> Mr. Disc > by CrackedInkWell > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 1: A Push into True Surrealism. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "But sir, I still don't understand why." The fifteenth student who had complained to me today whined, "I did everything you said right. I got the shading right, the lighting right, even the angles right, so why did I get a 'D+'?" I rolled my eyes, up to this point; I just wanna go home. I've barely stepped out what has to be the worst teaching day in the history of worst teaching days. I mean, seriously, it was a simple little sketch assignment that tests my students’ abilities of what they can create in a short amount of time. And they were drawing an orange for crying out loud! And since then, every single little student has been complaining to me. Oh sure, I’m thankful that Celestia decided to give me a second chance with my job. Considering she rehired me after that one (ahem) episode where I let my students run loose painting everything in sight to turn Canterlot High School into a giant canvas. And sure, I just happened to run out of my medicine to keep me sane that fateful day. But it was thanks to Celestia who had gotten me out of that puzzle house to give me another chance. And it turned out that the one who convinced her to stay was a girl by the name of Fluttershy. To her credit, she was the one who saw me, not as a madman, but as a teacher who just happens to have some flaws. And a good thing too. Ms. Fluttershy has all the potential of being an artist with her "extreme knitting" and her simplistic drawings. Not to say that she reminded me why I love teaching art to begin with. “So? Why did you give me a ‘D+‘?” Well… Almost. I turned to the young man. “You want to know why? Alright here it is, while you may have the technicalities down, you still fail to understand what an artist does." "What does that suppose to mean?" "An artist takes the liveliest thing he sees and tries to capture it down on whatever he can get his hands on to make art in his own way. Your sketch lacked the character of turning an orange into something unique." "But mine is more detailed, Especially than Fluttershy's." "Now grant it, Fluttershy’s sketch may be simple, but at least she can interpret an orange to look like something I’ve never seen before.” He’s starting to get mad. Typical. “So you’re saying I can’t draw?” “I didn’t say you can’t draw, I’m saying that you tend to use your head to interpret the world instead of using all of you. Where was your heart? Your Bowels? Your stomach, hands, feet, liver or your soul for that matter? You need to put your whole, not part of yourself into your art.” I can almost see his hair catching on fire. "Don't you think, Mr. Discord, that I at least tried?" Oh, I hated it when my students call me that name. After my episode, students at the high school have been calling me Discord. Perhaps it's my name but they've added O-R-D to the end of it. Perhaps it's my surrealist paintings that I've made in the past. Maybe it's the clothes that I personally hand stitched together that outright questions people's idea of fashion. Or perhaps it was that incident that I let my students turn all of the school into Picasso's nightmare. Whatever the reason may be, I ended up getting stuck with that name. Discord. Truth be told, I once liked the name. I liked it so much, that I've changed my last name to Discord. But as time went on, (and getting into deep trouble with Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna) I tend to see that name as a slur name. So with a compromise, I settled with on (after making some compromises with everyone) my original last name, Mr. Disc. I turned around, started to walk away from an argument. “Now if you don’t mind, I like to get back hom-” he then pushed me from behind. My hands attached to my mitch-match sleeves of my coat reached out to the base of the statue. Thoughts of hitting the kid back did cross my mind, and what teacher who’s having a bad day and getting pushed on that said day wouldn’t have thought of that? For me, this little punk was the very last straw that broke the elephant’s back. (Or was that a camel? Then again, why camel? Why not a horse or something like that?) Anyway, I expected that my hands to hit something solid. I expected to push back from the base so I can face the kid. Instead of any of that, for whatever reason that the universe decided to play a cosmic practical joke on me, I went through it. Don’t ask me how or why, because if you tried to answer those questions, your head will leave a huge mess to clean up after. The next thing I knew, I think I was falling. And I kinda wish that I had a camera with me for a future painting, because it was like falling into a kaleidoscope of colors. There were colors mashing together and apart again, like a blurred camera overlooking a crowded street. Or being spun around while being near-sighted. And what a sensation I was going through as well! It wasn’t painful, but it was like I was being stretched out like putty in toddlers’ hands. And being stretched into what? I’ve no idea what-so-ever. I can’t tell you how long I stayed in that vision that your typical hippie would kill for, but at some point, I think I blacked out. When I woke up, I remembered having a slight headache and being really, really, really, really, really dizzy. I tried getting up, but even doing that felt… odd. After stumbling around I grabbed hold of something until the room stopped spinning. Wait, room? I was just outside, wasn’t I? Eventfully, the room became clear… “W-What is this? Where am I?” I asked in alarm. I’ve never seen this place before. Everything, I mean literally everything looked like as if it was made out of crystals. As impressive as the huge room was, it was bare. It had only a few columns, a double door, and a- The double doors opened. Now, in a normal situation, I’d expect there be a person to peek into the room with the weird little man holding onto a column. Instead, what I get, is a horse’s head, made out of see-through crystal, with a Roman (or is it Greek?) helmet peeking through. “Is anypony in…” It talked. The thing talked! His expression reflected mine with the wide eyes and hanging jaw. And then, when I was about to reach out to him, I stopped. My hand, there wasn’t a hand. There was a lion’s paw. I quickly looked at my other, there was a bird’s claw. “M-MY HANDS!!! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HANDS?!?!?!” I politely asked to nobody in particular. I looked back at the door, it was open but the thing was gone. Naturally, I turned to the only decor in the room, a mirror. I stepped over to it, and what I saw, well, every single gear in my head came to a scratching halt. The only possible way that I could even come close to compare it was like seeing a live self-portrait in my surrealist art. My head had the likeness of, what I think is a donkey. I have an antler horn and some other horn on my head. My Eyebrows and goatee have gone from gray to completely white. The torso was long and brown like a snake with fur. My left leg has a hoof, the other is a lizard’s leg. And my tail looks like the tail of a dragon in those Chinese artworks. And all of the colors, I noticed, were like the clothes that I had worn. “Discord!” I turned around, now there’s more of them and… Is that a white unicorn? > 2: Principal Cadence? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think I was having one of those psychotic episodes again. That’s what’s gotta be right? As of now, I’m in a solid pink bubble, floating in the air, being lead by a white unicorn with little horses in armor. Perhaps I should keep this in mind for a painting sometime. “Can’t you just make this thing a little bit bigger?” I asked. The bubble I’m trapped in is only big enough for me to be in the fetal position. And considering that I have a tail now, it makes things a little bit interesting. The unicorn didn’t say anything, I don’t know why, but it seemed to be mad at me for some reason. Then again… Something’s up with these other guards too. Except for my holder, the rest of them are keeping their distance from me. I wonder why. Minutes went by, down crystallized hallways that looks like something out of a children’s cartoon, the unicorn leads us to a pair of doors. And behind these doors, were more of these… What are they anyway? They’re too short to be horses, so… ponies perhaps? (I really need to look up on that when I get the chance to get out of my hallucination.) The room we entered was huge, probably two or three times larger than the gym at the school. All around me were ponies of every shape and color imaginable. Not just those made out of living crystal, but there were others who were like the unicorn. Animal-like, well, kinda. There were unicorns, pegasuses (or is it pegasi?), and “normal” ponies all around. While going towards the other end of the room, I’ve got a good look at them. Their manes were styled to look human. Heck, some of them were wearing clothes! But I noticed something odd as well, their eyes. They were bigger and have irises. And horses (or ponies) don’t have irises. Along the way up, nearly, if not all took several steps back away from me. Perhaps it’s my appearance or something, I would too if I saw a creature that’s jumbled up. At the very end of the room was a throne that was made out of, no surprise, crystal. And on this throne was a creature that I had never seen before in any mythology book. The creature was pink; it had wings like a pegasus and a horn of a unicorn. And on its head was a tiny golden crown. “Discord?” The thing asked in a feminine voice. “What are you doing here?” That voice. It sounds somehow, familiar, but why? “A guard found him in the mirror room.” The unicorn stated. She looked back up at me once more and said, “You do know that nopony is allowed in there right? Even to you. So why were you there?” “I just fell through,” I told her. “Did you get lost again?” “Well…” seeing that there’s really no point in lying, I told her, “yes, yes I am. So where am I?” “The Crystal Empire. In the palace.” She deadpanned. “And besides, I thought Celestia sent you to the Bahamares.” I let out a chuckle. “Th-The what?” “The Bahamares. You know, islands off the Coast of Mexicolt.” Laughter escaped my new mouth. “Ba-Bahamares! Mexicolt! Ha-ha-ha...” I know I should be polite, but to me it was hilarious. Both she and the unicorn’s eyes harden. “Discord. I’m being serious.” “Cadence, I think we-” I stopped laughing when I heard that name, “Wait! What did you say your name was?” “Cadence?” She said. I learned in as far as this bubble would let me get a closer look at her. The hairstyle, the pink coat, wearing the golden shoes, she is polite yet she has a strong personality… “Principal Cadence? Is that you?” I asked. “Principal?” She asked. “Yeah, you're that adopted niece of Principal Celestia.” Her eyes widen, “Court is adjourned!” she declared loudly. I heard moans and grunts of disappointments behind me. After being shooed away, Cadence in pony form turned to the unicorn. “Shining, you can release him now.” Immediately, the bubble popped and I was unceremoniously dropped to the floor. “Ow! Could you at least warn me next time?” “Tell me, Discord-” “Okay, stop it! Stop calling me Discord. You can just call me Mr. Disc.” “Um, alright, Mr. Disc, do you know anything about a place called Canterlot High?” “You mean the place I work at? Of course, I do.” “Has anything unusual happened there?” “Other than this hallucination? Well, Luna told me about the time that a student named Sunset turned into a demon at a dance. And then there was that one time with the sirens. And wait,” I pointed at the unicorn. “She said your name is Shining isn’t it?” “Yeah?” “Oh! Now I recognize you! Your that guy that Cadence married a while ago. Nice to meet ya finally.” I lifted my bird claw to shake his hand, well, hoof to shake. He just stared at it. Maybe they don’t do handshakes in this hallucination or something. “So, what do you do? I mean, your job?” Cadence questioned. “I’m an art teacher.” “And do you know somepony there by the name of Fluttershy?” After overcoming my chuckles at that weird way of her saying ‘somebody’ I answered. “Of course I know Fluttershy. She’s the one that got me my job back. A nice student in my book.” The pony versions of Cadence and Shining talked quietly to each other for a minute, every now and then, Shining would look back at me. Then, they turned back toward me. “We’ll take the benefit of a doubt and say that we believe you. Shining, do me a favor and try contacting the princesses and your sister about this.” “Of course dear. I’ll be right back,” and with that, Shining trotted out of the room. “Princesses?” I asked. “Yes. Here there are four princesses, in your world, they’re known as Principal Celestia and Luna. Here, however, it’s Princess Celestia and Luna.” I blinked, since when did those two have got that kind of upgrade? > 3: Of Spiders, Pills and a Mirror > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- About an hour later, trumpets sounded forth the horseified version of my boss. This version of her was like Cadence in that she has a pair of wings and a horn on her forehead. (Hmm… note to self, don’t make her want to impale you.) And not to say that she has a crown of her own, along with somewhat I think is jewelry around her neck. Also, she has those same golden shoes too. She was pale white, and her mane was more stunning than the boss I knew. Besides, how is that thing flowing with no wind in here? And, while she and Cadence talked, I noticed a trait that I also saw when I first met Celestia on my first day of work. “Why is it that you’re taller than everybody else?” I asked. The horse version of my boss raised an eyebrow, “What does that suppose to mean?” “It’s just something I noted that even in this that even in a hallucination; you’re always taller than everyone.” “Hallucination?” “Oh come on, that’s what clearly it is right? I mean, everybody is a horse-” “Pony,” Shining interrupted. “Whatever. I’m in a place that’s made out of crystal and there’s this.” I waved both of my arms over my body for emphasis. “I probably need to have somebody get me my medicine. I can’t see my pockets on me at the moment, so would any of you…” I trailed off. There on my lizard foot, I saw them. Hundreds of multiplying spiders crawling upwards. “GAH!” I screamed, trying to swipe them off of me. Falling over onto the floor, I tried fighting off those tiny insects, but there were too many of them. “GET 'EM OFF!” I yelled. “Discord, what’s wrong?” a concern Celestia asked. “THE SPIDERS! GET THEM OFF OF ME!” “But there’s nothing there,” Cadence chimed in. “Are you trying to pull a trick on us?” Shining added the salt to my mental injury. Quickly realizing that these three are going to do nothing but watch, I desperately try to feel for my pockets in the real world. Maybe I could – yes! I felt my clawed hand reached down into a familiar pocket and grabbed out a familiar bottle of pills. After ripping the cap open, I spilled the pills onto the marble floor to take a couple of them into my mouth and swallow. Then I just closed my eyes, putting both my hands over my head and repeat the chant of “It’ll be okay,” over and over until the hallucinations go away. I think I felt something pressed against my shoulder. It was round and flat, but warm. With an open eye, I saw Celestia on her belly, and she was touching me with a… hoof. “Discord. Is everything alright?” She asked full of motherly concern. I looked around, the spiders were gone, but the ponies are still here. I looked at the bottle closely, studying every tiny minute detail about it, even the pills that, sure enough, it was the real thing. “Am I having a hallucination on top of a hallucination? This can’t be real… right?” “Disc, this is real.” Celestia told me, “But what was that you swallowed?” “I… I don’t get it. These are the pills, but you're all still here.” “But what do those pills do?” “Oh, it’s just there to make sure my mind doesn’t get too out of hand. Like a minute ago for instance. I take just a little extra more in case something like that happens.” “What would happen if you don’t take them?” “Well… Let’s just say that the last time I didn’t take those pills when I was supposed to, I got fired and got stuck in a mental hospital for a while. Stuck there as if I was made out of stone or something like that.” Celestia went silent for a moment, “I’m very sorry to hear that.” I waved it off, “Not to worry, I just got the new prescription yesterday,” by now I was gingerly picking up the pills with the claw. “As long as I still have these, everything should be fine. And don’t be sad though, sometimes, when something like that happens, I get a few ideas for my paintings.” “You’re a painter?” “Oh yes. It’s a kind of coping mechanism. Instead of bottling up the madness, I release it on a canvas. I often times wonder if creativity and madness are the same things, it’s just too much of it that gets ya into trouble.” The horse version of Celestia nodded, “I think I understand. But I think we should probably get you back home.” I agreed with her, “Yeah, I had a long day, home just sounds fantastic right about now.” Soon enough, after all the pills were gathered up, the three of them lead me back to the room with the mirror. “All you have to do is step into the mirror,” Cadence told me, I looked at her as if she was crazier than I was. “Just trust me on this,” she added. I reached out my lion’s paw out to the mirror, and as expected, I only touched the solid glass. “Is something supposed to happen?” I asked. In my reflection, I noticed two things at once. First was that the ponies behind me, their expressions had a kind of look that says, “Uh-Oh.” And second, I noticed that there was something else on me that I’ve never noticed until up to that point. “Are those wings?” I asked. “Oh dear,” Celestia said, “Mr. Disc, I’m afraid that you’re going to be stuck here for a while.” “What are you talking about?” “You didn’t go through the mirror.” I raised an eyebrow, “Though the mirror – like stepping into Wonderland or something?” None of them responded the three of them looked at each other like students whose science experiment has gone wrong. “Now what do we do?” Shining asked. “The portal to his world is closed.” “Well, hiding him is clearly out of the question,” said Cadence. “Besides, it won’t take long until he finds him.” “Who finds me?” I asked. The three of them didn’t say anything for a moment. “Mr. Disc,” Celestia said. “I’m afraid to tell you this, but that mirror is a gateway to your world and ours. Think of it as a gateway to two different dimensions where it’s very similar but very different. Where all those who you knew are here like your Principal Celestia or your students, except their lives are very different. In this world, there is another version of you. And both of you are in the same world together for the time being.” “Hold on, there is another me here?” > 4: Me, Myself... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After riding the Christmas decorations express throughout the morning with more guards surrounding me, we’ve made a stop in a place appropriately called Ponyville. A town wherein the architecture resembles that of English cottages in a disgustingly happy rolling valley, the residents here are even more ponies as far as these eyes could see. Once again, there’s the same pattern here as it was at that crystal place, all of these ponies are trying their best to keep their distance away from me. And I mean everyone. I saw one pony that took one look at me and dove right into a trashcan. A pegasus changed course at the sight of me. And there was even a unicorn that disappeared completely! Even the animals seem to run for the hills when I came along. Honestly, hallucination or no, I couldn’t see why everything here is afraid of me. Our walk ended at a place just outside of town, were everywhere there’s birdhouses, dens, and a house that’s somehow carved out of a tree. (How is that thing still alive when it’s hollowed out?) The guard with the scroll knocked on the door of this literal treehouse, where the door cracked open. “Y-Yes?” “Ms. Fluttershy?” The guard asked. The door opened up a little more. I had to shake my head and even blink a few times at what I was seeing. There was no other way about it, my student! Fluttershy. She had the right voice, the right hairstyle, the quiet and shy demeanor. Even the yellow coat of hers reminded me of the yellow clothes that the Fluttershy that I knew usually wore. “Discord? What are you doing here? Are you in trouble again?” “Uhh...” Was my sophisticated response. “Princess Celestia told me that you should read this first.” The guard gave the little pegasus version of my student the scroll he’s been carrying around. She took it in her hooves and read it. Her eyes widened as she read its contents. “Is this true?” she asked and the guard nodded. She looked up at me, “You poor thing.” She said, “Why don’t you come inside.” Now I was curious. After bending my long body through the munchkin doorway, I got a look at my alternative Fluttershy’s home. Inside the house had too many animals, more than I could count. (It makes me wonder if the Fluttershy I know is a hoarder of animals. But on the other hand, this Fluttershy has a supernatural way of taking care of many at a time.) She sat me down at a table and with her mouth pulled in two more chairs. This followed closely with the tea set. “Who’s the other chair for?” I asked her. “Oh… Well-” Before she could say anything else, there was a flash coming from the door. We both turned to it and for the second time, my brain stopped working. With its’ back against us and knocking on the door from the inside… ….Was me. It was like I was looking at a living copy of me, waiting for someone to answer the door. “Um, Discord, turn around.” The pony venison of Fluttershy said. “Opus, sorry about that,” the other me said. “Just as promised, I’ve brought the sandwi…” He turned around to face us, holding a tray of neatly placed sandwiches; he had the same frozen expression that I had. “Um, Flutters, who is this?” the other me asked. You know the phrase: “This takes the cake?” Forget that! This takes the whole flippin’ bakery! Seriously, I’ve seen some pretty odd things in my day, but never in my wildest of delusions have I ever had an encounter… with myself. “Um, Discord.” Fluttershy said, “Do you remember the world that Twilight went to get her element back? He’s, well – you, from that world.” I got up from my seat and walked over to the other me. We looked at each other as if we’re staring at our own reflections. Though I confess, part of me doesn’t want to believe that this… thing was really me. So I decided to test a few things out. “’Twas brilling, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe: all misy were the borogroves, and the mome raths out…grabe.” We both said exactly the same time in the exact same tone in the exact same Scottish accent. Okay… how about something even more random. With my claw hand, I pointed at him, and he did the same. Alright, there’s no way he’s gonna say “I know what you’re thinking: ‘Did he fire six shots or only five?’” “Well, to tell you the truth, in all of this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself.” “But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world,” “And would blow your head clean off,” Then in unison, “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” Okay, creepy. But I’d bet that not even he can predict this… Then we both started to sing and dance the exact same thing: “Hello ma baby! Hello ma honey! Hello ma ragtime gal! Send me a kiss by wire. Baby ma heart’s on fire! If you refuse me, honey you’ll lose me, then you’ll be left alone, oh, baby, telephone, and tell me I’m your own!” How did that happen?! There was music and everything! We even had that stupid hat and… I looked at the umbrella I was holding and immediately dropped it in shock. “GAH!” “Awe, I was beginning to enjoy this.” He whined in disappointment, huh, he even sounds like me. “Besides, what’s wrong with you? It’s not like you haven’t used any chaotic magic before.” “Well, that’s because I’m not exactly used to this. Except when I have my hallucinations.” My living reflection raised an eyebrow. “You too? So I’m not the only one around here who sometimes sees Fluttershy as a ferret?” “What was that?” Fluttershy asked. “Nothing,” we both said. The other me turned to face me, “So you’re me from that one universe that Ms. Uptight went to.” “Ms. Uptight?” “Twilight,” the other me deadpanned. “You know, mostly purple, has a crush with the male equivalent of Mary Sue, saved a school twice.” “Oh, that weird student that my boss told me about, she said that she broke out to a weird dance during a dance once.” “Yep, that’s her. So what do you do?” “I’m an art teacher, what do you do?” “Ex-Lord of Chaos, errand boy for her highnesses and friend to Fluttershy.” “That sounds like a handful.” He sighed, “You have no idea.” “Um, excuse me.” Fluttershy got our attention, “I was wondering if you still want some tea.” “Having tea with myself.” The other me muttered, putting his lion paw over his chin. “Eh, why not. With another me around, this ought to be interesting.” > 5:.... And Fluttershy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This should definitely go into a painting sometime. A double self-portrait of me in this form, having tea with my Fluttershy as a yellow pegasus who’s picking up her cup with no thumbs – it seems that the more time I spend here, the more ideas that appear to me. Wait… Do I smell bubble gum? “Yes, it does smell like bubble gum.” The other me told me, “I thought the tea would be a touch better if it smelled like that.” I admit, I silently agreed. “Say, how do you do that?” I ask. “Do what?” “How do you make things appear like that?” The other me rolled his eyes, “Magic, duh.” I let out a laugh. “Did I say something funny?” He asked. “Magic? Really? I might be somewhat crazy, but if there’s one thing I know, and that there’s no such thing as magic.” Both he and Fluttershy looked at me funny like I said something taboo like my boss actually wears a wig. “What?” “You're serious right?” he asked. “You don’t believe in magic?” I shook my head, “Oh come on, I’m not a five year old.” Taking a sip from the tea, I added. “Besides, what I’ve seen so far, it all must be using an illusion to do all this stuff. Like putting me in a pink bubble? That has to be done with magnets somebody placed on me and used a projector to make it look like I was in it. And you with making a hat and umbrella appear must be a trick of the eye. Also, the bubblegum smelling tea, someone put something in it.” The other me looked in disbelief. “Do you know what he’s talking about?” He turned to the pegasus. She put a hoof to her chin. “I think Twilight said something that they have no magic whatsoever where they came from.” “No ma- No magic! None?! How do you even live?!?! How do you spread chaos when you can’t even do a simple levitation spell or anything?!” The other me said with hysteria. “We’re both artists, aren’t we?” I asked him. “Well yeah but-” “I paint and sometimes sketch to let my creative madness out. I may not have… whatever you have where I come from, but I get by from making art.” “Well… I… Just… But…” He stammered. His eyes twitched and looked at every direction. Ah great, I think I just broke myself. “This is too much! I need to calm down.” And in a flash of light, he vanished. “Where’d he go?” I asked, turning to Fluttershy. “I don’t know,” she admitted quietly. “I never seem him like that before. I hope he comes back okay.” She and I stayed quiet for a minute or two until she asked, “So… I-In your world. Do you happen to know, well, the other me? Twilight said she ran into her, have you?” “I have. She’s actually a student of mine.” “R-Really?” “She’s doing pretty well in my art class. With her simple drawings and her ‘extreme knitting.’” “HOW DID-” She covered both hooves over her mouth. “I-I mean… How did you know that?” “Well, I asked her one day what kind of art she was good at, and she told me (quietly) that she was really good at knitting anything.” “Oh.” At the way she said that word, I raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Doesn’t anyone know that you’d knit?” “Um… Just my friends know – and Celestia too.” I shook my head, “Dear Fluttershy, you need to be a little more confident in yourself as an artist.” “I-I know, but…” If she’s anything like the Fluttershy that I know, she’ll tell me what the matter is as long as I’m being patient with her if she’s going to get moving. And like a mechanical toy, she does. “I know that I’ve won that extreme art contest once, even gotten some praise for my art, but, what if I get too famous? What if too many ponies want a commission from me? What if I disappoint them? What if-” “Ms. Shy,” I ordered her. “Calm, all, the way, down! Look, if you don’t want to go crazy overwork, just simply tell them that you have your limits. All artists do. Even I have my limits. So if you're asked to work on something that you know you can’t do, tell them. It will save you from going cuckoo.” She blinked. “Wow, that’s something like Discord would say.” “That’s because I’m kinda him, only as a teacher.” Suddenly, Fluttershy’s front door slammed open, “HI FLUTTERSHY!” We looked and there hopping in, (yes, hopping) was another pony who looked oddly familiar. Come to think of it… It’s a she, and pink, and has curly hair, has balloons on her butt… Is that? “Oh, hi Discord,” and that voice… “Pinkie?” “Uh-huh. Say do either of you know anypony new coming to town? I just had a Pinkie sense a while ago saying that somepony new had just come to Ponyville. But I can’t find him, or her, I’ve been searching high and low but I can’t find them. Have you’ve seen anypony new so I can give them a ‘Welcome-to-Ponyville’ party?” Yep, definitely Pinkie. “Well…” Fluttershy ventured. “There actually is somepony new.” “Really?! Where are they?” She answered when the other me popped right back into the chair. “Alright, I’ve calmed down now, so where were we?” I looked over to Pinkie, her eyes widen and her mouth dropped to the floor like an exaggerated cartoon. “T-There’s TWO of you?!?! Omigosh do you know what this means?!?! Now we can double- wait, that line’s already taken… Eh, never mind, I’ve got a- wait. Are you a changeling?” She said pointing at me. “A what?” “A changeling, you know, the buggy thing that can change into anyone while sucking the love out of you like a vampire, not like in those bad romance vampire books but the kind that sucks out your blood until you’re dry kind of vampire?” “Uh… no?” She looked at me with squinting eyes like I’ve just got caught from escaping from the hospital again. But her face lighted up, “Okay! Now if you three don’t mind, I’m going to head off to prepare for a ‘Welcome-to-Ponyville-second-Discord party! See ya at three!” And before any of us could say anything, she hopped out of the door, then she was gone. > (The Arrival: According to Applejack) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After lunchtime, Pinkie had asked a favor from me. Saying that she’d just ran out of apples for glazen’ a cake for a surprise welcome party. And of course, Ah did bring those apples to her at Sugar Cube Corner, and as usual, she’s happy to see me with the apples. The place was already crawling with ponies helpin’ her set up. Come to think of it, if a party is askin’ her to get help her set up, it musta be big. “So Pinkie, who’s the party for anyways?” Ah asked her after she grabbed the apples from me. “I can’t tell you yet.” She told me, hoppin’ across the room inta the kitchen. “Besides,” she added stickin’ her head out. “It’s not a surprise party if it isn’t a surprise. Everypony knows that silly.” Now Ah’m curious. She usually talks her head off about upcoming parties and who she’s hostin’ for, even with unexpected ones she tells us. But why she’s keepin’ all hush-hush about it? It really doesn’t make any sense. “Applejack dear.” Ah turned to Rarity’s voice, which was comin’ from a table. “Have you seen Rainbow on the way here?” “Jus’ once, why?” “Well, I asked her if she could fly home quickly to fetch some particular tablecloths since I’ve completely forgotten about them. I’m starting to get worried since it’s nearly three for that welcome party.” “Speankin’ of which, have ya any clue who’s the party she’s holding this for?” “Not a word. Which I find it rather odd I admit.” “I’m here!” We turned to Rainbow with a bundle of red cloth in her forehooves. “Rainbow darling! You should have brought them when they were folded.” “Hey, you said ‘bring them here as quickly as possible’ so I did. And hey AJ.” “Well, better make do.” Rarity said when her horn lit up to untangle the red tablecloths. “So AJ, you catch anything who’s party is this?” Rainbow asked me folding her wings. “Nothin’. Ah just got here mahself.” “That’s weird, doesn’t she always slip whose party she’s doing it for?” “Yeah Ah suppose so.” “Besides, where is she anyway?” “Kitchen.” We heard the door slam open, followed by a “Am I late?!” from Twi. Some of the ponies around the room took a moment to bow to her before returin’ to work. She was followed by Spike tailin’ behind her. “No dear, you’re right on time. We’re just putting the final touches that’s all.” Rarity said, puttin’ the last tablecloth down. Twi sighed in relief, “That’s good. Did Pinkie say-” “No sugar cube, she didn’t say who it’s for.” Ah cut in. “She won’t tell any of us. Which makes me wonder if she’s pulling a prank or somethin’.” “Speaking of pranks, have you heard about the prank my brother tried to pull on me yesterday?” Twi asked. We shook our heads. “Shining sent her a letter yesterday,” Spike said when he got his breath back. “He said to come over to the Crystal Empire immediately because Discord, from that world me and Twilight went to has come into our world.” “How did you know it was a prank?” Rainbow asked. “Yesterday was April Foals.” They both said. “And it’s not the first time Shining did that too,” Twi added. “Like he did when he sent me a letter saying that Celestia had gotten into a horrible accident so I ran over to her to see if she’s okay. Turns out, she was perfectly fine.” “Oh-oh, that’s bad,” Rainbow told her, tryin’ to hold back her laughter. “I’ll say!” This made us jump because this was comin’ from none other than Discord who just come outta nowhere. “Personally if I did it, I would have-” “Don’t, do that!” Twi told him what was on all of our minds. But then she stopped for a moment. “Wait, Discord? Why are you here?” “Why not? Oh! And before I forget…” Discord took out a piece of chalk and drew a circle on the floor with another little circle in it. And suddenly it opened up to Fluttershy’s place. “Fluttershy, are you coming?” he asked. Shy stepped out from the floor, after which, Discord closed the thing and whipped the chalk line with his tail. “So Fluttershy, should I get you a chair with some popcorn?” “Um, no thank you.” “You sure?” He asked when he made one of those foldin’ up chairs appear with a bucket of popcorn. Shy nodded. “I’m just going to go over there.” She pointed a hoof over to a corner. Soon enough, everythin’ was ready, the lights were turned off and we waited for our mystery guest. At around three, the door opened, the lights turn on, we all shouted: “SURPRIAAAAAAAUh?” It was… Discord. Ah looked back, and Discord was still in his chair, munchin’ away at the popcorn. There’s two Discords?! Two of ‘em!? The last thin’ Ah remember, somepony shouted: “IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD!! EVERYPONY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!” And the rest was just a blur. > 6: Talking with Myself. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Well,” I said after all the dust and all that noise settled. “That escalated quickly.” “Surprise!” Pinkie once again appeared with a cake on her back. She looked around at what remained of the room. “Hey, where did everypony go?” The only ones that remained in the room other than Pinkie and myself are the other me in a chair eating popcorn; Fluttershy with her hooves and wings over her face in a corner; an unconscious version of what I think might be Apple… something; a pegasus with rainbow hair and dozens of hoofprints all over; a white unicorn peeking out from under a table; and a purple, Pegasus… unicorn… thing with a little dragon on its’ back staring razor-sharp kitchen knives at me. “Discord! Why are there two of you?” She angrily asked both of me. “Don’t look at me your highness,” the other me said using puppy eyes and a halo. “I’m totally innocent in this affair. I didn’t make him appear, just ask Fluttershy.” The purple thing went up to Fluttershy in the corner and repeated her question to her, but much more gently. “Um, do you remember the world where Sunset Shimmer is?” “Yeah?” “And you know that in that world, there’s a version of everypony there?” “And?” “That Discord,” she pointed towards me. “Is actually from there, but he accidentally got into Equestria.” A cowlick popped up from the purple one’s hair. “Darling, you can’t be serious.” The white unicorn said. Wait, who is this supposed to be? Um… She sounds like one student who has a fashion obsession. For some reason, she seems familiar but I can’t get the name. “But I am, Rarity.” Oh yeah! That’s her name, thanks Fluttershy! “I’ve got a letter from Princess Celestia herself. Twilight, didn’t you get a letter?” “I thought it was a joke.” The purple one replied with another few hairs spraining up. “Ow,” this time, the voice came from the rainbow one. She slowly had gotten up on her feet- hooves or whatever they’re called. “Okay. Not cool.” She looked over to the unconscious apple. “AJ? Hey Applejack, you alright?” She went over to the orange pony, checking to see if she’s still alive. “I think she’s out cold,” I told her. The rainbow pegasus looked up with accusing eyes. “What did you do?!” she demanded. “Hey calm down. I didn’t do anything, I just showed up and everyone left.” “It doesn’t make any logical sense!” The purple one cried out. “I’ve made that portal stay open. So why is he still here?” “How do I know? I just got here.” I told her, making a mental note to keep a distance from her. She has that look that I’ve seen a little too often at the hospital. The kind of look that warns that somebody is about to crack. “I hate to interrupt such a lively conversation.” Rarity said looking out of a broken window. “But I do believe we have some more pressing matters to attend to.” We looked outside to see those ponies are running around, screaming about the end, and I think something just caught on fire. “That looks like fun,” The other me spoke out what I was thinking. The rest of the girls looked at the other me. “What? Add a little mariachi music and we’ve got ourselves a party.” He snapped his lion paw and out popped a mariachi band. I’ve got to know how he does that. “Rarity’s right,” the purple one said with determination. “We need to take care of this first. Fluttershy, can you stay with Applejack and make sure those two don’t do anything destructive.” Fluttershy nodded. She then looked right at me, “And we’ll deal with you later.” The purple one, the rainbow one, Pinks, and Rarity rushed out the door to save the day. “Excuse me Discord, can I borrow your chair for Applejack, that is, if you don’t mind?” Fluttershy asked the other me. “Why of course,” he smiled, snapping his tail (again, how does he do that?) he turned his fold-up chair into a comfy looking lounge chair in which he got up from. As Shy was dragging the orange apple to the chair, the other me signaled me to the window. “You know what one of the things I like best?” he asked. “Is that I can cause total chaos without me ever doing a thing. All I have to do is show up, and it happens by itself. It’s less work that way, don’t you agree?” “Huh, I tend to say that with art.” “Chaos, art, potato, tomato, what’s the difference really? If you're anything like me, you know that our creativity really has no limits once we set our minds to it. I guess it’s all a question of how far to take it.” We both stood there in silence for a moment, and then suddenly, out of nowhere it seems, a realization hit me like a falling brick to my head. Something that made it seemed so amusing that I started to laugh at it. “What’s so funny?” he asked. “Nothing, it’s just I realized that since I’ve been in this place for so long, I wonder if those at home are probably be looking for me. They can try getting everybody, including the police to look for me, only they’ll never find me here. I guess it won’t take long for them to put a picture of me with the words ‘Have you seen this weird little man?’ upon billboards. I wonder how long I’m gonna be here anyway?” “Why worry? Don’t you want to be here?” “Oh, I don’t mind too much, but I just came to a realization here.” “What’s that?” “I don’t have a job here.” The other me started laughing, “A-Are you kidding m-me. Hahahaha! You have the same powers as I do and you worry about being jobless!” “Do you want me, who just got here to take your job?” He stopped laughing, “Oh.” I nodded. “Besides, we may be similar, but don’t you think we should stick with what we know best, hum?” “Touché monsieur.” I can feel my lips make a wicked smirk. I love it when I win a debate with me. Now I wonder how long does it take for that purple ringleader to calm down a terrified town? “You don’t happen to still have that popcorn do you?” I asked. “With a theater chair?” “But of course. While we’re here, why not enjoy the show?” > 7: Of Pony Confrontation, Self Break-up, and Teaching > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh, the noise, noise, noise, noise, noise! The talking, the complaining, the whining, the accusing accusations from these ponies makes me want to welcome becoming deaf. By now, I and the other me along with the purple princess have been trying for the past two minutes, trying to get the town’s attention right in front of town hall. Two minutes to calm all these ponies that were losing their minds more often at every second then all the inmates had in a month at the hospital. And the noise they were making is nearly enough to drive me mad. What happened next shook me to the very core. I don’t know exactly what possessed me to do so; all I did with my lion paw was make the universal symbol of a gun and imaging it going off. Then all of us heard a really loud "KA-BANG!!!" that ring throughout the town, silencing everyone. It was so unexpected that I think I’ve probably jumped a good thirty feet up in the air over it. At that moment, I was glad for the wings to lower me gently to the ground next to me. “Um, sorry,” I said. “What?” The other me asked loudly, putting the bird claw into his ears. “I didn’t expect that,” I said a little louder. "WHAT?!" The whole town cried. (Sigh) This’ll take a while. _*_ Give or take forty-five minutes later, the town got its hearing back. “Okay, can everypony hear us now?” the purple princess asked and the town nodded. “I know that everyone here is confused at the recent events that have been unfolded. But I want to reassure all of you that none of you have anything to be afraid of.” “There are two Discords here, isn’t that a reason enough?!” Someone shouted. There was more noise coming from them. “Have any of you stopped to think why there are two Discords, to begin with?” She asked. “This is Discord we’re talking about, does he have to have a reason?” Another pony shouted. “Okay,” I spoke up. “What do I need to know to convince all of you that I’m not the boogieman here, hum?” And for once, there was sweet silence. “Look, I don’t know about him,” I pointed to the other me. “And I don’t know exactly why everybody here is scared stiff of me, but don’t you suppose that I’m not really that big of a monster? For sanity's sake, I’m a teacher for crying out loud.” This for some reason got everyone laughing, even princess purple. “I fail to see what’s so funny,” I spoke over their laughter. “Your joking right?” I pinpointed the voice that was coming from a pony that eerily looked like the student who pushed me into this place, to begin with. I kept my most serious face on me, not even blinking until he realizes that I wasn’t kidding around. “You can’t be serious, right?” “Why yes. Yes, I am being serious. As I’ve said, I don’t know what the other me has done here, but as a teacher, it would be unthinkable to harm my students without cause. Now I’ll ask again, what do I need to do to convince all of you that I’m not a monster?” “For starters,” someone said. “How do we tell the two of you apart?” “I have an idea!” The purple thing said, suddenly her horn glowed a bright purple. Then I felt something grabbing tightly on the end of my tail. I looked down to find a golden band around it. “I’ve put a very powerful spell on that ring that only I can take it off.” She said proudly, “It’s so powerful that not even your most chaotic of spells can break it.” The other me seemed skeptical and reached over for the band when his lion paw touched it, he got burned by it. “AHH!” He screamed in pain. A pack of ice popped into existence onto the burned paw. “That really hurt!” “As I said, only I can take it off.” The purple thing said with a sadistic grin, “Now we can tell who’s who.” She turned to me, “If you’re really from that human world, I take it that you’re reformed as well?” “If you mean sane enough to work then I suppose. After all, I still have these.” I reached into my pocket to pull out the pills. “What is that?” The other me leaned over, snatching the bottle of pills from me. “Those are mine,” I tried to get the bottle back but he opened it, took a sniff at it. He gaged. “Sweet deep-fried-piece-of-Luna’s-moon-dust-covered-flank what was that!?” “My medicine, give it back.” I stitched but he kept the pills out of reach. “This is medicine! It smells awful.” “It keeps me sane.” “Oh, that explains it.” “Give it back!” Luckily, the purple creature’s light encased the out of reach bottle and it floated over back to me. When it was near enough, I snatched it and put it back into my pocket. I looked back up, the other me just looked at me, with frustration, he shook his head. “There’s no word in existence to describe how disappointed I am in you.” And just like that, he vanished. And hearing that coming from me, that was harsh. I looked around at the ponies around me, all of them seemed taken aback, trying to make sense of what just happened. _*_ By evening, I was given some good news and some bad news from Twilight. She told me that the good news was that she’s headed towards the Crystal Empire place to work as fast as she can to get me home. The bad news, however, it may take me a few days give or take until I’m able to. At sunset, the town is still avoiding me, but they don’t really seem too scared of me. I suppose they’re trying to give me space or something. Twilight let me crash at her place in the center of town. A castle, treehouse thing that I think had the same architect as that crystal palace. And just looking at it, I think he should have been fired on the spot. It just seemed ugly to me, and coming from a surrealist, that says a lot! Apparently, the shiny castle somehow stole a bit from Dr. Who and made the place bigger on the inside. Seriously, I think I spent a good hour trying to find my room in that place! And the worst part is that it was actually right next to the front door this whole time! But anyway, I was trying to relax when I heard a knock on the front door, I went to answer it to find another surprise. In pony form, was Ms. Cherilee, but she looked like her health have been left by the wayside for a month. “Oh! Discor-” “Disc,” I interrupted her. “Just Disc will do.” “Oh, sorry,” she sniffed. “Is Princess Twilight around?” “You just missed her, she’s gone to that crystal place.” “Uh, shoot!” She was about to turn when I stopped her. “Hold on, why are you here and are you alright?” She looked at me, giving a funny look all the while, “You’re concerned about me?” “Well, where I’m from, you… well, the other you work in the same school as I do. She taught the younger kids there. And by the looks of it, you don’t seem to look too good.” “I’m not. I was hoping that I could get Twilight to substitute for me.” This got my attention. “Substitute?” “At least, until I get,” she sniffed again, “better. Which I think I’ll be out for a few days.” “Mind if I ask you something?” “What?” “Since I’m going to be stuck here for probably the next few days with nothing to do, would you mind if I take over?” She seemed really surprised by this. “You! Substituting for my students!” “Why not? I’m a teacher by profession myself. Besides, I still have my bottle of pills with me.” “By-the-way, what do those pills do?” “They help me keep my delusions back. But the thing is, daily I purposely undertake what the doctor had prescribed to me.” She blinked. “Why?” “I want to be sane enough to work, but just insane enough to create. Does that make sense?” “Oddly yes, and the Discord I know never makes sense.” “So, would you mind if I teach your class, just so I have something to do?” She put a hoof to her chin, after wiping her nose she said: “I’ll give you one trial day. If you're any good at it and not cause any trouble, I’ll let you sub for me. If you can’t, I’ll make sure you leave.” I wasn’t certain if that was a threat or not, but I shrugged it off and said, “You got yourself a deal Ms. Cherilee.” _*_ A schoolhouse? In a way, walking up to the place was like stepping back into the eighteen-hundreds or something. Cherilee told me that her class was made up of kids who are a great deal younger than the ones I’m used to teaching. But not to say that I haven’t taught kids this young before. I used to sub a few times back at the school before my big psychotic episode. As I near the school, I can hear the kids chatting away. Saying things like: “What’s taking Ms. Cherilee so long?” “She’s never been this late.” “Do you think we might get a sub today?” “Don’t be so stupid blank flank, who is she going to get?” “Yeah. Everypony knows that Princess Twilight is out of town.” At this point I opened the door, bending my body through the doorway, the classroom became dead quiet. I didn’t look at them first, my attention was towards the chalkboard. Grabbing one of the pieces of chalk, I wrote on the board the assignments that Cherilee told me to give. After that, I turned around to face my new ponyfied class. A class whose students have a mixed bag of expressions from fear to curiosity. “Good morning, Ms. Cherilee will be sick for the next few days. My name is Mr. Disc, or Mr. D if you may, I’ll be your substitute teacher for today.” > 8: A Lesson in Gravity > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A little bit of natural science, a little bit of history, some English, some group reading, some math, and finally a little bit of art. It sounds easy for a day’s schedule with lunch/recess between English and reading to give everyone, including me, some mental breathing room; and considering all these weird powers that happen when I focus, this is going to be almost too easy. Cherilee had given me in detail the lessons of what this class was studying. After looking through them from last night and this morning, it’s all elementary stuff. This is going to be a bit too easy but might as well give it a shot. “Now for roll call,” I announced to the class. “When I call your name, just say here.” Picking up the clipboard with my tail and using a pencil, I started calling out their names. “Dinky Do.” “Here.” “Snips.” “Here.” “Twist.” “Here.” “Scootaloo.” “Here.” “Snails.” “Here.” “Silver Spoon.” “Here.” “Applebloom.” “Over here.” “Button Mash… Button Mash?” “H-He’s sick Mr. D.” The one I think called Scootaloo said. I wrote a note beside Button Mash’s name. “Rumble?” “Here.” “Sweetie Belle.” “Here.” “Diamond Tiara.” “Here.” “So I assume that’s everyone right?” The class was silent. Apparently, even here, that should mean yes. “Alright. Now before we get started, I think I should let you all know a few rules when I’m teaching. First of all, I’ll have you know that unless told so, you will not get any homework from me.” That for some reason the whole class seemed surprised. “REALLY?!” They all asked at once. “Unless you are told so. I view homework as a punishment or needed for something that you're struggling to grasp. But I digress, rule two, I think I should let you all know that I do tend to suffer from delusions, which means that from time to time I may see, or feel, or even hear things that aren't there. So don’t be afraid to tell me that if I’m acting a little odd. And trust me, you will know when or if that happens. “Rule three, since I’m now in a world where apparently I have superpowers, please don’t be too alarmed when something odd happens. And since it’s going to be me teaching, it’s a guarantee that this school day will get interesting. “And Rule four, do not, I repeat, do not ever, call me Discord. Alright? It’s considered a bad name in my book. So do we all understand here?” They all nodded like a bobblehead shop in an earthquake. “Now then, this morning, we’re going to discuss a little further on the idea of gravity. Now, who here can tell me about gravity? Anyone?” The one I think is called Snips raised a hoof, “Is it something that makes things fall down.” “Eh… Getting warmer.” Another hoof shot up, it was from the nerdy stereotype that goes by the name of Twist. “It’s a force, that what goes up must come down.” “A good answer. But does anybody know why?” Silence. Well, here’s a good place to start. I went over to open the door, “It all has to do with mass.” I said, turning back towards the teacher’s desk, opening a drawer, I found golf balls there. “Which means, that the bigger something is, the greater the gravity.” After taking a golf ball from the drawer, my bird’s claw reached into a mug and pulled out a putter’s club. “Here’s a bit of an experiment,” I said, I concentrated on what I would look like wearing one of those golfer clothes with the eyesore plaid pants. And sure enough, I was wearing it. “Question, if I hit this ball out the door, what do you think will happen?” I asked, putting the ball on the ground and readying myself. Looking up, I saw Applebloom’s hoof sticking out like she was caught on an invisible rope. “Wouldn’t the ball jus’ fly for a while and then falls, hittin’ the ground?” I took a swing, the ball flew right out the door and it did fall somewhere in a garden. “Ow!” A voice shouted in the distance. “Very good uh, it's Applebloom right?” She nodded. Putting my club down, I closed the door and then changed clothes to a bellhop. Complete with the red hat and all. I concentrated for a moment for a switch and a few buttons to appear. I pushed the one on the right and all the windows and the door had first, crisscross bars and then folding doors. Flipping the switch upwards, the room was flooded with elevator music. The Four Seasons in particular. “Of course, that golf ball fell back to earth because the earth is big enough for it, you, me and everything else to stay on the ground. But what about someplace where there’s no gravity what-so-ever?” There was a “ding”, and I pulled the switch to off. Pushing a button, I let the doors and windows open. The class gawked in awe like seeing the greatest movie for the first time. What I didn't expect is that everything in the room started to float. “As all of you might have guessed it, we are now in space,” I said, swimming back over to the disk. “Out here, there is absolutely no gravity at all.” I opened up the drawer and grabbed the first ball that was nearby. Then swimming to get the club, I said. “Well, that’s kinda not true.” “What does that mean?” I think this one was coming from Diamond Tiara, who, like all of them were trying to hold onto their desk for dear life. “Everything, has a center of gravity,” I said, to make this point, I let the golf ball orbit around me. “Even I have a center of gravity.” Taking hold of the club, I asked, “Does anyone happen to have some chewing gum by chance?” I looked around, and floating by was a pack of bubble gum. Taking a stick out, I chewed a little but then took it out and put it on the floor, sticking the ball to it. “Now since there’s no gravity, can anyone guess what might happen if I hit the ball into open space?” “Whoa! Uh, won’t it just go on forever?” Scootaloo asked while being upside down. “Correct!” I said, swinging at the ball, the class and I watched it disappear into nothing. “Now how about a fun one,” I said, pressing the button to close all the doors and windows once again, thus regaining gravity; which caused the entire class to come crashing down and everything with it. I gave them a moment to straighten it a bit before I pulled the switch upwards again. “Now we all know what happens when a golf ball is hit on earth and in zero gravity. But what about on something that has gravity, but less?” There was a ding, turning the switch off and pressing the button to open to- “Are we on the moon?!” Dinky voiced what the whole class was thinking. “Indeed we are.” Taking one of the balls off the floor, I told them: “And since we’re on the moon, a place where although there is gravity, there's a little less of it.” I put the ball on the ground and ready myself. “Now who can tell me what will happen when I hit this on the moon?” All at once, as if being asked who wants the best chocolate cheesecake ever made, every single one of them raised their hooves high like some idiot who set all the fireworks go off at once on the fourth of July. “Um… How about you?” I pointed towards the appropriately named Silver Spoon. “Would the ball jus’ land but very, very far away?” “No, it wouldn't!” Rumble interjected. “It’ll fly into space.” “If he hits it hard enough.” Sweetie Belle pointed out. “Ahem!” the class turned to me, taking a swing at the ball, we all watched it fly into space. “See!” Rumble said. I took a look at the clock on the wall. “Next lesson!” I announced. Pressing a button to close the doors and windows, switching downwards while the Four Seasons plays speedily backward. There was a “Thump!” and a “Ding.” I opened the doors and windows to where we started. “Now then, everyone opens up your history books to page four-hundred-and sixteen.” > 9: A Historical Interview > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let me be brutally honest here, I absolutely loathe the subject of history. I hated it in Elementary school, I hated it in both junior and high school, and I certainly hated it in college. I know history is supposed to be the story of all of us, but in the classes I took, I viewed them as badly written stories. Once you look past the bore of reading and looking at maps, all I found was that the places may be pretty to look at, but just plain boring when it goes into every single microscopic detail. The people they present are boring, pure evil or have no interest whatsoever. And the events are mostly a list upon never-ending lists of dates and places. “Star Swirled the Bearded, born in 39 B.B.N.M. Disappeared in 21 A.B.N.M.” Sweetie Belle read aloud in the usual monotone that is always present in any history class. “He was a unicorn who had invented over 200 spells in his lifetime. He was supposed to be an early mentor to both Princesses Celestia and Luna around the year 18 B.B.N.M. Star Swirl-” “This is not going to work out,” I spoke aloud. She and the others looked up from their books, “Mr. Disc?” “Class, I’m not gonna lie, out of all the lessons I was told to teach you, this is the one I wasn't looking forward to. I have always hated history with a passion. And you know,” I put my copy of the same book down. “There has got to be a way to make this a wee bit interesting than this. Something that would answer the questions at the end of the chapter without reading it, something that…” I trailed off. All of a sudden, inspiration harpooned me in the head. “Could I do that?” I asked myself. Snails raised his hoof, “Do what Mr. D?” I took the piece of chalk from the board. “Give me a moment; I want to try something here.” With the piece of chalk, I drew an outline that bordered around the edges of the board. I confess, even with all the powers of random at my disposal, even I’m not too certain if this’ll work. But might as well give it a try and see what happens though. I knock a few times on the board, and then, the green chalkboard fell away from me like a sideways door. And from the other side of that said door, was what looked like a room, stacked high with books, charts and who-knows-what-else. There was a stone fireplace, and besides that, was a pony. From the looks of it, he was male, gray with white hair and a tail, has a pointed horn on its head holding a cup. When the door banged open, the guy jumped a good ten feet before asking. “Who are you?!” “Who are you?” I asked. “Star Swirl. And what are you doing in my tower?” I turned back around to see every one of them has their eyes as well as their mouths wide open. “Please do close your mouths; it’s a little rude you know,” I told them, turning back to the gray fellow. “Sorry for the intrusion, I’m teaching a class here and we have some questions for you.” “I find that very odd.” He said, approaching the open doorway, “A classroom that just appeared from a wall where there’s nothing on the other side, with a… whatever you are teaching a classroom full of children at two o’clock in the morning wanting to ask some questions from me.” I turned back at the children; Applebloom was looking back and forth from the book to the guy behind the chalkboard. “You look nothing like the picture. You don’t even have a beard.” Swirly raised an eyebrow, “Why should I? I’m only twenty-two after all.” He stuck his head out from the open chalkboard. “Is it me or is it daytime in here?” “Don’t try thinking too much,” I advised him. “It usually gives one a headache.” “Although I would like to know how this is done, I like to add this to my book.” “Eh, good luck on that part, I just kinda made it up.” Starry looked towards the teacher’s desk at the open book. His horn glowed and the book was covered in blue light. It floated over to him, I guess to look at a future portrait of him. “I look ridiculous. I mean the beard’s one thing but that hat? What am I? A court jester? Who made this…? Wait-a-minute! That engraving… CLOVER!!!” He shouted. “So aren't we gonna ask questions from him or what?” Diamond asked. “Look, how about I make you a deal here?” I asked, getting his attention. “I’m sure that you have a lot of questions as much as us, so how about that every time you ask a question, we ask you a question as well. Agree?” He sighed, “Alright, let me get my tea first.” For the next ten minutes, the students got answers to their questions in the book, and the Merlin wannabe got his questions answered. Or at least, as best as we could answer them. “So you're saying that the classroom that all of you are in is the future?” he asked. “Now this is fascinating! Perhaps I should work on a spell that has to do with time. Oh! That would be quite amusing to do.” “Yeah, you work on that,” I said reaching to close the chalkboard back up. “And by-the-way, you should probably try growing a beard. It’ll make you look important.” And with that, the chalkboard was whole once again. Looking at the clock, we were still on time for the next subject. “Alright kids, Ms. Cherliee said that your presentations are due today. So get out your essays and let’s see how you do.” As the class went to get out Cherliee’s homework, I rest back in the chair, I admit I was looking forward to telling the pony Ms. Cherliee a report of today’s class. And besides, this morning is looking up as it is. > 10: Diamond > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I can get used to doing this every day. No matter the age group, this is the kind of teaching I would kill for back at home. Munching on an apple, laid back, hoof and lizard leg on the desk, I let my mind wander about what to do for the next few subjects. I already took a sneak peek for what we’re reading; it’s a short story about a pianist and the sea. The writing was kinda dry if you asked me, but perhaps I can make this interesting. Math is having them practice multiplication, I wonder if I should multiply the students to help them out? And with art- “Y’ALL TAKE THAT BACK!” I think I hit my head on the ceiling when I heard the yelling. Wait, no, I impaled it with these horns. Now since I’m trying to get unstuck, I couldn’t help but listen to what’s going on. “Why should I? It’s true isn’t it?” Hmm… Whose voice is that again? “Scoot’s doesn’t need ta fly ya know!” “Then what’s the point of her being a pegasus when she could barely get off the ground?” “She can’t help it! She was born like that!” “Hmm, you seemed to be very protective of her, as usual.” “And what does that suppose ta mean Diamond?” Oh, Diamond Tiara. And judging from that accent, I’m guessing it might be that Applebloom. Or at least, this place’s version of her. “I think you know perfectly well what I mean.” “But she’s ma friend. So why wouldn’t Ah?” At this point, I was able to pull away from the ceiling and back into the chair below. “Oh really? So I guess it might not even matter then.” “What are ya talkin’ about?” “Oh nothing, I guess it may not make any difference to tell Scootaloo that you’re a filly-fooler then, wouldn’t it?” Filly-fooler? What in the name of Salvador Dali’s drug-induced nightmares is a filly-fooler? I looked at a nearby bookshelf and spotted a dictionary. I gestured it to come to me and the thing walked over. Opening the book up, I noticed that the conversation went quiet for a long time. But by the time I reached under “F”, I heard Applebloom ask: “W-What?” “You heard me, oh, I see, you mean you haven’t told either of them?” “A-Ah don’t know what yer talkin’ about.” “Liar.” Fe… Fi…Fic… “I know all about it. Especially how you described Scootaloo in your diary.” “YOU READ MA DIARY!!” Fif… Fil… “You bet, and it’s quite a read.” Then I found it. When I read the definition, I think my eyes busted into flames. It read: Filly-Fooler: (Fill-E-Fou-ler) (Noun) A “Filly-Fooler” is often used as a derogative or slur word to describe one who is attracted to a member of the same gender, in this case, a female attracted to a female. I sat up, facing the window; Diamond had a smug look on her face while Applebloom’s was filled with horror. Little missy, you just picked the wrong day and teacher to mess with. “DIAMOND TIARA!!!” I roared. “PLEASE COME IN HERE, NOW!!!” After the echoes faded, I slumped in my chair and counted the seconds for that brat to show up. The door opened, I saw her and Applebloom behind her. I got up from where I was sitting and went up to the door. Ms. Tiara went in but I turned my attention to Applebloom, “You wait here, I want to talk to you afterward.” Closing the door, I marched over to my chair. “Mr. Dis-” “Sit,” I commanded her, conjuring up a chair in front of the desk. She did so. Sitting down in my chair, I snapped my lion’s paw for all the windows to slam shut. I don’t want anyone to listen to this. For a moment, I didn’t say anything, I just stared at her. Of course, she was nervous about what is about to happen. “Where, just where do I even begin? Hum?” “Mr. Disc I-” “Don’t talk yet… Allow me to make this perfectly clear here. With the exception of Discord, your students can say whatever you like about me. You can say that I’m a bad teacher. Or that I’m crazy. Or that I’m a little too weird, but! But when it comes to my students bullying another student, for whatever reason, that, Ms. Tiara is something I will not tolerate.” I got up from my seat. “In fact, after spending some time in an asylum, I think I have a pretty good idea what this is really about.” “H-Huh?” “Tell me something, what did that Applebloom does to you that was so bad, that you had to call her Filly-Fooler?” She fidgeted. “Well…Y-You see… She… They…” “I guess you don’t have an answer then?” She said nothing. “I think I know what this really is,” I told her. “I think what this is really about is just so that you can have someone, heck, anyone at all to have a crappier day and a crappier life, then you. And why?” I looked at her right in the eye. “You had a bad day once, didn’t you?” “What?” “No, I know I’m right, that’s the real reason why you’re bothering Applebloom and her friends no doubt. You had a bad day. Let me tell ya something, while I was put into an asylum for over a thousand days, I learned something from the patients around me. Do you know how all of them ended up being there?” She shook her head. “All it took to drive them as mad as I was just one really bad day. That’s all. For even Luna told me herself that all it took to drive the sanest person alive to lunacy is just one bad day. So tell me, what made you what you are? Daddy wasn’t around very much; a friend of yours snubbed you up on a playdate? Something like that I bet.” “Well… What happened to you then?” She asked. I paused. “I… I’m not exactly sure, to be honest. I don’t exactly remember how it happened. Sometimes I remember it this way, sometimes another. But hey, If I’m gonna have a past, might as well be multiple choice!” I chuckled at that little joke. “The point here,” I told her. “Is I went crazy, and when I saw how big of a joke of all existence was, I went as mad as a hatter. What I’m trying to say here is that it doesn’t take much to drive anybody to go cuckoo. In fact, that’s exactly what you’re doing with Applebloom. You’re giving her a bad day so that you can convince yourself that she has it worse than you.” I shook my head. “So what?” She asked. “What are you trying to prove? That I’m just as crazy as you are or something?” “If that’s one way of putting it then no. Unlike you, at least I do something creative to cope while you go out of your way to make someone’s life miserable. Now, what do you have to say for yourself?” I changed into a judge's black robe and a powder white wig for the fun of it. “Um…” She shifted in her seat, eyes looking everywhere except for me. “I’m sorry?” “Diamond Tiara, after from what I’ve seen, I hereby sentence you twice the homework you usually get, and,” I snap my fingers. “For the next twenty-four hours, you will have no façade to hide behind. So that the real you is out in the open for everyone to see.” I took out a hammer from under the desk. “You’re dismissed.” I banged the cheap gavel on the desk. Diamond showed herself out the door, where Applebloom was waiting. Getting out of the judge’s outfit, I called out, “Applebloom, come in, we need to talk.” > (The Talk: According to Applebloom) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ah stepped into the classroom where Discor- Mr. Disc singled me over to the chair in front of Ms. Cherliee’s desk. Don’t know where the chair came from come ta think of it, maybe he made it appear or somethin’. “Before you say anything,” he said. “The answer is ‘no’, you’re not in trouble in the slightest. I just want to talk.” Ah hopped right onto the chair askin’, “Um, about what?” “Tell me something, is this the first time Diamond has ever called you that?” Oh no, please don’t tell me he heard it. “Y-You mean ya heard all of that?” “Not all, but just enough. So is this the first time she’d ever picked on you or… (what were those names?) Uh, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo right?” “Well… not exactly. Her and Silver Spoon as well. She’d been pickin’ on us for a good long while now. Mostly over because the three of us don’t have our cutie marks yet.” “A what?” Ah admit Ah was a little taken aback at first, but then Ah had ta remind myself that this isn’t exactly the Discord we knew. “Well, a cutie mark tells ya what your special talent is, and what makes you stand out from everypony else. It always appears on our flanks when we’d get them.” He tilted his head to the side. Ah sighed, “On our rumps.” Ah clarified. “So why there?” he asked. “I don’t really get it. Why there? Why not on your chest or on your sides or something but I should probably stop now I’m getting sidetracked aren’t I?” Ah nodded. “So this is indeed the very first time that Diamond has ever called you… Filly-Fooler, right?” Oh, sweet tap-dancin’-Luna-givin’-a-show-and-dinner-and-kissing-me-good-night, he heard! Ah, think he saw that Ah was beginin’ to sweat or somethin’, because he said: “Applebloom, calm down, if you want, I’ll make sure that this will stay only between us. I won’t tell if you don’t want me to.” Ah looked at him in the eye and asked, “Really?” He nodded. “If you’re anything like the Applebloom that I know, you would know that I won’t ever betray your trust, or either of your friends for that matter.” “The Applebloom that you know?” He sighed, “Yes. Where I’m from, there is another Applebloom, another Sweetie Belle and yes, another Scootaloo. With the exception of Fluttershy, I owe you, girls, a huge debt for what you’ve done for me.” Ah blinked, “Pardon?” “Yeah. Fluttershy may have helped me get my job back as a teacher. But it was you three, or should I say, a version of you three, gave me a reason to continue my job.” “And why’s that Mr. Disc?” “When I first met you three, you were so eager to listen to me when the three of you were trying to figure out what you’re good at. I remember that you three came to me because I can think up random ideas that none of you had ever tired. Even when some of them were questionably dangerous you took them nonetheless.” This does sound familiar. “Although I do admit, it was pretty stressful trying to find something that you were all good at. From golf car racing to private detectives and everything in-between.” “Y’all know, this sounds just like what our Discord did for us. Ah remember that he tried helpin’ us gettin’ our cutie marks one time. He’d seemed to be gettin’ upset each time we failed at somethin’. But in the end, we told him that we really do appreciate that he’s workin’ hard to help us. That havin’ no cutie marks makes us feel like we’re not like anyone else. Like-” “Like no one can really understand us?” Ah looked up, I saw Mr. D had tears in his eyes. “You alright?” He nodded, whippin’ away those tears from his eyes. “Yes. It’s just that… On that day, for the first time since who-knows-when, I truly felt accepted somewhere. That you three looked at me beyond seeing me like a madman and saw that I just wanted to broaden your minds to ideas that have never been thought up before. You and your friends were willing to try new things, to discover new ideas that hardly anyone was interested in. Even when those ideas were coming from a weird little man like me.” Ah blinked, “Wow, never saw it like that befor’.” “The point here I’m trying to make here Applebloom is that I stood up for you because I know exactly what it’s like being different from most, especially getting picked on because of that.” Ah smiled, “Thanks Mr. D, you really are a good friend.” We stood there in silence for a moment when a question popped in mah head. “Say, mind if I ask ya somethin’?” “Go ahead.” “You said that you prefer to call yourself Mr. Disc right? Usually, that would mean that usin’ mister would mean sayin’ your last name right?” He nodded, “So what’s your first name?” “Oh…” He paused for a moment. Lookin’ away, he added: “I don’t know if I should say. I don’t really go by my first name, to be honest. It doesn’t really fit me very well.” “But doesn’t that get confusin’ sometimes? Especially when it comes to family-” “What family?” Disc snapped back to me, “I’m… I’m so sorry about that.” “No. You don’t have ta say you’re sorry ta me. Truth be told, I lost some of mah family as well.” “Oh Applebloom, forgive me, I didn’t mean-” “Nah, your all fine. Ah was only a baby when mine Ma and Pa passed away. But Ah guess it’s okay though, Ah still got ma Granny. As well as ma big brother and sister too… Mr. D, do you remember your family?” Mr. Disc was awfully quiet for a good long while. But he’d responded eventually. “Just my mother Applebloom. To be honest, remembering her is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together when the pieces are missing. And the sad thing is, I don’t know what happened to her. I don’t even know where she is.” Ouch. Y’all know, in ma whole life, Ah was always taught that family was everythin’. Ah couldn’t imagine life without Granny Smith, or Big Mac and even ma sister even. But not havin’ a family at all… Ah wouldn’t even wish that on anypony, even if it’s Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Ah got up from the chair and hopped on the desk so Ah could hug him. He’d seemed to be almost shocked by it, but he’d welcomed it. Ah know that because he’d hugged me back. As Ah was steppin’ out the door, plainin’ to spend the rest of rescues with ma friends when Mr. Disc said, “Julius.” Ah turned around, “Wha?” “You asked me what my first name was. Well, my official name is Julius Disc. Just so you know. And Applebloom, thanks for talking with me.” “No problem Mr. D.” And with that, Ah stepped out of the door. > 11: Asleep in Class > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why am I sleepy? I shouldn’t be feeling this sleepy. I had a good night’s rest, had a good breakfast from whatever's edible I could find. I got the class into space and talked to a historical figure, punished a brat, reinsured a friend, so why am I sleepy? Especially when the class is reading a story here? No, stay awake, everyone knows it’s not good for the teacher in another universe to fall asleep in front of his class. Don’t you dare close your eyes. Don’t you- SLAM! I jolted upright. “Tisk tisk. Falling asleep during class, how rude.” It was him. It was the other me. He was in a black graduate’s gown complete with the hat. In his hands was a ruler and behind him was a chalkboard. I looked around me, I was no longer in the schoolhouse but I was confined to a tiny desk in the middle of Nowhere and Lostville. “Where am I?” I asked. “Weren’t you paying attention? You are in Chaos 101. And we’re learning the difference between sanity and the freedom of creativity.” Oh great, just what I need, a hallucination during class. I need to get my pills. The other me turned his back to face the chalkboard. “So,” he said. “We’ve covered that the key to great creativity is a good dose of insanity.” I tried wiggling out of the desk to get ahold of my meds with no luck. “What do you want?” “Please raise your hand when giving a question or a comment please.” He said, of course, both of my wrists are caught in this tiny desk. “You know I can’t do that!” I protested. He turned around with a cross look on my face. “Are you going to let me teach you or are do you want me to give you detention?” “I’m Fifty-six!” “And your point being?” I took a deep breath, “Look, why am I here really?” “Ah good,” the other me said with a wicked grin. “You’re finally asking the right questions. You see, dear other me from a magicless universe, I’m actually worried about you.” “Define ‘worried’.” “Alright, it’s all about those sanity pills your taking that’s gotten me concerned about you.” “Why would you be concerned about me?” “Even in a different universe, you sir, are still me.” He snapped his claw hand and now we’re reenacting the mad tea party scene from “Alice in Wonderland”. “Judging from yesterday,” he said picking up a cup of tea. “There is a difference between us, I have given into the madness a very long time ago, but you, on the other hand, are still fighting it.” “And I have a good reason. Madness was the very thing that had gotten me into deep trouble the last time.” “Same with me, but you don’t see me taking any of those pills. Besides, do you really take all those pills in a single day?” “Well… no.” “Ah! Why?” I reached into my pocket to grab out the bottle. “While it does help, if I take all of them, I’m not exactly me.” “And that’s why I’m going to help you with that.” He grinned, the other me snapped his lion’s paw, but nothing seemed to happen. “What did you do?” “Look down.” I looked, but to my horror, all the pills in the bottle are gone! “What did you do?!” I demanded. “Don’t go tying your tail into a square knot. Your pills are perfectly safe. But I want to talk to you about something.” “I need those pills!” “Listen first, I have been keeping an eye on your teaching skills and I must say I’m quite impressed. But I think that without taking another of those pills, you could do so much better.” “What are ya talking about?” “Think about it, that zero gravity thing and talking to old crusty was good, but imagine what ideas you’ll be able to come up with if you withhold another few hours from sanity.” “But can I have them back?” “How about I make a deal with you?” He put down his cup, “If you can go on for, say, twelve hours just fine, I’ll give the pills back to you.” “Do I have any choice in the matter?” “Of course not.” I sighed in defeat. “Fine.” “Excellent! Now then, I believe you need to get back to class.” And just like that, I woke up. “Huh?” “Mr. D.” I found that the voice was coming from Rumble. “You just fell asleep on us.” “Oh, sorry about that, didn't know what come over me.” Even in my daze, I reached down in my pocket to grab the bottle. “Everything’s fine, really.” I took it out and give it a shake. There was no sound. “Just… fine.” > 12: The Hospital > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, just keep calm. Nothing bad has happened so far. “So Twist, six times two.” “Twelve.” I came up with a fun little game with my students. I first asked each and every one of them what their favorite candy was, and since we’re reviewing multiplication, I thought it would be fun for them that I made a game out of it. The rules were simple. Everyone starts out with a single piece of candy. I would go around asking them a multiplication question using the amount of candy they have. If I asked them what eight times five was that if guessed right, they get that amount of candy, if wrong, I don’t give them any. With a snap of my figures, twelve pieces of spearmint truffles drop onto Twit’s desk. “Thanks, Mr. D.” By now, math was almost over, just another five minutes. Looking around, these kids are now more spoiled on candy then they might have had on Halloween. In a way, it makes me kinda jealous. “Snails, four times si-” “Julius.” I turned around to the voice in alarm. Huh, funny, for a moment there, I thought- “Mr. Disc?” I turned back to Snails. “What was the question?” “Four times six, what is it?” “Uh… Is it twenty-” “Julius Disc.” The voice was a little louder this time. I quickly turned, once again, seeing nobody except the students. “Mr. Disc, are you okay?” I turned back, “What?” “Are you okay Mr. Disc, I said the answer is twenty-three.” “No, it’s twenty-four. But that was a close guess.” I moved onto the next student. Just be calm Disc. You’re not really hearing anything, especially his voice. He’s not here. It’s not real. Just continue with the game. “So Scootaloo, what’s three-” “Julius, who are you talking to?” I looked up and gasped in shock. “D-Doctor Mindweave!” “Yes Julius, it’s me.” No, that white-coated white witch-doctor can’t be here! He’s not even a pony like everyone else here! He’s just like how I remembered. “No. No, no no you’re not here.” “Who’s Doctor Mindweave?” Scootaloo asked. “Mr. D? You alright?” Rumble chimed in. Mindweave walked right through Scootaloo’s desk. And none of them seemed to notice. No, there’s no way he’s here. “Mr. Disc,” he said stepping forward towards me. “I believe you’re having a delusion right now. You’re still in the hospital. You’ve been here this whole time.” “No. Celestia got me out. I saw her sign the papers and everything, she already let me go.” “Disc, there’s nopony there,” Applebloom said. “Please stay calm,” Dr. Mindweave took another step forward. “I can assure that there is no place as Equestria. There are no talking ponies. And I can assure you that you’re still in the hospital. Now please calm yourself.” “No, you’re not real. I’m having a hallucination alright, and you are the one who isn’t real here.” “Now Mr. Disc, how about we escort you to get your treatment?” I felt my arms getting pulled around me, I looked down. “No! No! No! NO!” The straightjacket! How did it get there? “Mr. Disc, what’s going on?” Dinky asked in fear. “And why are you wearing a straightjacket?” “Mr. D, you’re starting to scare us.” Sweetie Belle squeaked. No, this can’t be happening! I can’t be back at the hospital! Wait. I’m in a world where I have superpowers. I can get out of this. I try focusing on that the straightjacket is made out of taffy and pulled it apart. “Julius, I don’t want to do this, but if you keep doing this, I will have to call security.” The white witch-doctor warned. I heard banging coming from behind, I turned to find the back wall of the schoolhouse was gone, and there was the green recreation room with barred windows and wandering patients. The banging was coming from the other side of the room where a few of those security guys in white were charging in. “NO!” I screamed. I charged for the door to get out of the classroom. I think I might have broken it, but I’m not sure. On the other side of the busted door, I saw that sickly green hallway of the hospital. I’m not supposed to be here! I need to get out! The first thing I did was run. I ran past the nurses and ran from the increased security following behind me. But even in my fear, I did not forget that I can make things happen. Along the way, I turned the floor into soap. Create a barricade with all the spare wheelchairs. And even made a brick wall appear. But it seemed nothing I did could make them slow down! They just either didn’t notice the things I set up or went right through them! Then the hallways became more maze-like with all the rooms that I keep running into. To make things even more confusing, some of the rooms had those ponies in there. Each one I ran into seemed not to notice all the horrors that were being done to them. I saw two ponies were cutting open another pony from her back while the pony getting cut had nothing but bliss on her face. As if she was getting a massage or something. Without thinking, I spotted some potted plants and had them grow tentacles to grab them so that they would hurt the pony any further. In another room, I saw a nurse with dark blue and pink hair force feeding one of those ponies into eating several pills at a time so I made a concrete wall appear between the two of them. And in one room, I saw a pony that has cross eyes being blissfully unaware that she was being given by a doctor a muffin with nails in them, so I had that muffin fly into the doctor’s face. While being chased, these rooms got worse and worse and worse. I tried in my path to help them from any further pain I would like gluing a doctor’s hands together or trapping a group of nurses behind bars of peppermint or saving a patient by turning them into a living diamond. But at the end of the hospital, I ran into the last person I thought I would see. Principal Celestia. “Julius! Stop!” She yelled. At this point, I didn’t care if this was a hallucination or not. I just wanted this nightmare to stop. “Celestia? Celestia, is that you?” I went over to her. She seemed to be confused for some reason. “Julius, stop right there!” Dr. Mindweave came running up to us. “Celestia, please, take me away from here.” I pleaded to here. “Please, I’ll take my pills just please get me out of this nightmare.” “Disc, everything is gonna be alright.” She says. “Cel, I don’t belong here. Please just take me away.” By now, I had tears in my eyes. “Every day in this hospital has been a nightmare I can’t wake up from. I don’t wanna be here anymore! Please take me home, I didn’t mean for things to get out of hand.” By now, I was crying. “I just ran out of my meds that day. I thought you threaten me that if I and my students didn’t paint the whole school, I would get fired. Please, Celestia. I’m sorry. I just can’t control my hallucinations. I tried, really I did, but I can’t. I just can’t. Please take me away from here.” Celestia hugged me. “There there, everythin’ will be fine. Ah promise. Ah ain’t mad at ya. Just please, calm down Disc. Calm down.” I knelt to the ground and wept. > (Overseeing the Damage: According to Princess Celestia) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was flying into Ponyville with my Pegasi guards to give this other Discord the good news. That Twilight has indeed fixed the mirror, so he can now be able to go back home. But as we flew in, I couldn’t help but notice a line of destruction that starts from the schoolhouse leading into town. There were roads of soap, boulders that blocked the road and even sharpen candy canes that lay in their way. We all suspected the worst. As it turns out, the local spa was nearly overgrown with plant-like tentacles, a sweet shop that belongs to Bon-Bon had a solid gray wall that had trapped the owner of that said shop. All along the trail of mischief, I found that a pony’s forehooves were glued together, a group of mares was trapped in a cage entirely made out of peppermint sticks, and I’ve run into a pony who seemed to be made out of diamond but thankfully was alive. My guards and I followed the trail of chaos until we found who is at the end of the trail. It was Mr. Disc alright with the golden band still attached to his tail. But what none of us had expected was that he was crying his eyes out, and Applejack’s little sister, Applebloom was there trying to comfort him. I approached them, “Mr. Disc, are you quite alright?” I asked. He turned to me in surprise. “Both of you are here!” he said in total surprise. “Disc, what happened here? Why are you crying?” “I think he’s been seein’ things that aren’t there.” Applebloom said, “He was just fine when he was teachin’ us, and then suddenly this happened.” She waves her hoof over towards the line of destruction. And wait, what did she mean by “teaching”? “He took them,” Disc whispered. “Come again?” Applebloom asked. “The other me, he thought that I would do better without my pills. He thought I would be able to control the delusions.” Discord, there was no question about it. (Oh how could you?) I lit up my horn to summon him here. And sure enough, he did. “So, Princess, what will it-” “How could you be so cruel?” He blinked, “Come again?” “I hope you had a good reason in taking your counterpart’s medicine away.” “Oh that. You see I… What happened here?” He pointed to the destruction. “This is what happened when you took his medicine away. He had a hallucination that he couldn’t control, so this happened.” “But… I thought he would be able to…” “Discord, did you even so much as given a second thought as to what might happen? Did you so much as planned it out?” “Plan? Celestia, you know me, I don’t really plan things, I just do ‘em.” I think one of my eyes twitched. “Discord, that is probably one of the most foolish things that I’ve ever heard coming from you. Now would you please give your counterpart his medicine this instant?” “Do I have to?” “Discord, enough is enough, look at him.” He did, and Applebloom as well. “Discord, please,” she pleaded. After a moment, he gave a defeated sigh, “Oh, alright.” He snapped his figures, in which a small silk bag appeared. After Disc had taken a few of those pills greedily, I turned back to Discord saying, “You do know that I need to give you a punishment?” “What?! Why?! I gave him his medicine back didn’t I?” “Discord, your action was cruel, thoughtless and reeks of stupidity. You have broken your second self both psychology and emotionally. You have caused him to put himself and Ponyville in danger. Which is why that-” “I forgive you,” I was interrupted by Discord’s counterpart. Discord, Applebloom and I turned to him in total surprise. “I beg your pardon?” I asked. “I said,” he sat up, looking at Discord in the eye. “I forgive you. While I am mad at you, no, furious at you for doing this to me. Look, maybe between the two of us that I’m the one who's completely lost his head but, I still forgive you. Even though it may take me a while to accept this.” I took a deep breath, “As noble as that may be, you Discord still have to be punished for your stupidity. So, as a start,” I pointed towards the trail of destruction. “You can clean up everything that your counterpart has left behind.” He was about to snap his claw when I added: “Without using any magic.” “What?! Come on! That will take forever!” He whined. “You’re immortal, you always got time. I’ll have you placed under guards’ supervision. So if you so much as conjure up some for your convenience, I will be notified.” He grunted but started to make his way towards his work. I turned back to the other Discord. “I have come here to bring you some very good news.” “And what’s that?” “Twilight has fixed the mirror earlier than expected, which means, you can go back to your own world.” “So, he’s gonna go back now?” Applebloom seemed deviated when she asked that. “What is wrong, my little pony?” “Well, since school still ain’t out yet, can he still stay ta finish it?” “School?” “I’m substituting for Ms. Cherliee mam.” Mr. Disc said, “I volunteered because it gave me something to do while Twilight was away.” I raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know-” “Please?” Applebloom asked, giving me her best puppy eyes that would give even the most stern of my personal bodyguards a heart attack. “Fine, on the condition that I have a guard supervise to look over.” Applebloom leaped for joy. “Thank ya, your highness.” I smiled. “But after school, it’s back to the Empire with him.” > 13: Back Through the Looking Glass > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Oh, and for art, I thought it would be nice if the students could interact with their drawings, at least, temporarily of course,” I told the dumbstruck Cherliee about my report on today’s class. I told the guard that before I go, I should go to her to fill her in on what has happened today in her schoolhouse; and the fact that I’ll have to take my leave since I’ll be going home. “That’s… that’s quite a days’ work right there.” She said before she sniffed. “So how were the students?” “Well, they were uncertain at first, but after they got to know me they were quite good to work with. They were interested in what I had to say, and these superpowers made learning quite entertaining to them.” “So did,” she sniffed for a moment, “did you run into any trouble with my students? Other than you’re um, (sniff) breakdown?” “I have. I had to discipline Diamond after I caught her bullying Applebloom. Applebloom is alright now, but for Diamond, however, I gave her extra homework and a… let’s say, a little spell on her so to make things fair.” “A spell? Is it serious?” “No, it will wear off until tomorrow, as long as she doesn’t speak to anyone during that time, she ought to be fine.” Even with a suspicious look and a sniff, she replied. “I’ll just take your word for it for now. So you’re really leaving?” I nodded, “I am. And I’m sorry I have to leave on such short notice.” “No,” she sniffed once more. “It’s understandable. You are going home after all. And don’t worry about me; I can still look for another substitute.” She blew her nose in a wad of tissues. “But I do appreciate for taking your time in teaching my foals for the day.” “You’re quite welcome, Ms. Cherliee.” _*_ A few hours later with the sun beginning to set, I was back in the Crystal Palace with Celestia, Cadence, and Twilight. Back in the room where all of this had begun. “Once again, I’m terribly sorry about what our Discord has done,” Celestia said for the four-hundredth time. I know that’s she’s sorry for letting things getting completely out of hand, but I told her for the four-hundredth time that it’s not her fault. “Just out of curiosity,” Cadence said getting my attention. “When you first came here, you said that I’m a ‘Principle’ in your world. May I ask a principle of what exactly?” “Oh, with the Cadence I know, she’s the principle of a new elementary school that’s just reopened up. Uh, Crystal Elementary was it? Something like that. Anyway, I’m not exactly sure how good your other you is since I just try to pay attention to my job.” She nodded. Twilight motioned her head towards the mirror. “I’ve got the portal open again so you should pass through with no problem.” I looked at the mirror, I didn’t see anything different about it, to me, and it still looked like a mirror. That was until I put my lion’s paw to the glass, and it looked like it just slipped right though! “What the…” I craned my neck to the other side of the mirror, I put the claw through it but I didn’t see it come out from the other side. “Okay, I have to admit,” I said, taking my bird claw out. “That is actually kinda cool.” Lewis Carroll, maybe you were onto something after all! “So,” my royal boss said. “I believe this is goodbye on our part.” “Eh, I suppose so. Before I go, I want to say two- no, three things here. First, is the other me gonna follow me home?” “I already made precautions to make sure that doesn’t ever happen,” Twilight said with a smug grin. “Second, I want to thank you for taking care of me while I was in a place I wasn’t quite familiar with. And three,” I pointed to Twilight. “You know Applebloom’s sister, do you? Apple…” “Jack.” “Thank you. Can you do me a favor? Keep an eye on Applebloom, just check if she’s okay now and then? Alright?” Twilight nodded. “Well, once again, thank you all.” And before I stepped through the looking glass, I gave a chuckle before saying: “And, in case you don’t see me again, good afternoon, good evening and goodnight.” And with that, I stepped through the mirror and fell back into the kaleidoscope. _*_ I came tumbling out of there like a bowling ball that missed all the pins. Once again, there was the dizziness that spins everything like I just got off a mad merry-go-round. But once things got into focus, I saw that I was back at the school. I looked down, “Hello, normal hands. Hello, normal legs. Hello, clothes…” I felt the rest of my head, “And hello, normal face.” Standing up, I took noticed what time it was, the sun was beginning to set and there are still a few cars around, my boss’s car and a police call being among them. I had a good idea where my boss might be, so I went up to her office, knocked and opened the door singing: “Celie, I’m home!” There leaning against her desk with an officer nearby was Celestia, my human, boring haired boss. And the very first thing she did was to give me a good smack in the face. “Ow.” “Julius Author Disc, where on this planet have you been?!” “Ouch.” “You’ve been gone for days and there’s a student in the Police Station, so where have you been this whole time?” Let’s see… One of my students had pushed me into a portal into an alternative universe where you are a horse with a horn and wings that you are the ruler over a kingdom of ponies, ran into myself, and had superpowers that turn all reality upside down. “I had one of my episodes and I ended up in the countryside. Hitchhiked the way back and now I’m here.” Sure it was a lie but at least it was believable. My boss facepalmed, “Disc, did you take your medicine then?” “I thought I had...” “Just… You know what, never mind, just make sure you come back to work tomorrow.” “Yes, Ms. Boss.” I saluted the officer, “Sorry about the search party.” “At least you’re here, now we can call it off.” “Have a good evening.” And with that, I made my way out of the office. As I strolled down the hallways, I couldn’t help but reflect on the last few days. Sure, now I have more ideas for paintings to last me a good few months now. And that I’ve learned something from my other self, that being that I can be so dense at times. I spotted the room number 113, my classroom, I took out the key out of my pocket to see what happened to it. I opened it up and the room is disappointingly clean. Not another drop of paint on the floor since I’ve left. As I sat down in my chair at my desk, my thoughts started to wonder, should I tell my students about my “hallucination” about being in a world of colorful ponies? What do I do now knowing Applebloom’s secret? And what do I do now that I don’t… I looked down at my right hand, ready to snap. “What if…” I muttered aloud. I looked around to check to see that I was alone. Perhaps there’s only one way to find out. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and thought, ‘Well, here goes… something.’ Snap. > 14: After Class Small Talk (A Bonus Chapter) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “…. And then I got slapped by your principal for disappearing on short notice. Any questions?” I told my last class of the day. Like the others, they couldn't really believe what they were hearing from me. But since there was some free time near the end of each class because the assignments were so short, I decided to tell them where I “disappeared” to for the past several days. The reactions varied from class to class. Some found my story entertaining while others weren't that surprised since they already know my reputation. Yet out of all the students, the one I paid close attention was Fluttershy. It wasn't that she was surprised or weirded out or even fascinated by my story; rather, she didn't make a reaction at all. One of the students raised her hand, “So… Principal Celestia was a horse thing and the rest of us were ponies?” “Yep.” “Does that happen very often?” I shook my head, “No, that’s actually the very first time that’s ever happened to me.” “Are you going to draw it all out?” another student asked. “After what I’ve just seen, it’s a guarantee.” Right then, the school bell rang for the end of school. “Have a good day and be sure to think about what your next upcoming project is going to be,” I told them as they all packed up and at a group at a time left the classroom. All that is, except for Fluttershy. “Ms. Shy? Is everything alright?” I asked her. “Is… Is it really true?” This caught me off guard. “I-I mean, you being in Equestria and all that.” “My dear, it was just a delusion.” “Um, not that I don’t doubt your story, but this time… I think you just lied to me.” “Pardon? Ha, Fluttershy, it was just a-” “No. No, it wasn't.” I think I blinked a few times. “I… What are you talking about? You can’t say for a moment that you think that what just happened to me actually happened. Right?” “Mr. Disc, it’s okay, we both know it was real. Twilight told us.” “Come again?” “Um… I-If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand. Anyway, I’ll see you next week Mr. Disc.” Stunned, I couldn't help but watch her take her bag and made her way out the door. She couldn't possibly have known, right? A yip followed by a crash was heard coming from outside of my door. I turned to find that a couple of students have just tripped Fluttershy. “Opus, careful there, Klutzershy!” One of them said before walking away laughing. I guess it was a flash of anger that made me snap my fingers. As soon as my right hand snapped, I heard those bullies yell and spontaneously fall over. I got up from my seat and leaned through the doorway, and sure enough, that part of the hallway’s floor was covered in ice. Me and Shy watched them try to get up, slipping along the way. Although I admit, I wish I could have played the blue Danube waltz as they fall repetitively on the floor. Fluttershy looked up in surprise; I smiled, putting a finger over my mouth. “Just between us?” I asked. “Um… Okay. Thank you.” “You’re welcome, Fluttershy.” About a week later... > (In case you haven't known about the other sequels...) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is for those who aren't in the know: This story has three other sequels that either you didn't know about or wonder if there were any more stories set in this universe. This includes: The Curiosity of Mr. Disc; Interviewing Mr. Disc; and Dating Mr. Disc. If you already have these in your libraries, then please ignore this, this is for the rest of us who aren't in the know.