the Gallopfreeans…"

"They don't want anypony to know they're here." Said Derpy

"Ohhhhhh yea. I always forget that. Colgate doesn't seem to care though."

Derpy nodded. "That isn't her real name, but that's true."

"What's a Gallopfreean?" I asked, trying not to lose my balance

Derpy turned to me and smiled. "Ponies from a far away land called Gallopfree. They had to sacrifice their home to end a grave threat to the universe. A great many of them live here now. They also have a form of immortality."

"But it's sooooo obvious they're not normal ponies." Said Pinkie "I mean they all have the exact same cutie mark for one thing, that's super weird."

"Not for them." Then the oven dinged. "Ooo, does that mean they're done?"

"Yeppers. Just let me get them out."

I then finally fell off Pinkie's head. She had turned into a slightly oversized pink copy of Spike. She pulled oven open and yanked out a tray full of muffins, and placed in on the counter, then pulled out a second tray. She did it all without any sort of potholders or anything, and using her hands she moved them in weird tricky ways. Derpy was hovering in place, giggling, and drooling slightly. I hopped into the air and flapped my wings so I could get a good look at the muffins. I didn't try to mess with gravity or anything since that didn't work too well the last time. I only caught a brief glance before falling to the ground of course. The muffins did look really good.