> Harmony, Insanity and Freaks > by Sputnikmann > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Princess Twilight was sleeping soundly in bed. She was having a wonderful re-enactment of her coronation. The choir was singing, her family and friends were watching; everything was perfect. But something was off. She looked around. Everypony was cheering, Shining Armor was crying ‘Liquid Pride’, as was her parents; Night Light and Twilight Velvet. But there was something in the air. It wasn’t chaotic; otherwise it would be Discord. It was just evil. Shrugging it off, she looked up to her former mentor; Princess Celestia. “Mares and Gentlecolts!” she announced to the crowd. “I am proud to pronounce your newest Princess; Princess Twilight Sparkle!” Twilight stepped onto the balcony and was greeted by a massive crowd of cheering ponies. She smiled. Whatever she had felt before must have been some stupid paranoia. Everything was perfect. Nothing could ruin this moment. That’s when everything went downhill. The sky suddenly turned red, and a giant vortex opened in the clouds. She felt herself become weightless as she was hoisted up against her will. Looking around; she saw other ponies being lifted into the vortex as well. First to go was a Grey Pegasus Mare she recognized as Derpy Hooves from Ponyville. Second was another Pegasus Mare that she didn’t recognize. Next was a mint-green unicorn she recognized as Lyra Heartstrings from Ponyville. Then, another thought crossed her head. These ponies (with the exception of Lyra) were all Pegasai; masters off all things flying. How is it that Twilight, who had never flown in her life; was still some-what close to the ground. Looking at her fore-hooves, she saw her friends; the Elements of Harmony, holding her down. Slowly but surely; they began to take off as well. Soon they were well out of range for any Unicorn to pull them down with magic. As the red vortex took over her vision; one more thought crossed her mind. What the buck were Celestia and Luna doing this entire time? Twilight awoke with a start. She was sweating like crazy. She looked at the grandfather clock. It was about 3:45 am. She heard something knocking at the door. She looked to her left. Spike was still asleep. Sleepily, she trotted downstairs and opened went to the door. She saw the silhouette of a Stallion with a spiky mane run off. Angrily, she opened the door. “Who-ever is pranking me better know that I’m a princess now!” she yelled into the distance. She looked down and saw a book labeled; ‘The Study of the Multi-verse theory and effects on magical creatures’ Excitedly; she took the book inside. Before closing the door; she heard a certain noise echoing through the town. Twilight closed the door and dropped the book on her study table. She rushed to the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea mixed with caffeine to wake herself up. Opening the book she began intently reading. After about ten minutes of reading, one article caught her eye. “The Unicorn known as Starswirl the Bearded made an experimental spell that allowed unicorns and alicorns to bring creatures from other universes to ours. Like his unfinished masterpiece, he never was able to make it function properly, and abandoned it.” She read over the line that stated the spell and smiled. She charged up her horn… and fell asleep on top of the book. She dreamed of her brother’s wedding with the real Princess Cadence. She stayed asleep until the following morning. Spike awoke at about 6:15 am and subconsciously got out of bed. Having been Twilight’s assistant for so long; he had a habit of doing his chores before Twilight woke up; even though she was perfectly capable of doing it herself; being the Princess and Element of Magic. Out of instinct; he walked to the kitchen to make breakfast. Ignoring the multiple instant tea packages on the counter he started making pancakes. While the pancakes were cooking, he grabbed the cutlery and plates and walked to the dinner table. “Good Morning Twilight.” He said, passing the Alicorn; who was reading at her study table. He almost dropped the cutlery and dishes when he thought about that. “Wait, what?” he said. He carefully placed the dishes and utensils on the dining table and walked back to his purple friend. “How long have you been up?” he asked her. “I woke up at about 3:45 after a bad dream. Somepony was knocking at the door, so I answered it; and found this book on the doorstep.” She said, holding the book out in front of her. “I fell asleep at about 4 o’clock. I woke up about 15 minutes ago. Before I forget, could you put my teacups away?” she gestured to a pile of at least 6 teacups. Spike picket up the pile and carefully placed them in the sink. “Anything I can help you with?” he asked hopefully. “Actually, yes.” She said. Spike beamed. He never got a chance to help in important stuff. When Discord took over Ponyville, he was still taking care of the Library. When the Elements were reforming Discord, he was AGAIN taking care of the library. Being allowed to participate in one of her adventures was a big deal to him. “First I need you to gather the other Elements of Harmony. Second, I need you to meet me at Zecora’s with these…” she used her magic and lifted a list of items in front Spike’s face. She sniffed the air. “Is something burning?” she asked. Spike’s eyes went wide. He had forgotten his pancakes. When Spike arrived at Zecora’s hut in the Everfree forest, all six of the Elements were waiting for him. “Hi… guys…” he said in between gasping breaths. “Twilight… I got... what... you wanted…” He lifted a sack full of the items Twilight had told him to get. Using her magic, she lifted the baby dragon off his feet and onto her back. Barely awake, he flopped down on top of the purple alicorn. Twilight lifted the bag and used her magic to take everything inside it out. First was a vile of Spectra; the individual colors of Rainbows, then a feather from a white Pegasus; most likely Bulk Biceps, then a plastic bag filled with cloud, then finally a package of red colored powder. Using her magic, Rarity spread the powder in a pattern shown by Twilight earlier. It was a segment of 4 trapezoids, rounded on the edges to make a circle. After the pattern was done, Twilight placed the different items in the center. Once everything was in order, Twilight and Rarity both charged up their horns with magical power. The items in the center, as well as the pattern itself; started to glow an eerie red. The items disappeared and formed into a swirling vortex of red clouds. A single drop of sweat left Twilight’s body. This vortex was very similar to the one in her dream. The two ponies stopped using their magic, but the vortex continued to swirl. Before Rainbow Dash could make any smart remarks, they heard screaming emanating from the vortex. All the Elements; with the exception of Fluttershy; who was hiding, and Pinkie; who was laughing for no apparent reason, prepared incase this creature was hostile. What fell out was not what they expected; a dark purple Alicorn. When this pony fell from the vortex, the Elements; with the help of Zecora and Spike, brought her to the hospital. Taking her unconscious state as a chance; they examined her. She bore a uncanny resemblance to Twilight; but was dark purple instead of violet. Her normally pink mane and tail accents were red, and her cutie mark seemed to be her classic mark mixed with a cross and a jar of yellow contents. When the Pony started to come to, their attention was drawn to her eyes. Her irises and pupils were tiny, but still the same color as Twilight’s. “Ow… my head…” she said. Her voice seemed to have an echo similar to Queen Chrysalis. “What happened?” She looked up at the six ponies looking at her. “What the hell do you want?” Twilight and her friends were slightly taken aback by this pony’s use of language. “Um…” said Twilight, “I kind of summoned you from another dimension, sorry about that. Anyway; my name is Twilight Sparkle, and you are?” At the mention of Twilight’s name, the pony’s heart skipped a beat; as shone on the cardiogram to her left. She shook her head. “I’m Brutalight, Brutalight Sparcake. By the looks of it, I’m an alternate version of you.” Great, she thought, I might want to play along until I can find the other Elements. Suddenly, Pinkie popped up behind Brutalight, scaring the living daylights out of her. “Ifyou’rethealternateversionofTwilight, isthereanalternateversionofmeandtheothergirls?” “Yes, Pinkis… I mean Pinkie, there are versions of you in my dimension.” said Brutalight, “Your name is Fluttershout, Pinkis Cupcake, Rainbine, Rarifruit and Applepills.” She gestured to the other six, in order. “Together we form the Elements of Insa… err… Harmony.” Her horn started glowing. “Speaking of which, I can feel the presence of the others, would you be able to help me find them?” She faked a sad face, hoping that would convince them. “Sure!” said Pinkie Pie. “Nopony should be unhappy because they lost their friends!” Brutalight smirked. Fools, she thought. Once I’m united with the other Elements, nothing in this world will be able to stop us from taking over. The only issue might be that freak, AssSpike. Oh well, I’ll deal with him when I come to it. Lighting up her horn again, she scanned the area for her allies. “My readings show that Applepills and her sister; Francie Bloom are at Sweet Apple Acres. We should get going.” The Elements of Harmony nodded and headed out to Applejack’s farm. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iron Craft started stirring. When he opened his eyes, he found himself strapped to a wall; his hooves bound by leather straps. He looked down and saw a Unicorn Stallion. He was beige and had a black goatee around his muzzle. His mane was hidden by a strange black hat that resembled a Stetson, and had a black tail. Along with the hat, he wore a black; blood splattered vest and a watch on his fore-hoof. On his flank was a radioactive symbol for his cutie-mark. Noticing his ‘guest’ had woken up, the stallion beamed. “What’s up?” he said. “Release me at once!” Iron demanded. He looked behind the stallion and saw an array of knives and blades. “What are those for?” he asked shakily, partially not wanting to know the answer. “I thought it was obvious,” the stallion said. He reached behind him and grabbed 2 small knives with a bloody bandage wrapped around it and jammed them into Iron’s cutie marks, coating his flank in blood. The stallion used his blood-red colored magic and lifted a wooden, serrated machete in front of Iron’s snout. “Ready to meet Sharpy?” he asked. Without giving his prisoner a chance to react, he impaled Iron with the oversized knife. “Who ARE you?” Iron asked; coughing out blood. The Stallion smirked. “Might as well tell ya’, since you’re not gonna be breathin’ in a second.” He said, lifting up a giant battleaxe with his magic. “I’m the Christian Brutal Sniper, mate.” He placed the edge of the axe at Iron’s throat, as if winding up a golf club. Iron closed his eyes; accepting his fate, but the impact never came. “You wanna hear a touchin’ story?” The ‘Christian Brutal Sniper’ asked. Iron opened his eyes, and saw the axe was placed on a nearby table. “Once upon a time, there was an idiot pony that was caught by a madman; do you know what happened to him?” Iron shook his head nervously. Christian moved his head closer to Iron’s ear, his horn glowing blood red again. “He died”. Iron screamed in pain as he felt a long metal blade cut open his throat. The last thing Iron saw before he lost consciousness was the stallion walking away, leaving a katana stuck in his neck. He heard Christian say one thing before falling unconscious; “The End.” Big Mac was having a good day. With Applejack being gone on another adventure to Celestia-knows where, he was getting some good exercise bucking the orchard. He had just finished the last row when he heard an explosion from the center of the orchard. Looking up at the sky; he saw a swirling red cloud slowly disperse. When he reached the center, he found his other sister; Applebloom standing on the edge of a massive crater. If something was in there, the massive cloud of dust blocked any chance of seeing it. When the dust cleared, he found himself and Applebloom staring at two Earth-Pony females. One was a fully-grown mare, and the other was a young filly. The mare bore a striking resemblance to Applejack, but was a pale beige color, and had no Stetson covering her mane; which was black instead of blond. Her cutie mark seemed to be three white and red pills with apples on both halves of each pill. The filly had a similar appearance to Applebloom, but was the same beige as the Applejack look-a-like and had a brown mane and tail. She even had the bow, but it was black instead of Pink. On the filly’s flank, there was a strange cutie mark. It was a circle with a line through it, and designs on the inside. Applebloom, who was currently poking the two ponies with a stick; jumped 5 feet in the air when the mare’s eyes shot open. Big Mac mentally noted her eyes’ bizarre feature. She had the same colored eyes as Applejack, but this mare’s irises and pupils were insanely small; as if she was on the influence of one of those drugs he had read about. She shook her head. “What happened Pinkis?” she looked up, and noticed Applebloom and Big Mac watching her. “You’re not Pinkis.” She said. “You got any painkillers?” she asked. “Why?” replied Applebloom. “Does your head hurt or somethin’?” The mare’s eyes darted from side to side, avoiding contact with Applebloom and Big Mac. “Yeah,” she said. “That fall really shook me up.” She gave a grin that would make Pinkie Pie jealous and held it, hoping that would do it. Reluctantly, Big Mac went inside and brought out a white bottle of Painkillers. As soon he started unscrewing the lid, the mare snatched the bottle out of his hoof. “PILLS HERE!” she exclaimed. Obviously too impatient to unscrew the bottle, she opened it with her teeth and dumped the pills into her mouth. After she swallowed, she shivered; as if she was pleasured by eating 24 pills at once. “My precious.” She said. She turned back to Big Mac and Applebloom, who were taken aback by the show. “Now that that’s over, I can get some info.” She said. “Where am I? Last I remember, I was talking with my friend; Pinkis, inside Mann Manor.” Applebloom, who was just about to answer; was stopped by Big Mac, who had stuffed an apple into her mouth. “Nope” he said. “First you tell us who you are and why we should trust you.” “’Cause, brother; she’s just me from… what did you say? Another Dimension?” said a familiar voice behind him. He turned around and saw Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and much to his surprise; who Twilights. Applejack walked over to the mare. “You must be Applepills. I’m Applejack, pleasure to meet ya’.” She took notice of the filly, which was still unconscious. “This must be Francie Bloom.” One of the Twilights, this one darker than usual and had tiny irises like Applepills; walked over to Applepills and whispered something to her. They both turned to the group. “According to Applepills, She was close to our version of Pinkie Pie; whose name is Pinkis Cupcake, when she was transported here. Since I was no-where near the others when I was transported; it would be logical that Pinkis is nearby.” They all froze when they heard a voice echo through the orchard. “LOUDMOUTH?!” it screamed. “YOU BETTER TAKE THAT BACK!!” Surprised; but intrigued, they headed in the direction of the ear-breaking voice. When they arrived at the location they were met by a massive hedge. Peering over bush, they saw three grown mares. One was a Pegasus mare extremely similar in looks to Fluttershy, but her mane was red and her tail was white. On her flank was a cutie mark of three grey butterflies covered in red splotches. They couldn’t see her eyes, as she was standing facing away from them. The one to her right was another Pegasus. This one was similar to Rainbow Dash, but had tiny eyes like Brutalight and Applepills. She was also noticeably paler than Rainbow Dash, and had large metal horns attached to her ears. To the Rainbow Dash look-alike was another mare. She was an Earth-pony. To the shock of the group (except for Brutalight and Applepills) she had an extremely similar look to Pinkie Pie when she was angry. The only difference was her eyes, color and her cutie mark. Her eyes were the same size as all of the alternate-Elements. Her color a dark pink; almost red, but her mane actually was red. Her cutie mark was three cupcakes in the same design as Pinkie’s balloons; with the centre one plastered with a red ‘P’. Underneath each cupcake was a red dotted line. Both the Pinkie and Rainbow look-alikes were covering their ears. Brutalight cleared her throat, and the three turned to the main group. They Elements, Big Mac and Applebloom were shocked when they saw the alternate-Fluttershy’s right eye. Both her eyes were tiny; as expected from, but her right eye was blood red, as opposed to the deep blue of her left eye. “Oh, hey Brutalight.” the alternate-Fluttershy said. “You didn’t hear my ear-ra…” she was muffled by Brutalight’s bright blue magic shutting her mouth. Brutalight whispered something to the alternate versions of Rainbow, Fluttershy and Pinkie; then turned back to the main group. “Girls, this is Fluttershout, Rainbine and Pinkis Cupcake.” She said, gesturing to the three ponies. “Well, all that’s left is Rarifruit. But I can’t get a reading on her.” She stopped talking to let out a small groan. “This might take a while.” > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Both sets of Elements were sitting in Golden Oaks Library. Brutalight and Twilight were combining their powers to try and get a reading on the last alternate Element, whom Brutalight called Rarifruit. The only absent “mainstream” Element was Rainbow Dash, who was visiting her parents in Cloudsdale. The other Elements were talking with each other, discussing different topics. All of them were asking personal questions except for Pinkie, who was planning the alternate Elements’ “Welcome to Ponyville” Party with Pinkis. A few minutes of concentration later, Brutalight groaned. “For buck’s sakes!” she exclaimed. “Why is it we can’t find that damned unicorn?” Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her.” She said with a warm smile. Brutalight could feel memories of her lost past flow through her head, but something pushed them back. Focus mate, a voice inside her said. Now is not the time for your flashbacks. Remember why you’re gathering the Elements. Suddenly, Brutalight grabbed her head, which was really hurting; and started rolling on the floor. NO! Said a female voice in the back of her head. These are my friends! I will not hurt them! Brutalight screamed as the pain in her head grew immensely. Bloody show-ponies! Said a different voice in her head. You are not her! They are not your friends! Just let them go! The mainstream Elements were gathering around Brutalight. I am Twilight Sparkle! Said the female voice. You are Brutalight Sparcake! Said the other two voices at the same time. And you will submit to us! Brutalight’s head stopped pounding and she fell unconscious on the floor. Both sets of Elements carefully laid her on Twilight’s bed. “What in tarnation just happened?” asked Applejack. “Brutalight has a bad habit of having mental arguments with herself,” replied Fluttershout. “When they happen to go overboard, she gets terrible migraines.” “Let’s just leave her be,” said Twilight. “We can discuss this further when she comes to.” Earning nods from everypony, she left, both sets of Elements following her shortly after. Meanwhile, in Cloudsdale… Rainbow Dash was getting ready to go back to Ponyville. According to Derpy, who had just delivered a message to her in the middle of lunch; Brutalight had a meltdown. Seeing Twilight having a meltdown was funny, but seeing Twilight from an alternate dimension was going to be even funnier, especially with two Rainbow Dashes to laugh at it. Her train of thought was cut when she slammed into another Pegasus. Both of them plummeted towards the ground. Luckily, they were relatively close to the ground by Pegasus standards; so neither of them were hurt. After shaking off her confusion, she examined the Pegasus she ran into. He was a stallion. He had a black coat and a red mane and tail, with red eyes to match. On his flank was his cutie mark; which seemed to be a strange cyan blue design. It was a swirled line with spikes sticking out. On his head he wore a red top hat of some sort. “Heh, sorry,” said Rainbow Dash. “Didn't see you there.” “No,” said the stallion. “It was my fault, I’m… new around here. I’m The Inver… Uh… Shadow Rush, ya.” Shrugging of Shadow Rush’s neglect of the first ‘name’, Rainbow introduced herself. “I’m Rainbow Dash, but you probably already knew that.” She said proudly. “That’s… not… possible!” Shadow Rush exclaimed before rushing (no pun intended) away. Rainbow Dash is gone! He thought to himself. “That doesn't make sense… unless…” “Unless what?” said a voice in front of him. Shadow looked forward and saw Rainbow flying backwards close to his face. “You aren't one of those brainy types are you? You’re a little fast to be one.” She paused for a second to turn around. “By the way, you might want to fly up now.” Without saying another word, Rainbow flew upwards. The dumbstruck stallion slammed into the wall of Golden Oaks Library shortly after. "Told ya'" said Rainbow Dash, who had just landed beside him. "Here, let me help you." After giving Shadow a second to gather his senses, Rainbow spoke up. "Why were you so scarred back there? You acted as if it was impossible for me to be here." "That topic might want to wait until we can meet Twilight Sparkle." he said. "She is here right?" Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Are you going to ask every time you bring one of my friends up?" she asked. His black coat didn't help to hide his embarrassed blush. "Anyway, we're at the egghead's library, so if you want to meet her; you're at the right place." She took his hoof, which caused his blush to deepen. "Come on!" she said, not noticing. "I'll introduce you to the others." Inside the Library, Brutalight was just waking up. She jerked her head up, and looked around frantically. Damn, she thought. It wasn't a bad dream. Oh well. Sighing discontentedly, Brutalight headed down the stairs. She was greeted by smirks and smiles by the respective sets of Elements. Everypony was there, all except for... "HI!" exclaimed Pinkie and Pinkis, who had appeared behind her; almost scarring her into another coma. "WHAT THE BUCK IS YOUR PROBLEMS?!" yelled Brutalight, easily pissed in her tired state. "NEXT TIME YOU DO THAT, I'M GONNA..." her gaze turned to the mainstream Elements, who were shocked by Brutalight's sudden outburst. She smiled meekly and finished her sentence. "Tell your parents?" Although Pinkis giggled a little, Pinkie Pie was freaking out. "Please, please, PLEASE!" she cried, her mane flattening out. "Please don't tell on me to mother Cloudy Quartz, last time she was cross with me, I wasn't allowed to throw a party for a week!" Satisfied, Brutalight smirked. "Fine," she said in her echoing voice, holding back the urge to laugh. "But if you do that again, I'm definitely telling!" Suddenly, out of no-where, a voice started echoing through the Library. "Honestly Pinkie," said the voice. "I had forgotten how quickly your attitude changed." "Rarifruit?" exclaimed Rainbine. "Where are you?" "Right here," Rarifruit said. Looking beside her, Rainbine's wings instinctively activated and she flew into the ceiling, getting her head stuck into the top floor. "By the way, Rainbine? I think this belongs to you." Her horn started glowing cyan and a orange pegasus filly with a purple mane appeared beside her. On the filly's flank was a ying-yang symbol with several spikes poking out of it. The filly saw Rainbine stuck in the ceiling and flew up to her, helping to pull her free. After a few minutes, the filly, Rainbine, Brutalight, Fluttershout and Fluttershy were able to yank her free. Rainbine quickly noticed the orange filly latched onto her leg. "Uh... Karateloo?" "Yes Rainbine?" Karateloo asked. "I know I'm your Idle and everything," she said. "But can you let me go?" "OK Rainbine." Karateloo unlatched from Rainbine's leg and trotted beside her idle. Taking the opportunity, the group of mainstream Elements examined Rarifruit. She looked near-identical to Rarity, but all purple that was present on Rarity was replaced by violet.On her right fore-hoof was a metal gauntlet of sorts, holding a single violet gem near the base of her hoof. At that moment, the door to the library opened and Rainbow Dash and a black stallion entered. When the stallion saw the alternate Elements, his eyes widened. "Oh no..." he said. Rarifruit's eyes started twitching when she saw the Stallion's hat. For some reason she snorted before exclaiming "MINE!" and lunging at him, only to be held back by Twilight's magic. That's it she thought. "What is going on?" she asked. "I can understand the Element of Kindness and Magic having a temper. I can understand the Element of Loyalty being full of herself. Sure, the Element of Honesty being addicted to Painkillers is weird; but the Element of Generosity cannot; I repeat; CANNOT be Greedy! So I'll ask again... What is going on." The stallion Rainbow Dash entered with stared at her. "Twilight, there aren't the Elements of Harmony; not anymore." "Then who the Buck are they?" snapped Rainbow Dash. "Shadow!" "They're the... the..." Stuttered Shadow Rush. Finally, Rarity snapped. "Darling, I'm sorry I had to say this, but could you stop acting like a baby and spit it out already?" Shadow Rush swallowed. "Like them, I'm from another world. In my world, their known as..." he swallowed again. "The Elements of Insanity" > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “THE ELEMENTS OF WHAT?” exclaimed the mainstream Elements. “Insanity.” Confirmed Shadow Rush. “Like I said, I am from the same universe as them; a special dimension called a modiverse, meaning anything could happen at any given time.” He gestured to the Elements of Insanity; who were patiently awaiting his speech’s finish. “They were not lying when they said they were alternate versions of you, but they became possessed by spirits of unnatural beings from the modiverse.” Twilight thought about this for a moment. “Do you know how they came to your world?” she asked. She looked over to the Elements, who were all calm except for Fluttershout, whose right eye was twitching. “They didn’t appear in a vortex, did they?” Shadow paused for a bit. “Actually, now that you mention it… yes, I believe so!” All eyes went to Fluttershout; who was starting to breathe heavily. “That would explain the dream!” exclaimed Twilight. “It said in my book that it is possible for alternate versions of one’s self to share dreams. Brutalight must have been remembering what brought them to the modiverse!” “For the love of Luna…” said Fluttershout in a quiet tone, but loud enough for all eyes to be glued to her. “I have had it with this fucking…” Her eyes snapped open and all red on her body seemed to glow. “SHIT!” The ears of the Elements of Harmony and Shadow Rush suddenly started ringing with that last word. “Good.” said Fluttershout. “Now that your little egghead discussion is over, maybe we can get on with something important.” “Indeed.” agreed Brutalight. “We’re going to take our leave now. Don’t worry though, Twily; you’ll be seeing us again soon enough.” With that, she and the Elements of Insanity disappeared in a flash of magenta light. All eyes, whether they be angered or scarred; turned to Shadow Rush. “I have some explaining to do,” said Shadow Rush. “Don’t I?” All of the Elements nodded their heads. Shadow sighed. “Ok, meet me at Canterlot Castle. The Princesses will want to hear about this as well.” Meanwhile; elsewhere… There was a flash of Magenta light, and the Elements of Insanity appeared inside a cave. All of them were somewhat pissed, except for Pinkis; who seemed to have gained her sense of humor back from Pinkie Pie. “You should have seen the looks on their faces when that Stallion called us for what we were!” she exclaimed, “PRICELESS!” She looked to her colleagues; who were glaring at her. “What?” “Nice going Rarifruit!” yelled Rainbine. “If you hadn’t tried to steal that guy’s hat, we could’ve still been on their good side!” Rarifruit scowled. “My fault?” she said. “Their suspicions were already starting to grow with Applepills’ addiction to Painkillers!” “Leave me out of your little catfight!” said Applepills. “Whoever’s fault it is, it will be decided by our leader.” She turned to Brutalight. “What’s your take on this?” No answer. “Brutalight?” asked Pinkis. She walked over to her superior, and waved a hoof in front of her eyes. “Is anypony home?” “He’s here.” She said. “I can feel him in this world.” “Who’s here darling?” asked Rarifruit. Her eyes widened with horror. “Oh no… You don’t mean…” “Yes.” confirmed Brutalight. “AssSpike followed us here; he’s currently roaming the Everfree Forest.” Breaking herself out of her trance, she looked around. “Is this the cave we stopped that dragon before we came to that modiverse?” The other Elements looked around. They all nodded. “Well, looks like we have our base of operations.” “So Brutalight,” said Rainbine. “What’s first?” Brutalight gave a little laugh, one that still gave the Elements Goosebumps. “If we’re going to take over, we need to get rid of the Princesses. To do that, we need somepony with their amount of power, and have a reason to hate them.” Fluttershout smirked, catching Brutalight’s hints. “Oh that is genius!” she exclaimed. “I think I would want to go get him.” It was noon at Canterlot Castle. The Elements of Harmony had just arrived and were waiting on Shadow Rush. Rainbow Dash groaned. “What is taking him so long?” she asked to nopony in particular. “Who?” asked a voice beside her. She looked to her left and saw Shadow Rush beside her. “How did you…? What did you…?” stuttered Rainbow. “Where did you come from?” Shadow Rush chuckled a bit. “I was here the whole time.” He said. “I just made myself invisible to ensure I didn’t draw any attention to myself. I thought a powerful princess like Twilight would be able to detect me.” Twilight was awe-struck. She didn’t know that many unicorns that could put on an invisibility spell; let alone a Pegasus. “But how did you turn yourself invisible?” asked Twilight, “Pegasai can’t use magic.” “I’ll explain everything as soon as we can see the princesses” Shadow said. “Shall we be going?” Leading the way, Shadow and the Elements of Harmony walked through the Castle, navigating the maze of hallways until they found the throne room. And sitting on the twin thrones, were Princesses Celestia and Luna; the Rulers of Day and Night. Noticing their visitors, Celestia and Luna smiled softly. “Hello Princess Twilight, what brings you to Canterlot today?” asked Princess Celestia. Her smile faded when she noticed the distressed look on Twilight’s face. “Is something wrong?” “Unfortunately, yes.” Said Shadow Rush. Luna shot him a glare. “Forgive me, your majesties. But this is a matter of great importance.” “What is the matter?” asked Luna. “Neither I nor my sister have sensed any change in the balance.” The looks on Shadow and the Elements grew dimmer. “Your majesty,” said Shadow, “I come to you in a time of danger. You see, Twilight Sparkle accidentally summoned me, Faust knows how many others, and a dangerous group of alternate-Elements known as the Elements of Insanity.” Celestia and Luna exchanged each other looks. “My name here is Shadow Rush, but in my world; I am known as The Inverted Shadow.” He bowed after fully introducing himself. “The Elements of Insanity are alternate versions of the Elements of Harmony that came to my world, the G-modiverse. Shortly after arriving, I witnessed them become possessed by Spirits of the dead of the world. They went from Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle to Fluttershout, Rainbine, Pinkis Cupcake, Applepills, Rarifruit and Brutalight Sparcake; also known as the Demented Six.” “I also witnessed the transformation of Twilight’s assistant; Spike, a Pegasus named Derpy and two of Twilights ‘Rivals’; Trixie and Sunset Shimmer” Celestia’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of that name. “I don’t know much else, except that the Elements of Insanity and the three extra ‘Pony Freaks’ must be sent back to their world as soon as possible.” “Assuming we believe your story,” said Celestia, “What would they be doing right now?” Shadow scratched his chin. “I suppose they would want to take over Equestria, but they wouldn’t want to challenge you themselves. I think they would want someone with a reason to want you two gone, and has enough power to make it happen.” “There is only two ponies in Equestria with that description,” said Luna, “Queen Chrysalis and…” she was interrupted by a guard bursting into the throne room. “Your highnesses!” he said. “Discord is missing!” About 20 minutes earlier… Canterlot Castle Discord was causing some miniature Chaos in his room. He had it exactly like how he had Ponyville that one time. The floor was checkered pink and purple, and it was raining chocolate milk from the cotton candy clouds floating in the air. He had promised (albeit reluctantly) to keep his chaos in his massive room, but he was getting board. “What to do, what to do” he said to himself. “Maybe I should go and turn the Elements into stallions and Spike into a dragoness.” “I don’t think that will be necessary.” said a voice in the shadows. Recognizing the voice, Discord’s mood brightened. “Ah, Fluttershy!” he exclaimed. “How are you? It has been quite some time since your last letter.” ‘Fluttershy’ giggled a little. “Not Fluttershy…” she stepped out of the shadows, revealing a crimson mane and one blue and one red eye, “Fluttershout.” “That’s a good look for you!” he said. “FESTIVE! Either way, what would the Elements of Harmony need of me this time? Are there some rogue plants invading Ponyville? Or am I coming down with something, blue flu maybe?” Fluttershout giggled again. “No, no. It’s nothing like that.” She said. “We were wondering if you were still looking for revenge on Celestia and Luna.” Discord’s smile faded slightly. “I couldn’t want that!” he said, holding up his claw and placing his paw on his chest. “You and the Elements of Harmony reformed me, remember?” Fluttershout smirked. “You didn’t hear me did you?” she said. “I never said anything about Harmony.” “Then who is ‘we’?” asked Discord, stroking his beard. “I am Fluttershout, Element of Ear-Rape…” Fluttershout said, formerly introducing herself, “member of the Elements of Insanity.” Discord’s eyes widened at the last word. “And we were just wondering if you were interested in causing Chaos again.” Discord scratched his chin. “Well, I suppose I could…” he said, “but I could always report you to the princesses.” Fluttershout turned away. “We trust you’ll make the right decision,” she said. “When you decide to join, meet us in the mountain near Ponyville. We’ll be waiting.” Fluttershout nodded to nopony in particular and disappeared in a flash of magenta light. Discord stroked his beard. He was starting to miss causing chaos in Equestria, but he didn’t want to lose Fluttershy as a friend. However, Fluttershout did seem a lot like Fluttershy, except she was obviously more confident in herself. After some careful consideration, Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared. It was that moment that one of the royal guards decided to deliver his mail. > Chapter 5 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “This is bad. This is really, really bad!” said Twilight, gazing at the empty room previously owned by Discord. With the exception of his throne, everything was normal; meaning he wasn’t planning to come back. “From what Shadow said, the Elements of Insanity were powerful enough without Discord!” Celestia closed her visible eye. “This is indeed alarming.” she said calmly. “With Discord at their side, these Alternate Elements will have more than enough power to challenge me and Luna.” Luna headed to the door. “I shall alert the guards to watch for these Elements.” she said. Celestia nodded, and Luna left. Celestia turned to The Inverted Shadow. “Inverted Shadow, since they have Discord on their side, they will be planning an attack, correct?” she asked him. “It will be a while before their ready.” Inverted Shadow said. “They’ll need an army to storm Canterlot. And to raise an army, they need somewhere to call HQ. And please, call me Shadow Rush.” Celestia turned to the Elements. “You six; go to the Crystal Empire and warn my niece and nephew-in-law about the danger. If the Elements of Insanity do indeed intend to raise an army, the Crystal Empire is at risk of invasion.” “You can count on us, princess!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. Fourteen tickets appeared in front of the Elements and Shadow Rush. “Here are your train tickets to and from the Crystal Empire.” Celestia said. “I shall teleport you back to Ponyville to gather supplies and say any goodbyes you need.” With that, she charged up her horn and teleported them home in a flash of golden light. Meanwhile, in the temporary HQ of the Elements of Insanity… Discord was getting to know his new buddies. There were Rainbine, Rarifruit, Applepills, Pinkis Cupcake and his personal favorites; Fluttershout and Brutalight Sparcake. He was having some fun ‘redecorating’ his part of the insanely large cave. When he was done, he placed a bowl of popcorn in the microwave and started cooking. “I’m glad you decided to join us, Discord.” said Brutalight, walking over to him, “We will have many uses for your… unique abilities.” There was a DING and Discord pulled a bowl of Popcorn kernels out from the Microwave. I may never get used to that… she thought to herself. There was a loud shatter as the draconequus took a huge bite out of the bowl; the kernels themselves staying in the shape of the bowl. “How could I resist?” he said. “Celestia, Luna and those Elements turned me to stone TWICE! Did they just expect me to turn good like that?” he snapped his fingers and something outside the cave exploded. Fluttershout walked beside Brutalight. “On to the matters at hand…” she said. She paused to allow Discord another bite of his bowl. “To attack Canterlot and take over, we need to build an army of creatures and ponies that want Celestia and her pony followers gone.” “Not to mention we need a spy in Ponyville to keep us informed on the Elements of Harmony’s actions.” said Pinkis Cupcake, who was in the middle of eating a Manticore that she caught. Discord scratched his chin and stroked his beard. “I may have a candidate…” he said. He took one of the kernels out of formation and flicked it at the floor. A watering can appeared above it and watered the kernel. After being buried in the ground by Discord, a green stem sprouted out from the ground. When the stem stopped growing taller, a television popped out from the top, revealing a static covered screen. “Darn,” he said. “I forgot there is no signal in caves.” Shrugging, he pulled his horns off from his head and placed them on top of the television, and Discord’s eyes, mouth and tooth appeared on the screen among the static. An arm grew from the stem and snapped its fingers. Discord’s facial features disappeared and were replaced by a wall-eyed purple earth pony. She was wearing a propeller hat and had a baseball sided by a screw as her cutie mark. Looking at her face, she had a light purple swirl in her deep purple irises. Moving to her hair and tail, both were purple and white; and as poufy as Pinkie Pie’s. “Her name is Screwball,” said Discord; who was now standing beside the Elements, completely intact. “She is one of the few ponies in Equestria that actually worship me as well as Celestia. She currently goes under the alias of Topsy Turvy. If given the chance to help me in a cause; she will most likely accept.” Taking another kernel, a similar plant grew from the cave floor, with a phone on the top instead of a T.V. Picking up the receiver; he dialed 869-908-8789 and waited. In Ponyville, Topsy Turvy was hanging out with Ditzy ‘Derpy’ Doo again. Being the only two wall-eyed ponies in town, they got along nicely. “How was work Ditzy?” Topsy asked. Ditzy sighed. “Diamond Tiara got angry at me for accidentally knocking her crown off.” She said. “Thankfully I’m friends with her Filthy Rich; otherwise I might’ve gotten fined.” Ditzy looked at Topsy; and her face hardened. “Are you even listening to me?” As much as she hated to admit it, Topsy was having trouble focusing on Ditzy’s voice. “I don’t feel so good,” she said; holding her fore-head with her hoof. “Sorry Ditzy, I’m going to go home now. See you later.” Leaving a worried Ditzy behind, Topsy left for her house. When she got home, she was met by her guardian; Ms. Cheerilee. “Hello Topsy!” Cheerilee exclaimed. She saw Topsy’s face and started getting worried. “Are you ok dear?” “It’s nothing Ms. Cheerilee,” Topsy said. “It’s just a headache. I’m going to go lie down in bed.” Cheerilee smiled weakly. “Well, if there is anything I can do or get you, just let me know.” Topsy nodded and headed to her room. As soon as she got to her room, she flopped herself onto the bed. She could just constantly hear this ringing! It was driving her insane! To her surprise, the ringing stopped. Thinking that she could quickly catch Ditzy before she headed home, Topsy was caught off guard by a strangely familiar voice. Screwball? Can you please imagine picking up a phone receiver? Her mood was brightened higher than ever. Doing as she was told, Screwball yelled in her thoughts. Lord Discord She thought, it’s such an honor to hear your voice! What do I owe this pleasure? Some friends of mine need me to keep track of the Elements of Harmony. said Discord on the other end of the line. Out of all my followers, you are the most loyal. That is why I’ve come to you for help. Certainly, my lord! exclaimed Screwball, What is it you require me to do? All I need you to do is follow the Elements around and take mental notes. said Discord. I’ll get all of them here. Find excuses to go where-ever they go. Danke, Kamerad! Auf Wiedersehen! With that, the newly-appointed Screwball headed back outside. Cheerilee noticed this and approached her. “Feeling better Topsy?” she asked. She was taken a little aback when ‘Topsy’ chuckled. “I’m doing fine.” ‘Topsy’ said. “I am going to go to the Crystal Empire, you know; see the sights.” She headed towards the door, but stopped and turned towards Cheerilee. “By the way, call me Screwball.” > Chapter 6 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starry Night was lying down on the fields surrounding Ponyville. It was a beautiful night, and his parents allowed him to stay up to look at the sky. He pointed out constellations like Ursa Major and Phoenix to himself to pass time. The best thing of all; it was silent. *Click, Click, Click* Starry sat up with a start. What was that clicking sound? He looked around. To his right was Ponyville; to his left was the Everfree Forest. Noticing there were nopony else out, he laid back onto the grass. *Click, Click, Click* Starry once again sat up. He could have sworn he heard it that time. He looked around, still nopony was out. Hesitantly, he laid himself back onto the grass and closed his eyes. That’s when he heard it; that horrible, evil laughter. He opened his eyes and saw a pony directly above his face. This pony was beige in color. He had a strange red uniform of some sort on him, covering everything except his hooves, tail and head. Strewn across his uniform was a black sash covered in some type of Metal Ball. On his head there was a helmet; which covered his mane; but Starry guessed he had a black mane, since his tail was black. His cutie mark was covered by his uniform, making impossible to guess his talent or intentions. “Uh… can I… help you?” Starry asked. Part of him was curious as to whether or not he was the source of the clicking noise, but part of him was creeped out by his sudden appearance. At first there was no response. “Sir? Are you OK?” The stallion smiled and laughed. “I am Painis Cupcake,” he stated, smiling sadistically. Starry started scooting backwards as Painis rose to his full height, revealing the stallion’s eyes, which were looking directly at him. “I will eat you.” He laughed once again. He reared his head up, opening his mouth. Starry screamed loud enough for his parents to hear back in Ponyville. Carmel Candy and her husband, Solo Symphony; raced outside towards the source of their child’s scream. When they arrived, all they saw was a pony in uniform standing over a pile of blood. He noticed them and laughed. He fell flat on his face and somehow slid up to them on his chest, then rose in front of their faces. “I am Painis Cupcake.” He stated. “I will eat you.” What happened next happened so fast. Carmel and Solo didn’t even have time to scream. When Painis was done, he smiled. He had eaten, scared the living scrap metal out of a young colt and ate the colt’s parents. He turned to leave when he saw another pony entering the Everfree Forest. Not wanting to give away his position with his clicking slide, Painis crept up on the pony, hiding behind anything at his disposal. When he got close enough, he saw that it was a stallion wearing a black vest and a black Australian out-back hat. Deciding to ditch his futile efforts of holding his more-or-less sanity, he fell on his face and followed the pony into the Everfree. He followed the pony until the stallion turned a corner of densely packed trees. When Painis himself turned the corner, he found himself at the tip of a half-zatoichi katana. The wielder looked less than amused. “What the bloody hell are YOU doin’ here?” Screwball was getting impatient. She was waiting for at least three hours for a train. She didn’t know much about the Crystal Empire, but she did know it wasn’t small. If she didn’t get on a train soon, she might never find the Elements of Harmony. She huffed and sat on one of the train station’s benches, counting the stars as the clock on the wall counted the seconds of boredom. “Do you suppose that those dreaded Elements of Insanity will attack the Crystal Empire do you?” asked Rarity. “Surely they know the dangers of the arctic north. And if Rarifruit is me, she won’t be able to stay more than ten seconds out there without needing a new scarf!” Shadow Rush was lost. He had read that the Crystal Empire was the 3rd greatest kingdom on Equus (Besides Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom), but he didn’t know it was located in a place so… decollate. He read it was a flourishing kingdom covered in green and crystals, but the heavy snow outside the train contradicted that. And what were the dangers that they were talking about? “There are legends of many dangerous creatures in the arctic north” said Twilight, earning a confused look from Shadow. “What? You were thinking aloud.” Shadow was about to comment, but was interrupted by the train coming to a stop. Looking outside, the Elements noticed there was still heavy snow, meaning that they’ve yet to arrive. They walked to the front of the train and found the door frozen shut. Deciding she didn’t want to accidentally melt the door, she allowed Applejack to deal with it. Winding up her hooves, the cowpony bucked the door, shattering it like glass. They were all shocked to see what was behind the door. The entire inside of the car was covered in ice. Moving further in, they found the conductor and ticket master frozen in blocks of ice and the window shattered. Fluttershy, being Fluttershy; ran out of the car and back into the main area of the train, crying. They all rushed back when they heard Fluttershy scream. Returning to their car, they found the room was coated in ice and all the other passengers were frozen solid. All except one. There was one Pegasus pony in the middle of the pathway. Her coat was a pale blue and her hair a blinding white. On her flank was a picture of a snowflake as her cutie mark. “Cloud Kicker?” all heads turned towards Rainbow Dash. “You know her?” asked Twilight. Rainbow nodded. “She’s an old friend of mine from Cloudsdale.” said Rainbow Dash. “She and I manage weather in Ponyville now. But something is… different.” Rainbow started approaching ‘Cloud Kicker’ slowly. “Cloud Kicker? It’s me, Rainbow Dash. Are you OK?” she reached out her hoof to touch her, but a wall of ice sprang from the floor and encompassed her leg. ‘Cloud Kicker’ giggled. She opened her eyes, revealing a black sclera and tiny red irises. “Sorry ‘Dashie’,” said ‘Cloud Kicker’, “But I’m doing just fine.” Her irises turned the same pale blue as her coat, and the ice started creeping up Dash’s body. “But I’m not Cloud Kicker anymore” she said. “Before you freeze, remember the name of Cryo Kicker.” Rainbow didn’t see much else. As the ice covered her head, all she could see was Cryo Kicker laughing maniacally. > Chapter 7 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “RAINBOW DASH!” exclaimed the remaining Elements of Harmony. Shadow Rush was just silent in shock. Cloud Kicker, now turned Cryo Kicker; just froze Rainbow Dash into a pony-cicle. The frozen look on her face was terrified. “What did you just do?” asked Twilight, her expression one of pure rage. “Aren’t you supposed to be smart?” asked Cryo Kicker. “What does it look like?” “HOW DARE YOU!” yelled a voice at the back of the car. All eyes, including those of Cryo Kicker, turned towards Fluttershy, who was even angrier than Twilight. The Pegasus flew into Cryo's face. “You think you can just freeze one of our friends and get away with it?” she screamed at Cyro who stayed calm. “You’ve got another thing coming buster!” Cryo Kicker’s demonic eyes half closed. “From what I remember, you’re that pathetic Pegasus, Fluttershy; Element of Kindness.” She said, smirking. “What could YOU possibly do to ME? Let me guess, give me…” she faked a look of shock and fear, “THE STARE?” Fluttershy’s courage suddenly disappeared; leaving the scared Pegasus everypony knows and loves. Cryo laughed and flew to the back of the car, stopping beside a frozen pony. “Let me give you a demonstration…” a giant axe made of ice and stone formed in her hoof. Cryo wound up and swung at the frozen mare, breaking her to pieces. She laid the axe on her shoulder. “Now. What to do with you six.” She said, facing the Elements and Shadow Rush. “I could freeze the water in your body, causing ice to shred you from the inside…” She looked over to another frozen pony, her eyes glowing pale blue. From inside the pony-cicle, several giant spikes extruded from inside the stallion and out of the ice block. “Or I could cool the air around you, turning it to water; rendering you unable to breathe…” Twilight suddenly felt her breathes becoming staggered. She choked on what little air she could get. Looking around, she saw the Elements and Shadow doing the same. Kicker’s eyes flashed again, and Twilight felt air return to her lungs. “Or I could cause the snow to compress above you, crushing you with a block of ice." Looking up, the group saw snow swirling above their heads, forming into a large block of snow and ice. No sooner did it form, did it start plummeting towards them. Before contact, the block melted into water and splashed all over them. Looking back at Cryo, they started backing up when she smirked. “But I could just do this.” Her eyes flashed again, and the water covering them flash froze, locking them in a thin layer of ice. From the inside, the group could see Cryo Kicker laughing. “So much for the all-powerful ‘Elements of Harmony’!” she exclaimed. Twilight tried to focus her magic, but it stung to take any energy away from keeping warm. From inside, she saw Cryo Kicker tap on the glass-like ice. Cryo stared directly into Twilight’s eyes before suddenly jerking and falling to over. Behind the corrupted mare were two ponies, both mares. One was an odd mix of beige and blue for her coat. She had blood red mixed with blue mane. The other was extremely familiar to Twilight. She had a pink mane and a blue coat. This mare was wearing a white cape, very similar to one she had seen before. “If it isn’t Twilight Sparkle.” said the second mare, “How pleasurable it would be just to shatter you here!” “Patience Mare,” said the first. “It’s never a good hunt if the target is defenseless.” She looked at Twilight. “But just remember, we’re coming for you Sparkle. Just remember, the Subjects will always be following you. I’m going to help you, just once. Go to the Crystal Empire, protect your precious Equestria. Just remember, you’ll be ours one day.” Twilight felt herself warming up. She closed her eyes to prevent the water from getting in her eyes. When she opened them, the Elements and Shadow Rush were free, but their mysterious rescuers were gone. She moved to the engine, finding that the Conductor and Ticket Master waking up from unconsciousness. As soon as they recovered, the train got moving again. What nopony noticed was a purple, cross-eyed Earth pony climbing onto the train at the last second. Half an hour later… the Crystal Empire Finally, they arrived. Everypony still alive left the train, as it departed and made room for the train directly behind it. Twilight and the gang started towards the Crystal Castle, but stopped when they heard a very familiar voice. “Come one, come all!” shouted the voice. “See the awesome talents of the GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!” The Elements and Shadow Rush quickly ran in the direction of the announcement, finding a stage covered in spinning lights and firecrackers. In a flash and a puff of smoke, a mare appeared. She had a blue coat and a white mane. Besides her hat, what really drew Twilight’s attention was her cape. Although it was a different color, there was no mistaking it; it was the same one that one of the two mares on the train was wearing. After waiting patiently for Trixie’s to end, Twilight approached her on stage. “Hello Trixie.” said Twilight. “I see you’re getting better with magic.” Trixie stared in shock. “P…Princess T…Twilight!” she said, bowing. “What does Trixie owe the honor of talking to one of Equestria’s princesses?” “Trixie, you don’t need to call me that.” said Twilight. “I would rather nopony think me any more important than anypony else.” She paused for a second, trying to find her train of though. “Oh, yes! Trixie, how long have you been in the Crystal Empire?” Trixie levitated a piece of paper in front of her. “About a week or two.” She replied. “Why? Is something the matter?” “No, it’s not that…” Twilight said. “It’s just, on the train we arrived in, we were saved from freezing by two mares. One of them I didn’t recognize, but one of them looked exactly like you. You haven’t seen anything, have you?” Trixie shook her head. “Sorry your highness… uh… I mean; Twilight.” She said, dropping her 3rd person speech pattern. “I think I would remember seeing another mare as dashingly beautiful as moi. Twilight sighed. “Well, if you see anything suspicious, just tell me.” She said. They began walking towards the Crystal Castle, but was stopped when they heard Trixie calling Twilight’s name. “TWILIGHT!” she called, panting. “I… remember… something.” She took a second to catch her breath, then started. “It was a few hours ago, I had just finished my semi-daily show, when I noticed some odd-looking stallions walking towards the palace. One was in some type of red military uniform and the other was wearing all black. A young colt accidentally tripped and fell into the stallion wearing black; a unicorn I think, and tripped him.” “What’s so strange about that?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Sounds like a normal accident.” Trixie glared at Dash and cleared her throat. “As I was saying…” she started. “When the unicorn came to his senses, she made a sword appear out of nowhere and pointed it at the young colt! He screamed at him;” Her horn started glowing pink and they heard a voice. ‘Beat it ya’ big headed wanker! Before I carve you a new cake-hole!’ The glow disappeared and Trixie continued. “I followed them to wherever they were going, and found myself in front of the castle.” She said. “What’s so strange about that?” asked Applejack. “Loads of folks visit the castle! It’s a tourist attraction.” Trixie cleared her throat. “Like I was saying, I found myself in front of the castle gates… with the guards guarding them dead.” The Elements gasped. Shadow just stayed relatively calm. Trixie looked at him. “I’m sorry, who are you again? And why are you so calm about dead ponies?” Shadow just blinked. “For your information, I am Shadow Rush… personal detective of the Princesses; yeah.” He lied. “As for your other question, where I come from; death and murder is very common. As a matter of fact, we have this thing called the War Games where two teams fight to the death.” He sighed. “It was really fun to watch.” He noticed the Elements and Trixie staring at him. “What? Too much information?” Rarity was the first to snap out of his confusion. “Anyways,” she said. “If we are to catch these criminals you saw, we must be going!” She waited until everypony else snapped out of their confusion and they left for the castle. When they arrived, they found the bodies of the guards still sitting outside. They were about to head inside when they heard a laugh echoing through the castle. > A Thanks and an Apology > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a message to everyone who has followed this story up until now. Thank you SO much for continuing to follow this. I would've stopped by now if the author refused to update for this long. Thank you so much, this story has been really fun for me to make, and everybody's positive feedback has made it even more worthwhile. And now, let me apologize for not updating in so long. With school and personal matters, I didn't find much time to write. But now I'm back, and hoping to update every two months again. I was also helping a friend of mine with his own story on FanFiction, but probably nobody here cares. I'll put a link, but you can ignore it if you're not a big Sonic fan. (A Shadow's Imposter) Yes, I did just promote a story that has nothing to do with Ponies. Shoot me. Again, I hope that everyone enjoys the next chapter in Harmony, Insanity and Freaks; which stars a character I had forgotten I had referenced, Christian and Painis, and the Mane 6 (With Shadow Rush) Also, check out my DeviantArt account for my vectors of the characters. Sputnikmann, SonicBoom2000... whatever you want to call me, Signing out! > Chapter 8 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere in the Everfree Forest… The Everfree Forest was usually a peaceful place. Unless a stay pony wandered into it, the wild creatures generally kept to themselves. However, the animals were restless now. They were angry that something, or somepony was disturbing the natural balance. A stench was rising through the air, making birds and other small animals run from the rancid odor. A Pegasus was hovering a few inches off the ground, following the smell to its source. She was a grey Pegasus, her hair a pale blond. She had a red-and-black machine on her left eye and had intertwined gears as her cutie mark. “Where is that coming from?” she asked herself. She continued hovering through the forest, when her wings faulted. “Oh crap…” she said. With no wings to support her, Derpigun fell out of the air, and muzzle-first into the dirt. “Who’s there?” asked an echoing voice further ahead. Derpigun froze, not even trying to get her wings to work. After hearing hoofsteps heading her way, she panicked and quickly flew into a conveniently placed bush. Peering out from a hole in the leaves, she saw four scaled hooves come into view. “Who’s there?” the mystery voice called again. “I’m warning you, I’m going to find you one way or another; so come out now!” “Come out?” Derpigun asked, using her mechanics to project her voice. “So you can do what? Kill me?” Through her peeping hole, she saw the mystery pony turning around, trying to pinpoint the source of her voice. “I have a warning to you too; walk away now and I won’t pump your sorry ass full of lead!” There was a short silence, and she saw the pony outside the bush stop turning. Finally, the pony spoke “You’re a pony freak, aren’t you?” he asked. Derpigun’s eyes widened. How could this pony know that? “No pony from around here would threaten somepony like that, and guns don’t exist here. So come on out. I probably have no beef with you.” Sighing, Derpigun stood back up, and pointed a minigun (which she morphed her hoof into) at the pony. “So,” she started. “Who the hell are you?” she stopped for a moment. “What the hell are you?” This… thing had a pony-esque body, but had black and orange scales instead of fur. On his head were rounded spikes, similar to that of a baby dragon. His eyes were dragon-like, having slit pupils instead of normal rounded ones. “My name is AssSpike,” He said, “a dragon-pony freak from Mann Manor. And you are… who exactly?” “I’m Derpigun.” She stated plainly. “Now tell me why I shouldn’t blast you full of lead right now?” She was bluffing of course. As soon as her wings were working again, she would fly away as quickly as possible. “Because I have no issues with you.” AssSpike said. “I’m looking for the Elements of Insanity; mostly that Brutalight Sparcake. I have some unfinished business with them.” Derpigun lowered her minigun, which morphed back into her hoof. “If that’s the case, I’m going to tag along. I helped create their fucking leader and they kicked me out a day later. If you’re going to make them pay, I want in.” “Well then,” said AssSpike. “It looks like we’ve got ourselves a deal.” He extended his hoof out. “Partners?” Derpigun smirked. She placed her hoof on his. “Partners” Meanwhile, in the Crystal Empire… “Come on girls! We have to hurry!” The Elements of Harmony and Shadow Rush were racing through the maze-like hallways of the Crystal Castle, trying to find their way to Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Amor’s throne room. All of them were worried, but Twilight was related to both of them, so she was obviously the most worried. She was so worried in fact; she forgot she didn’t fly very well and took off, leaving everypony except for Rainbow Dash and Shadow Rush behind. “Twilight!” yelled Rainbow, “You have to think on the bright side of things! All of us except Shadow know this palace inside-out! Whoever is here will spend hours trying to find the Royal Couple! Just relax a little.” Twilight sighed and reluctantly slowed down to allow her friends to catch up. When they regrouped, they started running towards the throne room. When they caught up, Twilight turned to Shadow. “I’m going to take a wild guess that these two we’re tracking are more people from your world?” she asked him. “They do seem to have a severe bloodlust.” Shadow nodded. “Yes,” he said. “These two are easily the most dangerous of the freaks. Their names are Painis Cupcake and Christian Brutal Sniper; two of the freaks that possessed the alternate Twilight and Pinkie Pie. Because of the G-modiverse’s physics and logic, there is somehow an infinite amount of everybody… and pony. I have seen Fluttercook, Rainbow.exe, Dash Pancakes, Christian Brutalight Sharple and many more. But none of them even rival that of CBS and Painis.” “What’s so bad ‘bout ‘em?” asked Applejack. “From what you said about the Elements of Insanity, all of them ‘Freaks’ are vicious.” “Most freaks, even the most insane ones; have a small grasp on reality.” said Shadow. “Painis does not. While most freaks kill their target and move on, Painis will kill you; then eat you, whether or not you are the same species as him.” “What about the Christian Brutal Sniper guy?” asked Rainbow. “What could be possibly worse than cannibalism?” “Again, most freaks have a small bit of self control in them.” said Shadow. “Christian has no respect for the dead and dying. All he cares is spilling blood everywhere. He can somehow pull an arsenal worth of blades out of no-where and wield them with one hand, no matter how heavy. Two axes, Swords, knives, machetes, baseball bats, saws, hammers… he even somehow manages to carry a bazooka with filled with arrows around with him.” Pinkie raised her hoof, smiling since she knew the author remembered her. “I have a question!” She yelled. “What’s a bazooka?” “I’ll tell you along the way.” said Shadow. “Let’s hurry to the throne room.” Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Crystal Palace… “Was it really necessary to kill those guards?” asked the Christian Brutal Sniper. “No.” answered Painis Cupcake plainly. “But I was hungry, and you did say not to eat random civilians.” “Bloody hell mate.” Christian said. “You are one sick bastard.” “I’ll take that as a compliment.” said Painis with a smirk. After a few moments, he spoke again. “So, how did you arrive in this horse world?” “I was finishing a match against another group of Challengers in arena in a new arena in Egypt” said Christian. “They were down to their last Scout. He fired his last shot with his new Back Scatter, but hit me with 1 of the 10 pellets shot. Knowing the arena, I chased him into a dead end in one of the cave systems. To make his defeat embarrassing, I pulled out my huntsman; preparing for a taunt kill.” “And?” said a very impatient Painis. “I thrust the arrow forward into the Scout’s abdomen, I heard him grunt in pain as the stun’s damage was done.” continued Christian. “Just when I was about to kill him, there was this vortex that opened behind me and sucked me into it. Before I flew out of earshot, I heard that bitch announcer Helen declare a victory for the challengers.” “Damn,” said Painis. “Nothing like me, I was just about to eat a Gibus Heavy that had entered the resupply room in 2Fort. I was about to take a bite, then POW! Flash of light, falling through endless red tunnel, then BOOM! I was here, and I was a pony. Then I found a little pony and…” “You would be wise to keep it down, mate.” said Christian, who covered Painis’ mouth with his hoof. “No doubt the monarchy of this ‘Crystal Empire’ has heard of you killing the guards. There could be more anywhere.” “And if there are, we’ll smack ‘em, and snack on ‘em!” said Painis. “Those guards were pathetic. I mean, even the Nazis had better defenses than that. And I killed ’em all before I was freakified!” “Let’s hope you’re right,” said Christian, “because we’re at the throne room.” He gestured with his hoof to the door. “Would you do the honors?” he said. Christian smirked. “Gladly.” He said. He knocked on the door. “YES?” said someone on the other side of the door, probably a stallion by the voice. “Who is it?” “Some… civilians coming to talk about… whatever civilians talk about with the monarchy.” said Painis. Christian sighed. “What?” he whispered. “Sorry. The Crystal Court is temporarily shut down until the perpetrator of the recent murders is captured. Please come back at a different time. Do you have anything else to say?” Painis nodded to Christian, who smacked the door with a Homewrecker mallet, knocking it straight off its hinges and crushing a butler pony as it fell. When the dust cleared, Painis and Christian were facing an Alicorn mare and a unicorn stallion sitting on a crystal throne. Putting the homewrecker away and taking a Tribalman's Shiv out, Christian smirked and pointed the machete at the couple. "Ready to meet sharpie?" he asked. Back with the Mane 6 and Shadow Rush… Applejack’s ears perked up. “Did y’all hear that?” she asked. “Hear what?” asked Twilight. “I didn’t hear anything.” “I could’ve sworn I heard a crash.” said Applejack. “I think those freaks found the throne room.” Twilight worried expression returned. “Come on, we’re almost there, let’s hurry!” > I have my reasons... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello again! I just want to apologize about not updating in a little while. I have recently been working on Deviantart so i can finally finish the second version of the cover. Again, sorry for not updating, and I hope to be back up in a little bit. > New Story > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello everybody, SonicBoom2000 here with a new announcement! I have a new story and posted it on Fanfiction! Because I currently cannot think of anything for HIaF (Yes, that is the short form I'm using), I am moving myself over to Fanfiction.net and giving them one story. You can find it here. WARNING: Contains Ponies (Duh), Sonic and NO SHIPPING... well maybe some crushes and teasing but NO ACTUAL SHIPPING Hop on over there and tell me what you think! I really like feedback. Well anyways, SonicBoom2000, signing off! > To be continued... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, there's some good news, and some not-good-but-not-bad news. The good news is that this story is going to be continued. This fine gentleman/lady/whatever has offered to take up the story for me. Not-good-but-not-bad news is that I will probably have nothing to do with this new version. I have given up on my ability to use the Elements of Insanity, and I will be glad to get this story off my back. That is to say, if Darkbine needs any tips; say on Shadow Rush's personality or something, I will definitely help out if I can. When his version of the story is up, I'll post a new chapter with the link to the story in it. Until next time! ... assuming that I end up posting a story here again...