What Once Was Wrong Is Now Left, Right?

To Bring About Chaos

I knew something strange was going to go on today. For once, when I woke up, I got out of bed and started my day as normal as anypony else’s. Nothing tripping me up out of bed, no rudely timed alarms, not even a crashing visitor. Nothing in the slightest stopped me from doing my morning routine. It got me so much on edge I decided to go out and actually figure out what the heck was going on. While it may have been something I was not fond of, it was still a daily routine that kept me at least intrigued or helped move along the day. To suddenly not have it felt like something was slightly off.

Nevertheless, due to how many times I had to not teach a class because of one problem or another affecting Ponyville, I, alongside Cheerilee, had to do a class field trip all the way to Canterlot. The reason was for a visit to the Canterlot Sculpture Garden, among other attractions in Canterlot, since the school also needed a bit of a touch-up.

The second red flag of the day came in the form of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, also known as Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle being the sister to Rares, Apple Bloom to AJ, and Scootaloo… taking on after Dash. In any event, what was one of the stranger occasions was their near constant sniping and bickering at one another over the most minute of things. Glares would often be traded as well, making me both want to step in, but not since they weren’t technically fighting, even if a few bumps against one another seemed more on purpose than accidental.

Soon enough, all of us were at the gardens, observing the statues. Cheerilee pointed out a few interesting examples, like the one with Friendship and Victory. But the CMC, as they’re often known as, were still being a bit more than bitter towards one another, making snide comments and snarky remarks. Then it came to the highlight of the tour itself.

“Now this, is a really interesting statue.” Cheerilee pointed a hoof up at the bizarre chimera that looked like he was ready to start singing a tune. “What do you notice about it?”

“It’s got an eagle claw!” Apple Bloom called out immediately.

“And a lion paw!” Scootaloo chimed in quickly after Apple Bloom.

“And a snake tail!” Sweetie Belle finished rapidly.

“While that is correct… there’s a little more to it than that.” I stepped in, paraphrasing what I read in the guide to this garden. “This creature is called a draconequus. He has the head of a pony, but other than that, he has a body made up of a lot of other creatures. Now, what do you suppose that represents?”

“Confusion!” Apple Bloom spoke up before being pushed aside by Sweetie Belle for spotlight.

“Evil!” Sweetie Belle answered quick-fire before meeting the same fate as Apple Bloom by Scootaloo.

“Chaos!” Scootaloo announced boldly.

Soon enough, the three of them started to bicker hard over the meaning, which then erupted into a full on three way brawl between the three. I quickly came over and forcibly separated the three fillies before any major damage could be done. As it was, they just had some scuffle marks.

“Actually… in a way, you three are all right.” Cheerilee came up to them, making them look up at her in confusion, which lead to further explaining. “This statue represents Discord, which means, a lack of harmony between ponies. In fact, since you three demonstrated Discord so well, that you’re each going to write me an essay explaining it.”

Normally I would feel bad about something like this, but in this case, I was with Cheerilee all the way on this. Plus, it was pretty fitting, even if the class had a small laugh at their expense. Yet even as we moved on, I could still hear the three bickering about what Discord meant, which meant they weren’t listening to a word Cheerilee had said. So much so that I could only hear the faint noise of stone cracking. But I chalked it up to one of the statues getting a small fracture.

The field trip was cut rather short though, was two of Celestia’s guards came galloping towards our group, only stopping once they reached me. “Medley Royalwind, the Princess… er, I mean, both Princess request your presence at the castle, effective immediately.”

I was rather confused by this, but gave a small nod as I headed over as quick as I could. As I flew over, I could start to see the weather looking awfully strange. Who ever could say they saw what looked like cotton candy clouds pouring brown rain, which assuming there was a theme at all I’d have to say chocolate of some kind, down. Seeing that only hastened my flight to a time that would make Dash a little proud of me.

“Ah, there you are, Medley. You are the first to arrive, but we thought it best if we collected you first. We had heard of your travels to Canterlot today, and have sent word to Twilight Sparkle.” Luna spoke as I tried to recover from my speed burst.

“Thank you… Princess Luna… I’ll just wait for them…” I panted, laying next to a nice, cold column to cool off a bit.

It wasn’t that long of a wait before Twily and everyone else came in through the door. I immediately joined them, giving Twily a quick, happy nuzzle before looking up at both Princesses.

“Princesses! We came as fast as we could!” Twily announced as we all stood before them.

“Thank you Twilight. Thank you all.” Princess Celestia responded.

“Is this about the weather, and the animals’ weird behavior? What’s happening out there? Why isn’t my magic working??” Twily all but demanded.

There would’ve been more questions, but Luna cut off Twily before it would be a half an hour after all the questions were asked. “Follow us.”

With no other viable alternative, the Princesses led us through a hallway, and took turns explaining the situation. At least, I think that’s what they were doing.

“We have called you all here for a matter of grave importance. It seems an old foe of ours, someone thought to have been defeated long ago, has returned.” Celestia started out.

“His name… is Discord.” Luna spoke with such an ominous tone, that it made Shy bolt right into the middle of our group, while Luna pressed on. “Discord is the mischievous spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Before we stood up to him, he ruled all of Equestria in an eternal state of unrest, and unhappiness.”

“Luna and I saw how miserable life was, not only for the earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns of our lands, but for everyone else on this continent as well. It was fortunate that we had discovered the Elements of Harmony. Those had allowed us to combine our powers and stand up against him, once and for all, turning him into stone.” Celestia remarked.

“Alright Princesses!” Dash cheered, clearly loving this story a ton.

“We thought the spell we had cast would keep him contained forever. That is why we also put him in the Canterlot Statue Garden, to make sure nopony would try and find him. But since my sister and I are no longer connected to the Elements, especially since a new one has been discovered, the spell has been broken.” Luna sadly spoke.

“No longer connected?” Twily queried.

“This, is Canterlot Tower. The Elements are kept inside here since all 7 of you recovered them. We need you to wield the Elements of Harmony once again, and stop Discord! Before he plunges Equestria into eternal chaos!” Celestia gave our mission.

“No offense, Princesses… but why us? You both have defeated him before with ease, and now you have another alicorn to call on for aid. Or is there something we’re missing here?” I responded.

“Hey, lookie here! We’re famous!” Pinkie called out, making us all look over at the stained glass window.

“You 7 have shown the full potential of the Elements, by harnessing the Magic of your Friendship, to beat a mighty foe.” Celestia nodded to the window, which looked like all 7 of us defeating Nightmare Moon.

“Although Celestia and I once wielded the Elements, it is you who now control their power.” Luna looked to all 7 of us. “And it is you who must defeat Discord!”

We all took a moment to look at one another. Another dangerous mission involving all 7 of us, not to mention putting ourselves in grave and maddening danger. Then again, we had done it once before, and that was when we all started to become a close group of friends. Now that we knew each other a lot more, we felt like we could take it on. Which was why we had Twily give the final verdict to the Princesses.

“Princess Celestia… Princess Luna…” Twily began, looking determined. “You can count on us!”

Before the Princess could even begin to respond, Pinkie butted in. “Wait a second! Eternal chaos, comes with chocolate rain, you gals. Chocolate. Rain!”

Twily rolled her eyes a little with a small smile as she looked up at both Princesses. “Ignore her, Princesses. We’d be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again.”

Both Princesses gave a small nod before turning to the door, which looked like it had two holes. The reason became clear, as both of them inserted their horns at the same time, turning them to make the door open up. I have to say, that was smart planning, so now someone would either have to kidnap two princesses, which was pretty hard to do. They couldn’t even somehow steal the horns themselves, since it required a short burst of a blue magic that looked unfamiliar to me.

After a slightly dramatic opening of the door, which to be fair was pretty cool, we could all see the box that held our Elements inside them. But when Celestia levitated the box out and opened them, we were all somewhat horrified, giving a collective gasp. Celestia quickly dropped the box, making her and Luna rear back a bit in horror.

Pinkie was the first… and probably only pony to recover first. “Welp, if anybody needs me, I’ll be outside in the chocolate rain puddles. With a GIANT swizzle straw!”

Once Pinkie had gone back, that was about the time we all started to move and talk again, which was probably a long while. Twily was the first to speak up as we gathered around the now empty box slightly.

“The Elements! They’re gone!” Twily panicked a little as I tried to help soothe her, even while I was freaking out a ton myself.

“Sister, we had put every defensive enchantment we could into this, correct?” Luna quickly asked Celestia, who was pacing nervously.

“We did! And we even had the door specifically made so that this sort of scenario wouldn’t happen! This just doesn’t make sense.” Celestia rambled back.

Now we could hear a jolly chuckle, as though someone played a pretty good prank on us. It was kinda hard to tell who was doing it, but it was definitely a male voice, if the quick looks of confusion my way were anything to go by. When the voice actually talked though, we all stood frozen for a brief moment. It sounded a lot like a conniving trickster, one who would have his fun no matter what happened, and would even make you believe for a short while that it would be fun for you as well.

“Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?” The voice echoed throughout the hallway.

“Discord!” Both Princesses recognized the voice immediately, now giving the rest of us a name to go with… well, for now a voice. “Show yourself!”

Discord gave a small laugh, his voice finally concentrated on one area. It looked like it was coming from the window itself, a small flash animating the painted Discord. And if painted Discord was anything to go by, along with the statue I saw not a couple hours earlier, then this would be the very, very bad kind of interesting.

“It seems you both missed me so very much. Well, I missed you both as well. It gets so lonely being trapped in stone. But you wouldn’t know about that, would you?” Discord snarked as he flew and sat on a different painting. “Because I don’t turn ponies into stone.”

“Enough!” Celestia looked royally ticked off, no pun intended.

“What has thine self done with the Elements of Harmony?” Luna demanded, starting to slip back into an older form of speech.

“Oh, I just borrowed them for a teensy little while.” Discord casually mentioned, snapping his talons to make the Elements of Harmony on the glass disappear.

“You’ll never get away with this, Discord!” Celestia challenged.

“Oh, I had forgotten how grim you could be, Celestia. All that Order is truly making you dull. Overall, it’s really quite… boring.” Discord shivered a bit as though it was a dirty word.

“Hey! No pony insults the princesses!” Dash yelled as she flew right at Discord.

Right before impact, Discord poofed himself onto another painting, leaving Dash to crash right into the window. It was both a good thing and a bad thing that the glass was too thick for her to break without meaning to. As it was, she slid down the window like a bug splattering a windshield. Wow… I actually used a human simile there. But hey, it was kinda accurate.

“Oh! You must be Rainbow Dash! Famed for her loyalty, also known as the Element you represent.” Discord appeared right in front of Dash in the window after she backed up a bit.

“That’s right! I’ll always be loyal to the Princesses!” Dash confirmed as she glared at him.

“We’ll see about that.” Discord ominously stated as he appeared… right behind me. “And look what we have here. I know I saw you earlier today with those sickeningly sweet school fillies. Medley Royalwind, known as a great musician and as an extra Element of Understanding.”

“Indeed, Discord. I didn’t realize you had such big ears to hear all that.” I grinned at him.

“Oh I wouldn’t try that with me, showman.” Discord grinned before looking over at the next pony on his apparent list.

“I can’t believe we’re wasting our time talking with a tacky window.” Rarity scoffed.

“The beautiful Rarity, representing the Element of Generosity, if I recall right.” Discord looked down at Rarity smugly as AJ came over.

“Yeah, yeah, so ya know who we are. Big deal.” AJ gave him a cross look.

“Oh, I know more much more than that, Honest Applejack.” Discord grew in the window to completely cover it up with himself.

“You seem to know our strengths too.” Twily deduced as she looked up at Discord with a piercing look.

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle.” Discord sounded like he was praising a little foal. “And yours is the most powerful and elusive of the Elements, even more than lost ones like Understanding: Magic.”

He continued on the same vein. “Fluttershy’s is Kindness, and Pinkie Pie’s is a personal favorite of mine: Laughter.“

Both he and Pinkie started to snicker, and I already feared he was getting into her head quickly. But looking back at him, I could see him doing the Standing Shuffle on Twily’s head. I found that less than amusing, and wanted to shatter the glass into a thousand pieces and hope that he couldn’t recover from that. Twily didn’t find it funny either.

“Stop stalling, Discord! What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?” Luna commanded.

“Oh, not you too, Luna. You were always a little more interesting than your sister.” Discord looked slightly disgruntled before he spilled the beans. “Fine, I’ll tell you. But I’m only telling it to you, in my own way.”

He started appearing all around us now as he spoke. “To retrieve your missing Elements, just make sense of this chain of events. Twist and turns are my master plan, then find the Elements, back where it all began.” On the last line, the windows returned to normal with Discord leaving on an echoing chuckle.

“Can we go home now?” Shy timidly asked as we all reconvened.

“What do you reckon he meant? Twists and turns and where it all started?” AJ looked to Twily for the answer.

“Twist and turns… twists and turns.” Twily thought out loud as she paced to the window, looking out.

“I think I might have an idea… but let’s hear yours first Twily.” I smiled lightly as she gave a light blush before telling her idea.

“I think I got it everyone! I bet Discord hid the Elements in the palace Labyrinth!”

It seems the Princesses thought so as well, as they gave a nod and spoke in unison. “Fare well, our little ponies! The fate of Equestria is now in your hooves!”

We nodded and gave a small bow towards them, Twily speaking for all of us. “Thanks, Princesses. We won’t let either of you down.”

It was then a mad dash towards the maze, with Discord’s laugh ringing lightly in our ears. As we ran, I was wondering what would await us inside the maze. After all, Discord looked like he would do something like set traps, and wouldn’t care how lethal it got, so long as it was funny to him. I also worried about Twily and the her safety as well, but since she was a very strong unicorn, I thought I was just idly worrying over nothing.

We all slowed down as we reached the entrance, with Shy giving a small squeak of fear. “W-We have to g-go in… there?”

“Nope!” Dash strode confidently up to the maze, giving her wings a small flap for show. “Dopey Discord forgot about these awesome parts! I’ll just do a quick flyover and we’ll get those Elements in no time!”

As soon as she was finished speaking, she tore off into the sky in a breeze. Unfortunately, she didn’t get very far before her wings… disappeared? Which, without wings meant no flying… well… she made a spectacular landing back onto the ground.

“My wings!” Dash bemoaned as she looked at herself.

I could see a small flash nearby me out of the corner of my eye. When I went to look down to see what it was about, I gave a very high yelp as I saw my wings disappeared as well. Fluttershy did something similar when she noticed her own missing wings. Even Rare’s and Twily’s horns both disappeared, making them both freak out, for an admittedly good reason. After all, I was born with these wings, it felt so unnatural to be without them. I wouldn’t know what it was like to have the source of your magic just up and flash away.

We all then looked in terrified fascination at a glowing, green orb that slowly got brighter and brighter. Eventually, it flashed a blinding white, and with it… came a figure. A being with the head of a pony, and a body of mixed and matched body parts. It was the one and only… Discord. He made a somewhat dramatic evil laugh before just going into regular laughter, looking down at us with a toothy grin.

“You- You should see the lokos on your faces! Priceless!” Discord chuckled.

“Give us our wings and horns back!” Twily ordered Discord while the rest of us stood behind her in silent and firm agreement.

“You’ll get them back in good time.” Discord nonchalantly waved a paw as he spoke on. “I simply took them to ensure no cheating. You see, this is the first rule of our game.”

He slithered over to Dash and Shy, who looked angry and afraid in that order. “No flying…”

He then leaned over, staring very close and deep into Twily’s eyes. “And nooo magic.”

I growled a little, making myself speak up. “The first rule? Really? I thought you didn’t DO rules?”

“Now now, no need to be so harsh there.” Discord smugly told me as he slid in mid-air onto a nearby hedge. “The second rule is, everypony has to play, or the game is over. And I win.”

“Good luck, everypony!” Discord jeered with a laugh before flashing off to who knows where.

We all took a moment to recover from that before Twily comforted us, sounding very determined. “Don’t worry ladies… and stallion. We have each other!”

“Yeah! Like Twilight said, there’s nothing we can’t overcome if we all stick together!” Dash added in, making us all feel pretty pumped to enter.

“Alright everyone.” We all lined up at the entrance, ready to face this head on, staying by each other’s sides. “Let’s do this!”

“Together!” We all cried in unison, taking our first step in.

It seemed like Discord had thought of that, as hedges quickly sprouted, cutting us off from one another. Without a way to break through the hedges, now we were stuck on our own paths. This is what started making me freak out a lot more, since hedges also sprouted behind all of us, locking us into the maze.

“Calm down everypony!” Twily called out through her section of the maze. “Just get to the middle as fast as you can! We’ll regroup there!”

Now with a different plan, we all gave our affirmations and started galloping off towards what we felt like was the quickest way to the center. I was feeling pretty confident in everypony to make their own way there.

After a few minutes running though, I slowed down to a very steady trot, panting slightly as I did. Why oh why did I not try and improve any sort of muscle? That would be something I’d have to fix pronto. Eventually, I just stopped altogether to get my breath back properly. While I did so, I heard a very faint, yet catchy tune. Curious, I tried to follow the sound of the music. It was irritating a few times, since it’d be in forte in some directions, yet would quickly decrescendo to a more piano.

When I finally found the source of it, I was very confused by the scene set out in front of me. It looked like a circle of stools were set up, and on each stool sat a different instrument. When taking a closer look, I found that they were all instruments I frequently used in my songs. A violin, a saxophone, and a very small version of a piano.

“Charming, isn’t it?” Discord appeared at the conductor’s stand, keeping the instruments playing. “I couldn’t help but sneak a few peaks into you. And might I say… what an interesting little pony you are.”

I steeled myself, looking up at Discord with a hard face. “What do you mean, Discord?”

“Oh, feigning ignorance I see. How unbecoming of someone with Understanding as their Element.” Discord smirked as he explained. “Your recent past with family. Your deeper past with your own voice. And little slivers of what looked like a previous life even.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I bluffed, even if I was nervously sweating.

His paw continued to lead the instruments as he slowly approached me. “Oh no need for lies with me, Medley. Throughout your whole lives, you claimed you were lesser than you really were. You thought you could help anybody out with their problems as long as you listened hard enough. And what did that get you in the end? A broken voice, a dead family, and a past that can never come back.”

As he spoke, I could feel the music seeping into me, making me more and more angry. In a way, Discord was right. No one ever really cared to hear about my problems. And sometimes, I just didn’t care about their own problems, or didn’t want to try and understand them at all. All it would bring me was more trouble and more headaches.

“I see you’re taking it quite well. Do you understand my situation though?” Discord smirked down at me.

I growled up at him, forcing the instruments to stop with a kick to one of the stools, making it crash into the others. “Fucking hell no. And I don’t care either. You’re not my damn problem. Now go away, you’re bothering me too much.”

Discord shrugged as the hedge came down, showing Twilight there. Oh great, now she’s worried about me. Where was she when I actually needed her? As far as I was concerned, she could very well skip off.

“Oh Med! I was getting worried about you? Are you alright?” Twilight asked, too sweetly in my opinion.

“Of course I’m fine. Now shut up about it.” I shot back, walking ahead of her.

At this point, I chose to just tune out Twilight and all of her drivel. It’s not like it was important anyways. After all, I was the more important person. If anything, I should’ve told her about my problems and see how well SHE would’ve liked it. You know what, screw this, you don’t get to listen to me anymore.

End of Chapter 1

I Can’t Believe Some of His Titles For These Chapters

View Online

To Bring About Chaos

I Can’t Believe Some of His Titles For These Chapters

Um… this may be a little odd for me, but… hello there! Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, and Princess Celestia’s prized pupil! Oh, wait, no, that’s not he does these normally. Then again, it’s not like I started out today with a very painful wake-up call. Poor Med… reading back at some of these… ah! Right! Why I’m talking now instead, right. Well… Med just kind of… gave up. I don’t know why either. Anytime I ask him, he either just brushes me off like it’s nothing or claims that he doesn’t want to hear it. And I think he’s looking a little more… greyer, than usual.

But after I had found Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, all of whom seemed to be acting just as weird and awful as well, and adding Fluttershy in later did not help matters. Rarity was very insistent that her giant slab of stone was a precious diamond and only let me touch it to carry it for her. Applejack kept on telling what seemed like lie after lie, making strange faces like she was trying to hide something. Pinkie Pie looked super down, snapping at me and the others for trying to even cheer her up with jokes. Fluttershy was being a lot more taunting as usual, causing more and more fights to break out between everyone. Normally, Med would’ve taken care of it, but he seemed disinterested or even at some points would egg on a fight or two, thus making me get everypony back on track. It was like a trip out of Tartarus.

We were briefly stopped when Applejack noticed something in the sky. “Rainbow Dash is flyin’ away! She’s abandonin’ us!”

“Well I know that’s a lie.” I mumbled, letting Tom, the boulder, drop to the ground as I looked up.

Sure enough, Rainbow Dash was flying off on her wings, leaving us in our time of need. I was shocked that this happened, since Rainbow Dash would never do such a thing.

“How can it be?” I cried out.

Everything around us was shaking. Clouds started to move in as the hedges crumbled into the ground around us, leaving us all in a crater where the garden hedges once were. Dust flew around us, obscuring our vision/

“Well, well, well.” We all quickly turned to the voice in the dust, who was revealed to be… Discord… who went on to continue speaking. “Somepony went and broke the “no wings, no magic” rule.”

He snapped his talon as Medley and Fluttershy got their wings back, while Rarity and I got our horns back. But this only meant that…

“Game over, my little ponies! You DIDN’T find your precious Elements. Looks like we might be due for a big ol’ storm of Chaos…” He held up an upside down umbrella, grinning down at us.

He then laughed for a small moment while I looked horrified. We didn’t even find ONE Element at all! Not only that, Rainbow Dash made us lose the game and let Discord win! There was also the fact that all my friends were still acting so bizzare, while my coltfriend was acting as standoffish as he could to me, not even trying to help me. Which, while never needed, was always appreciated.

“Oh… but I forgot one important representative for my new Capital!” Discord grinned as magic started to sparkle and fizz nearby him.

We all watched with various emotions on our faces as the magic started to take more and more of a form. It seemed to be forming… a pony? But, that wasn’t right at all! You couldn’t just create life out of nothing! It defied everything about the nature of magic! And nature itself! Yet here we were, seeing the impossible happen. Hooves started to settle on the ground, a tail whipped around before settling down, a mane grew out in a small poof as it rested on them. But as the pony started to finish being made, I could see that it was very much built like Medley was, being more tall and lanky. What finally ended the creation was a horn sprouting from it’s head, and the light faded to reveal completely red fur and a cutie mark with arrows fanned out in 8 directions, like two compasses overlapping each other in different angles. When his eyes opened though, instead of the handsome emerald I was used to seeing on such a face, it was a startling red, almost like rubies.

“Meet Disarray, my newest ambassador to Ponyville for when I take over all of Equus. Dis, say hi to the others.” Discord grinned as he hovered over us.

“Disarray” gave a nod before sending off some kind of spell. Whatever it was, it sent all 6 of us flying and crashing right back into Ponyville.

We were all groaning as Discord appeared over us in a flash, munching on popcorn. “Don’t you love him already? Now that’s one pony I can stand behind. But you girls-”

“I’m a guy, dumbass.” Medley brusquely interrupted Discord.

Discord waved a hand as he ignored Medley, continuing on. “-provide so much entertainment!”

“Stop all of this Discord!” I demanded as I got back up, facing him down. “You’re not playing fair in the slightest!”

“Playing fair?” Discord questioned. “Perhaps we haven’t met. I’m DISCORD, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Hellooooo?”

“How are we supposed to find the Elements of Harmony since you both took down the labyrinth and shot us all the way back to Ponyville?” I sniped back.

Discord looked confused before he burst into a fit of laughter, Pinkie looking very annoyed at that. “You- You thought the Elements were in the labyrinth?”

He flashed me and him into what looked like a flashback, with him giving the not very helpful clues as to where we could find the Elements. We then reappeared back with the group, most of whom were fighting with one another, with Pinkie sitting dejectedly off to the side.

“I never said they were in the labyrinth.” Discord noted in a very smug tone.

“But… But…” I sputtered as I tried to think of something to counter against that.

“Keep trying, Twilight Sparkle. Maybe the magic of friendship can help you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some very important chaos to wreak.” Discord flashed off again, leaving behind some cotton candy pink clouds to rain chocolate milk on us.

My first order of business was to separate some of the group to prevent more fighting, letting me also think about what Discord had said. It was providing to be a useless endeavour, since bickering and fighting kept on popping up, some of it being caused by Medley himself. All I wanted to do at this time now was just head home and relax. Then, the answer finally hit me. Home! Back where all of this had began with my friends and my Welcome to Ponyville party! As I turned to say this to the group, we were all blinded by a very bright flash.

It took us a moment to become oriented once again. When we did, we looked out and saw Ponyville being turned into a truly Chaotic place. No doubt the work of Discord. But I was happy that the goal was in sight now.

“Come on everypony! I’m certain this is what Discord’s riddle truly meant!” I cheered as I led the not-very-enthusiastic group. “If we get back to the library, I have a book that might just give us a clue!”

I was then immediately trampled by the long-legged rabbits from Discord’s earlier bit of chaos, while Fluttershy called out, “Good boy Angel! Momma’s so proud.”

The sun then disappeared, making it nighttime as we all tried to look ahead. It was pretty difficult to do, seeing as the moon was a very thin crescent instead of the usual full moon.

“I know the way forward, so follow me.” Medley commanded us as he tried to move forward, but ended up slipping and crashing.

“Looks like you’re pretty graceful there.” Applejack snarked. “And it looks like I can see better than any of y’all!”

The answer to all the slipping and falling that we were all doing was pretty obvious once the sun came up. “Discord turned these dirt roads into soap!”

“Actually, I let Disarray handle that one. He seemed to want to make an opening statement for Ponyville, and I simply couldn’t resist.” Discord skated by with a smirk. “Look at how much Ponyville has improved though! And this is only the first few changes that were made as well.”

Medley was skating as well, glaring at me as he did so. “No judging now. I do what I want.”

Discord then appeared by me, lifting me up to see the Chaotic Ponyville. “Just picture it! The Chaos capital of the world, or at least the one run by Disarray. And with Canterlot as it’s second capital, headed by me!”

It quickly turned to night again as I tried to look out at the town. “I can’t picture anything. It’s too dark.”

Maybe the answer was a little too snarky, as I was sent back onto the ground in an undignified plop. Still, I was not feeling too charitable to one of the ones to cause so much trouble and to mess with everything I knew.

“Well, wait until it’s light again. Ta-ta!” He pirouetted over me, flashing off as he did so.

“Ponyville as one of the Chaos Capitols of the world…” I remarked in a stunned tone as I got up, looking out over what I could see of Ponyville. “Not if I have anything to say about it!”

“Don’t worry. You won’t.” Fluttershy taunted as she skated past me, cackling as she moved forward.

It took us a long time to get to my home, especially since Medley kept on making the group burst into fights and I’d have to settle them some more. Not to mention the many traps that was in our path and the ever-changing moon and sun cycle. But at last, my patience was awarded when we arrived at my home, and while it was bright no less.

“OK… Now that we’re here, can everyone please, please, please go inside…?” I tiredly asked my friends.

“I absolutely refuse!” Applejack announced as she walked in, looking even more greyed out than I thought.

“With pleasure.” Fluttershy responded as she stomped on my flowers before entering, repeating what had happened to Applejack.

“What’s the point? Discord won anyways.” Pinkie sighed as she dragged herself in, looking not very pink in the slightest.

Medley made a point of ignoring me, but going inside anyways, now looking a lot darker than his usual white self.

Meanwhile, Rarity was still trying to push her boulder inside. After some arguing, with also some increased paranoia about someone taking her, it ended with me having to haul in her “Tom”, making this whole thing even worse than I thought. Eventually, I just reached the door and I slug down the boulder, not even caring that I busted my entry.

“Careful Twilight! You nearly put a chip in beautiful, beautiful Tom.” Rarity tisked me as she rubbed up against it.

“Oh for the love of LaurFastia…” I grumbled as Spike quickly came over to me.

“Twilight!” Spike happily called out before looking very confused and worried, continuing on. “What’s going on? Why does everybody look so… grey?”

“Don’t ask.” I replied bluntly as I pushed Spike onto my back, walking back in. “I need your help in looking for something.”

“Hey Twilight! What’s soaking wet and clueless?” Fluttershy taunted me.

“Who the hell cares?” Was Medley ever-so-helpful rebuttal.

Fluttershy’s response was to throw the bucket full of water at him. “Shut up, stallion!” She then slammed the bucket on his head as she laughed cruelly at him.

“What’s happened to everypony?” Spike asked again, now even more worried.

“I guess you just bring out the worst in us.” Applejack told Spike.

“Look, there’s really no time to explain. I need you to help me find the Reference Guide to the Elements of Harmony. Before somepony makes me do something I’ll regret.” I snarled out as I looked at my friends, who were very discontent.

“Elements of Harmony…” Spike muzzled before it clicked. “I know exactly where that book is! One sec.”

He climbed up the ladder, taking a moment to search. Meanwhile, Medley had removed the bucket from his head as chucked it at Fluttershy, who dodged and laughed at him miss. I was about ready to send a spell at them before Spike spoke up in the nick of time.

“Found it!” Spike called out before he was hit in the face with a blank scroll, making him drop the book and Fluttershy take it.

“Fluttershy…” I growled out. “You better give me that book!”

“Keep-away!” Fluttershy instead called out, tossing the book off towards Applejack.

It really was like a game of keep-away, except that it was my so-called friends doing it this time. It went around from Applejack, then to Medley, who deflected it off back to Fluttershy without even looking up from his book, not even trying to help me out. When Spike intercepted Fluttershy from receiving, I tried to quickly snatch up the book. But unfortunately, Rarity decided she wanted it more because I needed it. In the end, it turned into a full-out brawl between me, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack. Pinkie was sitting dejectedly on top of Tom and Medley looked like he was purposefully tuning it all out.

I eventually got the book and scurried over to a safer space. “Get back! All of you! This is MY book, and I’m gonna read it!”

Spike stood guard, fending off the other ponies as I sped-read through the book. It turned out, it was pretty easy to know where the Elements were hidden away. While I was extremely annoyed at Discord for ruining one of my precious books, it was worth it when I saw all 7 Elements of Harmony right before my eyes!

“The Elements!” I breathlessly spoke aloud. “They were here all along!”

“This is great!” Spike came running over, observing the Elements as well. “Now you ladies and Medley can beat Discord and bring Ponyville back to normal!”

“See everyone? We did it! We found the Elements of Harmony! Together!” Spike proudly held up the book as my friends… looked completely disinterested.

“You don’t even care, do you.” I asked, sounding pretty annoyed.

“No.” Seemed to be the group response, with Medley’s being the most vocal.

“I never thought it would happen… My friends… Have turned into complete JERKS!” I cried out, glaring at everyone.

I just decided to do things now and just dish out the Elements. “Necklace, necklace, necklace, necklace, necklace, and big shiny crown thingy. Let’s go!” I put the Elements on their respective pony, putting mine on last and starting to lead the group out.

“But Twilight! Aren’t you missing somepony?” Spike raced to question me.

“Nope.” I snarked as I looked out at my group again. “We got the liar, the crier, the hoarder, the uncaring, and the brute. That just about covers it.”

“But what about Rainbow Dash?” Spike persisted on.

It took me a moment before I came up with a brilliant idea. “Congratulations Spike. You’re the new Rainbow Dash, let’s go!” I clasped Rainbow Dash’s Element around Spikes neck as I started out the door again.

“W-W-Wait!” Spike trembled as he tried to catch up. “What if she finds out if I’ve been impersonating her? Oh… that wouldn’t end well.”

“Too bad. Rainbow Dash.” I reiterated. “Now let’s go defeat Discord so we don’t ever have to talk to each other again!”

That got everypony’s attention, as they all raced out with me, cheering and whooping. Rarity was the only one left behind, other than Spike. She was still trying to push Tom, which resulted in me throwing Tom out the door, making an even bigger hole in my entryway. At this point though, I was ready to do anything to just be rid of my jerkish friends. But as it turned out, Disarray was waiting outside for us, smirking.

“Well now. Isn’t this a perfect little scene of friendship!” He laughed as he looked at us, sounding so close to how Med did that it was a bit jarring. “And it looks like you even found the Elements of Harmony! Good on all of you! Discord would be so terrified. In fact, I’m shaking in my hooves right now.”

“Disarray! Where did Discord go?” I demanded as I went out to face him.

“Eh, who knows, probably off in Canterlot.” Disarray shrugged as he let some of his magic turn the shards of glass outside into little birds that flew over my house.

“Well, we figured out his lame riddle, and we’re ready to take care of him, than you!” I proudly announced.

“Well, far be it from me to distract you. In fact, since you’re all already here, you might as well take care of me.” Disarray nonchalantly waved a hoof, strapping himself into a target. “Fire when ready. Take your time though, no rush here.”

“Formation. Now!” I commanded my group, who reluctantly took up their spots. “Rainbow Dash, come out!”

“Rainbow Dash” quickly came out from behind Tom, getting into place as well now. “Alright. Let’s get this over with now.”

I started up the magic, my horn starting to glow a lightish purple. An invisible wind swept through as our power gathered. I then felt myself being lifted up, magic coursing through my veins as I levitated up, along with everyone else. We all started to glow for a moment, as I could feel it starting to work. But then… it fizzled out, and we all plummeted to the ground.

“What’s going on?” I was very confused by what had just happened.

“Mine’s workin. Yers must just be defective or somethin.” Applejack claimed.

“I knew this wouldn’t work…” Pinkie sighed unhappily.

“Hmph! Garbage.” Fluttershy sniffed as she threw hers off to the side.

“MINE!” Rarity quickly snatched up Fluttershy’s Element with a grin.

“Maybe I can sell this or something. I don’t care what this does, especially if it doesn’t do anything useful.” Medley shrugged.

“Sorry Twilight.” Spike laid his next to me. “I better get back upstairs and do the chores I was supposed to.

Whatever he said next was cut off by Fluttershy tripping him with a nasty smile. “Oops! Sorry, Rainbow Crash!”

Disarray was out of the target by this point, making some ghostly hands to clap. “Bravo, bravo! Harmony is now dead in Equestria, I got to see a stunning display of friendship, and Discord rules, Celestia drools.”

I snarled again as Disarray slid off into the sun, cackling happily as the surrounding environment kept on warping into soap for him to continue skating.

“Well, I think it’s clear that it was somepony’s fault that it didn’t work.” Medley voiced his thoughts unnecessarily.

“Who are you talking to?” I demanded of him.

“Any of you really. I don’t care if it was even me, I don’t care for being any of your friends. I’m outta here.” And like that, Medley flew off.

“I know that this would never work out… I’m gonna go home as well…” Pinkie slunk off as Rarity lugged her stone off back home.

“I better go too. I got better friends waitin for me at my barn!” Applejack announced as she walked off.

“Yeah! I’m sick of you losers anyways!” Fluttershy cried out as she soared off.

“Fine! Leave! See if I care! I don’t need any of you ponies either!” I called out to their retreating backs. “With friends like you, who needs… enemies…”

I hung my head as I felt so lost and listless without anyone to help me. All my friends did in the end was bring me trouble and strife. When I was advancing my studies and working on my experiments, I never had this problem. Maybe… maybe it was best if I went back to Canterlot, even if Discord ruled over it. He’d probably let me do my experiments and work on my science projects in peace most of the time. I shed a single tear for the lost friends before making my slow way back home.

A pink cotton candy cloud had formed over me, pouring chocolate milk as Discord appeared over me, putting on another appearance here it seemed. “Ohohohoh, my stomach! Twilight, you have to see what I just did!”

I didn’t even want to look up, but I heard the sound of someone sneezing, and of houses falling down. I didn't want to think of any kind of magic he used, I just wanted to be left alone. Yet he still kept talking.

“Hahahaha! Priceless!” He looked over at me before frowning unhappily appearing right in front of me and making me look up at him. “Come now, Twilight Sparkle. You’ve GOT to get in the spirit of things! After all, this is your new home!”

I looked around, seeing more of the Chaos that was at play. In the far off distance, I could see Disarray scaring the wits out of some hapless pony. Not to mention even more oddities of weather that I didn’t want to find out.

“Not anymore…” I spoke softly, thinking of my lab and library in Canterlot as I walked past him, the surrounding turning into night as I got into my home and looked down at Spike.

“Pack your things Spike. We’re leaving.” He seemed unresponsive, only giving a groan as I grabbed a suitcase. “We’re heading back to Canterlot so I can continue my scientific endeavours.”

I put my crown into the trash, since it’d be worthless to try and study anymore magic, and starting packing textbooks and notebooks of my previous findings.

“Can’t… move! The Princess… sending me… since I came back upstairs!” He got out before belching up another scroll into the admittedly impressive pile. “Make it stha-ha-haaaaap!”

I picked one up and began to read it, recognizing it almost instantly. “These are all letters I wrote to the Princess for my mission here in Ponyville. But why would she be sending these?”

I kept on reading as more and more of them were sent my way. With each letter I wrote, I thought less and less of analyzing and studying each letter for mistakes and corrections, but rather for the lessons that my friends and I had learned along the way, as a team. As I continued on my reading, I also had a burning desire to hold onto my friendships, and to prove that the magic of friendship was more powerful than anything science could do or explain!

“Spike, Spike! It’s all so clear to me now!” I exclaimed happily as I levitated him up to me. “Can’t you see? Discord’s trying to distract us from what’s important! He knows how powerful friendships are, and he’s trying to keep us from seeing it in the form of Disarray!”

Spike didn’t look so well, so I stopped as I continued on with my line of thinking, asking him a question now. “Do you remember what I said when I first arrived at Ponyville?”

“Urgh…” Spike tried to reply, but was too sick to really answer.

“I told you that the fate of Equestria didn’t rest on me making friends. But the opposite is true! The friendships I made here would save Equestria from Nightmare Moon! And now they need to save it from Discord and Disarray!” I smiled happily as I looked over at Spike. “You’re right, Spike. I’ve got to fight for my friendships. For them! For me! FOR EQUESTRIA!”

Spike gave a small groan, giving em a notice that maybe he was a lot more sick than I thought he was. It probably wasn’t that good of him to have belched so many scrolls at once. But it was really needed, so I’d make sure he’d get an extra-special treat for helping me find the right path again. It was the very least I could do for him.

“Oh… riiiight…” I smiled lightly as I nuzzled him a little, pulling his blanket over him as I walked out. “I think I’ll let you sleep this off. I’ll go and get my friends back in order myself.”

With that proclamation, I stepped out, feeling confident as I strode over to Apple Orchard. It really pained me to leave Medley alone for the moment, but I knew that Applejack would be the greatest amount of help in restoring our friends. Not only was she the strongest out of all of us, she was the Element of Honesty, which would help speed things up as she told them the absolute truth. Of course, it wouldn’t be easy by myself in getting Applejack down long enough for me to help clear her mind of the chaotic influence, as seen from the grey colors. But after Applejack, Medley would be very important as well, and I’d need someone to help me pin down Medley while I worked my magic. Er… no pun intended.

“Applejack!” I had called out when I had arrived in record time. “I’m here to fight for our friendship!”

While I was interrupted from my train of thought due to Big Mac Dog, Applejack was shooting back at me verbally. “Oh, now you wanna fight? Where were you when I was battlin Discord?”

I quickly took my chance and pinned her down in surprise. “Snap out of it! This isn’t you! You’re not a liar!”

Before she could make some tall tale or witty retort, I had gathered my magic and touched her forehead, letting the memories of our friendship surface to remind her of what she really was. She wasn’t someone who could tell a lie to save her life, but would always be there to give an honest opinion. She really was the Element of Honesty.

I stepped off of her as I saw the grey turn into smoke and rise up into the air, leaving her back to her normal, and very confused self. “Uuurgh… Wha-Wha happened?”

It took me a bit to recover from that little bit of magic, as it was my first time using a spell like that and it was especially hard to do on a very unwilling and squirming pony. But when I looked back, Applejack was back in business for good. No liar self and no crazy self either.

“Twilight!” Applejack shouted happily before looking disheartened. “I saw a vision of us feudin and fightin. I couldn’t face the truth… and just started tellin lies. Can you ever forgive me?”

“I already have.” I confidently spoke as I raced off towards Medley’s place. “C’mon!”

Applejack was right behind me, giving a small frown as she spoke up. “How come ya ain’t got Med wit ya?”

“I really need your help with everypony! I know he’d understand, especially since we need him as well to help everypony clear their heads!” I responded, still feeling pretty bad that I had to put my friends first before my coltfriend.

“I reckon yer right, Twilight.” Applejack nodded as we busted down the doors to Medley’s home.

The sight we entered on was Medley growling, trying to fight off his instruments and destroy them because they were bothering him. Meanwhile, Disarray was lounging up on the ceiling, calmly sipping his drink, which looked to be like a liquid rainbow. I shivered as I remembered what went into making it in the first place.

“Disarray, ya darn varmit! Git!” Applejack roared as she dove at Disarray, who yelped and quickly teleported down onto the ground.

I grinned as I shot off a quick spell at him, repeating the same effect when he used it on us. Needless to say, while it may have not been that far out, I made sure to add a lot of height to the spell, knowing he’d find some way to make his landing smoother. But it put him out of the way as I raced around, getting my friends back in order. Speaking of which…

After wrangling Medley into a tight spot, I hurriedly pressed my horn against his head, reminding him of the friendships he had made and of what he was himself. He wasn’t an uncaring pony who ignored what was going on around him. He always made sure to listen to others and to try and know where they were coming from. Even if he couldn’t fully be there for him, he’d at least provide comfort when needed and help ease anyone’s troubles. He lived up to his Element of Understanding.

Applejack snickered quietly as Medley quickly rose his head, accidentally putting us into a very intimate kiss. Not that I was complaining, feeling his fur brushing up against mine… his wings curling around me… his hooves wrapped around my neck lightly… his surprisingly supple body against mine…

……...ah! Daydream! Sorry! But, um, needless to say, he was quickly back to normal as he looked at me with a very cute little blush on his face. “S-Sorry about that Twily. I, um…”

“No explanation needed.” I squeaked before clearing my throat and shaking my head. “Now, let’s go save our friends!”

Applejack and Medi… hehe, such an adorable name, I need to start using that for him now… both nodded and headed out the door with me.

And so it was practically a repeat with Fluttershy and Rarity. Fluttershy looked like she was a little roughed up, but ready to take out Discord and Disarray, while Rarity just simply asked that we never speak of what she did while under Chaos’s influence. Both times wisps of grey floated out of them, similar to what had happened with Applejack and Medi. Pinkie seemed to be back to her normal self when we arrived to get her, which only left one pony left: Rainbow Dash. Medi had left after we had saved him, saying something about a way to keep the town up and moving. I trusted him to let him do his thing while us ladies handed Rainbow Dash.

"Without Rainbow Dash, we can’t use the Elements.” I reminded everypony as we unsuccessfully tried looking for her, with Fluttershy checking out her home.

“She could be anywhere by now! Oh, we’re never gonna find her!” Applejack fretted.

“Yeah we will!” Pinkie exclaimed as she pointed a hoof up. “She’s right there!”

We all looked at where she was pointing, and sure enough, it was Rainbow Dash, relaxing on a cloud.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” I called out from below.

“Hey guys. Sup?” Rainbow Dash just waved a hoof, not even turning to face us.

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” I chided Rainbow Dash lightly.

“That’s nice!” Rainbow Dash still didn’t want to look back at us.

“Discord and Disarray are still on the loose! We need you to help us defeat them with your Element: Loyalty!” I reminded her.

“Loyalty, Shmoyalty!” Rainbow Dash snapped back as now she turned to face us. “Have any of you seen Ponyville? It’s a disaster! I’m stayin here in Cloudsdale where everything is AWESOME!~”

“How in Equestria does she consider that tiny patch of cloud Cloudsdale?” Rarity questioned while I heard Applejack give a small snicker.

“Tha same way he got ya ta think that big rock was a bonafide diamond?” Applejack retorted, making Rarity wince and glare back at Applejack.

“Time for Plan B.” I broke in before another argument could ensue. Last thing I wanted was fighting between newly restored friends.

They looked pretty curious about the plan, so I gave a small overview and strategy we would use to keep Rainbow Dash from bolting away from us. Fluttershy would lure Rainbow Dash closer to the hot air balloon so that Applejack could lasso up Rainbow Dash, thus letting me cast the memory spell on Rainbow Dash and restore her to normal.

But of course, everything started to go immediately wrong when Rainbow Dash caught on almost instantly and tried to make a break for it. That caused us to have Fluttershy pull the air balloon after Rainbow Dash. Then after Rainbow Dash tried to pull off a stunt to show off just how faster she was, Applejack at least got her tied up. That was when Rarity and Pinkie both got caught and were swinging from under Dash, as Pinkie accidentally forgot to tie down the rope. This caused Rainbow Dash to plummet from her cloud because of the weight on her, but she still kept on staying airborne.

What happened next was unbelievable. After I gave an inspiring message, a.k.a. DISCORD WOULD WIN IF SHE DIDN’T MOVE FASTER, she started to quickly catch up to Rainbow Dash. Applejack took another chance at tying down Rainbow Dash, and it seemed this one was tied down to the hot air balloon, as Rainbow Dash stopped due to the stilled air balloon and the combined gravity of two ponies on her. Everyone took a corner and kept her restrained as I performed the spell on her, now making all 7 of us freed from the influences of Chaos.

“What happened…?” Rainbow Dash spoke as she wore off the effects of the Chaos. “Wait a sec! Help Ponyville! Where are the Elements?? Did we stop Discord and Disarray?”

We couldn’t help but gather around her and smile. It was great to have our trusted and loyal friend back. Much like how it was wonderful to have our kind and shy friend along with our generous and, dare I say, fabulous, friend as well. Now all we needed was Medi to truly stop Discord. As if to remind us, dancing buffalo ballerinas were dancing on through.

“Maaaaybe it’s a little too early for group hugs.” I commented as everyone seemed to be in mutual agreement.

As we made our way back to Ponyville, I couldn’t help but worry over what had happened to Medi. Did he get kidnapped and turned by Discord again? Was he in danger of all of the hidden traps in the now Chaotic Ponyville? Did Disarray send him off to Zebrica to make this an even longer delay? My mind was racing with the possibilities. It was then that we all started to hear a very loud sound. It sounded a lot like music, which only meant…

“Medi’s in Ponyville!” I yelled out happily, running towards the sound of the noise.

“Hang on Twilight!” Applejack called out from behind as everypony tried to catch up.

Soon enough, there was Medi, riding through Ponyville on some weird, moving electronic speaker system, as the other mare was grinning and nodding along to the beats. I was rather confused as to why Medi was doing this… until I heard him actually sing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDMGv3hNMes

As the song kept on playing, Medi flew over to us with a grin. In the background, ponies started to take up the song now, stirring them from their hiding spots and into action. While I would normally applaud him for getting Ponyville to act, I was worried that they’d get harmed.

“Don’t worry Twily. It’s not directed completely at Discord.” He smirked charmingly as he nodded up, to where we could see the music blasting back Disarray into the town square, looking heavily annoyed as his shots of magic kept missing.

I grinned as all 7 of us made our way to the Town Square as well, where Discord was lounging on his throne. He had made a glass appear in his hand, filling it up with chocolate milk as he smirked. It sounded like he was enjoying the song, laughing loudly.

“Chaos, is a wonderful, wonderful thing!” Discord exclaimed as he was about to take a sip.

“Not as wonderful as Friendship!” I shot back, surprising Discord as we all stood proud and tall against him.

“Oh, this again?” Discord smugly sipped his glass up before throwing the chocolate milk behind him, causing a small explosion.

“That’s right! You couldn’t break apart our friendship fer long!” Applejack claimed as she stepped forward.

Another explosion could be heard as Disarray landed right on top of the throne looking a little woozy. “Ow… hate music…”

“Get your lazy rump up now, Disarray. We have very important guests who want to have a word with us. Isn’t that right, Applejack?” Discord intoned as he dragged Applejack in front of him. “Oh Applejack, you liar. I’m the one that made you a liar after all.”

I was stunned at Discord then dragging my friends over back to him, grinning madly in front of the 6 ponies hovering before him. What made me move was his last comment as he spoke to them

“Will you ever learn?” Discord cooed at my struggling friends.

I gritted my teeth as I tried to teleport right into the middle of my friends. Thankfully, it seemed to work, as I formed a protective bubble around them. I slowly then went down and back a bit onto the ground. Strangely enough, when the bubble popped, the ground beneath us was regular grass.

“I’ll tell you what we learned, you two.” I started off, summoning all of my righteous indignation and determination against the two chaotic beings. “We’ve learned that friendship isn’t always easy. But there’s no doubt that it’s worth fighting for!”

Disarray made a gagging noise alongside Discord, looking at us in disgust. “Oh please, not another “The Power Of Friendship compels you” speech!”

“You know what, let’s see if they can even use their little friendship beam. Hopefully they’ll be quick about it too, since we’re missing some excellent chaos around here.” Discord recommended as Disarray nodded, standing next to the throne with a bored expression.

“Alright ladies! Let’s show him what friendship can do!” I spoke out, as everyone got into formation… except Pinkie.

“Wait wait wait!” Pinkie blurted out, drinking up as much chocolate rain as she could before jumping into place.

I started up the magic once again, my horn starting to glow a lightish purple. Our Elements created a glowing outline echo, before actual small representations of our Elements flew out at Discord and Disarray. They looked pretty surprised, and how I wished I could capture their stunned faces. However, the power was starting to gather up, as we all began to blow, making me rapidly focus on channeling Harmony again. This time I could feel it working better than before, as we all started to levitate and formed up to create our Rainbow of Friendship. It went soaring up high before crashing down hard on Discord and Disarray.

Discord’s reaction was very much of fear and horror as he tried to escape from it. However, his body slowly started to turn into stone once again. It ended with him having a face like he had just seen a terrible ghost. Disarray’s reaction, meanwhile, was to yell in what seemed like pain.His body had started to steam from the Rainbow hitting him, all while he was glaring at us. Then, without uttering another word, he collapsed like a pile of bricks.

From the impact of the Rainbow, Harmony burst out brightly, cleansing any Chaos left in both Ponyville and Canterlot, along with anywhere else he inflicted it with. Then, just before the light had faded, I thought I saw a bit of red pop out of Medley and fly right into Disarray. Soon enough though, Equestria was restored back to the way it was before Discord messed with it, and all 7 of us landed back on the ground softly.

Discord’s statue collapsed to the ground, right on top of an unconscious Disarray, who seemed to register pain still, as he gave a small groan as it landed. This confused us, as we thought Disarray was something Discord had entirely made up, and would disappear with the huge amount of Harmony we unleashed. While he was unconscious, we had to quickly discuss what to do with the chaotic pony.

“I say we kick him outta Equestria! He’d deserve it!” Rainbow Dash immediately put forth.

“I’d hafta agree with Rainbow Dash here. Don’t see him changin anytime soon.” Applejack backed her up with a nod.

“Hey! Just because he made one mistake like this doesn’t mean we should be meanies and make him leave!” Pinkie argued.

“I believe Pinkie Pie has a point, darlings. After all, he’s a pony, just like us. I’m quite sure he’s capable of being a part of normal society.” Rarity added onto Pinkie Pie’s story.

“B-But… he’s been… he’s been so mean and… and scary…” Fluttershy timidly countered.

“So was Discord, yet he’s in stone. Besides, I feel like… I feel like I’m connected to him somehow.” Medi disagreed, looking at Disarray oddly.

It went on for a while, with one side consisting of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack wanting to get rid of Disarray for good, while Pinkie Pie, Medi, and Rarity wanted to try and reform him. In the end, it was a stalemate, and the decision was up to me. I thought about it for a while, weighing everything out. While it was true that he was a pony, my thoughts flashed back to the mare that was at Medi’s trial, and how she was a pony as well, and seemed beyond help. That, and he actively tried helping Discord keep Equestria in Chaos instead of rebelling and helping us.

“While I know there’s still good in him… for the better of Equestria, he has to leave.” I eventually chose a side, my words weighing heavy on me.

Half of my friends cheered in victory while the other half… didn’t look happy about it, but at least understood what had to be done. Medi had one final thing to say though.

“In the end, it’s up to the princesses to decide what to do with him. But if she asks for what we want, we’ll tell her the decision that came from our group. And… I will claim him as a brother.” Medi spoke with a finality to it.

And thus, with the newly created Disarray Royalwind bound in magical chains and gagged along with the statue of Discord, we made our way to Canterlot. While we headed up, I took Medi off to the side to make sure everything was alright.

“Medi… are you sure you want to do this?” I politely questioned.

“Twily… I just… I just have this, feeling, you know? Like he’s a part of me.” Medi responded, looking pretty determined.

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.” I deadpanned.

He sighed heavily before looking down and mumbling. “It’s like he’s the brother I never had… and the only piece of family I still have too…”

Thinking back, they did look remarkably similar to one another. They could easily be passed off as nearly identical twins. But I still couldn’t understand why Medi would want to claim him as his family, especially after all the things he done, not only to Equestria, but to us as well. I even pointed it out to him how much trouble he caused.

He then gave me one of the most firm looks, almost Applejack levels of stubborn as well. “Everypony deserves a second chance. And before you say it, the mare that nearly killed me had a chance to do the right thing and confess her crime. Instead, she wasted it…”

I looked down now, as he beat me right to what I was about to say. I know it made sense, but… something about Disarray wasn’t quite right. He was a pony, yes. But Discord had created him, which meant he was so chaotic. Heck, even his Cutie Mark showed that his talent was causing chaos! However, I let it slide, since it made Medi a little happier to have someone to call family. Even if said family member would most likely not be around.

“Now… when did you start calling me Medi?” Medi tried for a smirk, but ended up just looking so cute and flustured.

I gave a light giggle as I nuzzled him. “Just now. I thought it was perfect for you.”

He nuzzled me back with a warm smile. “Well now, that is quite perfect. I thought of one for you as well, just now. Hopefully you don’t hate me calling you Sparkella?”

I had to laugh at that. “I don’t care what you call me, as long as it isn’t dumb.”

We talked for a while longer before rejoining the group. Conversations seemed to dwindle, but lucky for us, we arrived at Canterlot. The trip was spent in eerie silence, as it seems Canterlot was busy doing repairs for what Discord had inflicted on them. I thought of Ponyville and all that would have to be done. But with my friends by my side, I knew we could take care of it in record time.

We soon bowed before Princess Celestia and Luna, who were quite surprised to see a pony alongside the statue of Discord. While the statue was hurried off to the garden, this time in a more hidden and secret location, Princess Celestia asked who was with us as well. We had already chosen on the train ride that Medi would be the one to explain what had happened, or at least to our best guess.

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. During the conflict with Discord, he had created a minion of his own called Disarray. While it is true that Disarray here helped Discord in creating Chaos across Equestria, after the Elements of Harmony worked their magic, it had a different effect on Disarray than on Discord. While Discord, as you say, turned to stone… Disarray was… in pain. The Elements seemed to have knocked him unconscious, and after Harmony had restored the land, Disarray remained. Nothing else remained of Discord’s Chaos that we know of either.”

“That is indeed quite the tale. However, since he has worked with Discord, we find it disheartening, but necessary, to banish Disarray for his crimes against Equestria.” Princess Celestia announced gravelly.

“We will hold a ceremony next week for you all to attend, for dealing with Discord.” Princess Luna added on before we heard growling near us.

It was pretty muffled, but we could hear Disarray loud and clear, voicing his discontent with the ruling.

“I believe we should let him have his final words before he leaves, dear sister.” Luna commented.

“Very well then. But be warned, Disarray. You are outnumbered and you are underpowered to take us on.” And with that, Princess Celestia took out the gag, letting Disarray speak.

“So kind and charitable, Ms. Sunlight.” Disarray snarked as he looked up at her with a small snarl. “So, this is justice in a nutshell, isn’t it? Let the few who have power make the decisions while I have no say in it. You didn’t even think about trying to spare and help redeem me for a single moment, did you?”

“You had allied with Discord and sought to cause Chaos within our Realm!” Luna shouted back.

“Oh, yeah, like I really had a choice there.” Disarray rolled his eyes. “Look, I was made with one purpose in mind: fuck shit up. It’s only thanks to the A-Team over there that I had anything else in mind, and I still don’t know how the hell that happened. Plus, would you really banish Medley’s only brother?”

“More Lies you spout from your lips!” Luna roared.

“Actually, Princess… that’s what I was about to say earlier before being interrupted.” Medi approached cautiously. “I have the strangest feeling Disarray and I are connected in more ways than by chance. It’s like a part of me… became him. In a sense.”

Princess Celestia and Luna both looked skeptical, but held back any comments while Disarray laughed. Goddess what a horrid laugh it was too! It was combining Discord and Medi’s laugh into one, and that was just a little too much.

“See, Princesses? And since he’s one of these Elements, it’d be quite the story to hear that-” He was cut off from anything else with a forceful shove of the gag by Luna.

“Sister!” Princess Celestia thundered angrily. “Calm yourself, please!”

Luna only gave a look to Princess Celestia before storming off.

Celestia took a deep breath as she continued on. “Do not worry, Medley. We will make sure Disarray is-”

Confused as to what cut her off, I looked where Disarray was, only to find that he had somehow slipped out of his magical bindings and had disappeared to LaurFastia knows where! No pony could just break out of those bindings, it was impossible!

“Guards! Double the watch duties and send out searching parties for a rogue, male, monochromatic red unicorn!” Princess Celestia immediately ordered as the guards nodded and rushed to carry out orders.

“I suggest you spend the night here. We will hold the ceremony for Discord’s defeat sooner than planned in case Disarray decides to try and break Discord out early.” Princess Celestia suggested.

We all agreed and found our way to our temporary rooms. I think here’s a good point to leave off. Though I have to wonder what really made Medley claim Disarray as a sibling, and what happened to Disarray himself. I hoped that I would never have to see him again. If I was lucky enough, he wouldn’t want to be involved in anything that would be happening in the future, but I seemed pretty pessimistic about that. Still… I had hopes. Hopefully Disarray will be caught soon, and Equestria can sleep easier knowing that Chaos has once again been completely banished.

End of Chapter 2

The Fundamentals Of My World

View Online

To Bring About Chaos

The Fundamentals Of My World

It was quite the week after Discord’s defeat. As promised, the ceremony for defeating Discord was done three days later. With it came a new stained glass window, showing the exact moment Discord was turned to stone by us 7. By mutual agreement, Disarray was to be left out of the portrait, and any mention of him was to be kept out of any record. They still hadn’t found him by the time of the ceremony, and he didn’t crash it to try and release Discord either. It was both relieving and saddening to know we couldn’t find him.

To be honest, I don’t really know why I claimed him as my brother. I knew he’d try and just literally take over Equestria alongside Discord. And even when everyone was back to normal, it took him being blasted by a rainbow to knock him out, and even then it only lasted for so long. But… something inside me literally just felt like he was a part of me. I have no idea why or how, as I explained numerous times to everypony, but it was as if a part of me got stuck inside Disarray. I dunno, I’m not exactly a magic expert.

However, after the ceremony had ended and guests had left for the night, Sparkella decided to ask Princess Celestia directly what was going on, and how this was even possible. Everypony else kinda just tagged along, as we were also curious, even if we knew some of the phrases and magical terms used might go over our heads. Nevertheless, it was 7 ponies that went up to ask now both Princesses what had gone down, while Spike held down the fort back in Ponyville.

“Princess Celestia…” Sparkella began. “I don’t understand. How did Disarray escape? Why wasn’t he turned to stone like Discord was? Is it something related to the Elements of Harmony?”

Princess Celestia smiled as she waved a hoof to calm Sparkella down. “I will answer all of your questions in a small moment, my little pony. But first… you must understand something about how this world works.”

At our confused expressions, Princess Luna explained further. “For you see, our little ponies, when we were younger foals, and the Starswirl the Bearded helped us learn the ways of this world, he broke it down into its most basic components. Those would be Order, Harmony, and Chaos.”

“Wait, so yer sayin’ CHAOS was a parta tha world? That don’t make a lick of sense!” AJ called out.

“Please, let us explain, Applejack.” Celestia smiled as she continued on. “Yes, indeed. Chaos is a part of our world. It may not be a very well liked part, but necessary all the same. However, the way Discord went about, he was trying to destroy Harmony and eventually Order.”

“For you see, everypony, a balance must always be maintained. Chaos must be kept back at bay, and Order must not be allowed to take root for too long. An equilibrium between the two creates Harmony, which is what helps separate Chaos and Order from a battle that has existed since they were first created.” Luna went on.

“Hold on one moment… who has what then? I know we ponies are beings of Harmony, but who else is there for this Order and Chaos?” Rarity questioned.

“An excellent question, Rarity.” Celestia smiled as she took over explaining. “You see, most races here in Equestria are ones of Harmony, like ponies. However… there are also those that utilize Order and those that utilize Chaos.”

“A brief explanation as to how each magic works as well should be explained, dear sister.” Luna reminded Celestia.

“Oh, right.” Celestia looked a little embarrassed before moving on. “Each... faction, if you will, works on the world in different way. Order reshapes the physical world, more often by pure strength and brawn than by any other means. Chaos, meanwhile, works on the mind, giving us all unique thoughts and how to shape our reality. Harmony is a blend of the two, as you work with the more spiritual side of the world. Think of it as Order as the physical body, Chaos as the mind, and Harmony as the soul for a pony body.”

“I’m… not following.” I spoke up. “If that’s the case, then why do ponies count as beings of Harmony, rather than Order or Chaos? Or any other being for that matter?”

“That is because ponies have found balance between using magic and using physical force.” Luna summarized. “Zebras and horses are also considered beings of harmony, though zebras can be counted as a little more chaotic and horses as more orderly.”

“Then, um, what would… would count as, um, other species for other… other factions?” Shy… shyly asked.

“Just like what I was about to explain. You see, Fluttershy, due to many different sentient beings on Equus, some are more orderly and some are more chaotic than others, with ponies being the middle ground. A draconequus like Discord, a pure force of Chaos, would be one end of the spectrum. However, for those like the… Caribou…” Here Celestia shivered in what looked like disgust before continuing on, “They would rather take matters into their hands physically, not even bothering with magic in the slightest.”

“Wait a sec? The Caribou?” Dash sounded incredulous. “Who the heck are they?”

Both Princess took a while to respond, before eventually Celestia spoke up again, sounding bitter and disgusted. “They are a race that lives as far north of Equestria as possible. They are the epitome of male aggression and perversion, and they had made frequent threats of invading Equestria for more… “breeders”, as they call us.”

Everyone looked vaguely disgusted and horrified at the thought of that. I know I was feeling both nauseous and angry at the same time. Something about them just ticked me off in the wrong way, and not just for the reasons of, oh, I don’t know basic pony decency, but other than that, it felt like I knew others like that. Not ponies though… maybe griffons? In any case, Luna quickly moved on from that, not wanting to let us dwell on those disgusting creatures.

“In any case, we ponies would then be the best representatives of Harmony out there, finding the perfect balance between the two and enriching the lives of others.” Luna spoke.

It took us a moment to respond after the last bombshell, but my Sparkella was the one that broke the silence. “Then why hasn’t Harmony spread throughout Equus and make everything better for everypony?”

“That is because equilibrium is needed between all three, as said earlier. Harmony cannot live without Chaos or Order to harmonize it, just as Order cannot exist without Chaos and the reverse.” Luna further explained.

“Wait a minute! If we ponies are Harmony… then what does that make Dis? A plothole?” Pinkie piped up, making all of us a bit confused at both the question and lack of an answer.

“Another excellent question.” Celestia smiled as she asked us something. “Now tell us, how did Disarray come about?”

“When Discord created him.” Applejack supplied before a lightbulb went off in her head. “Wait a tic… he was created, not born a pony! Is that it?”

Luna nodded as she laid it out. “Since he was created to serve merely as an instrument of Discord’s magic first, he is a part of Chaos. It was thanks to the Elements that he remained a pony, but as he was created, not born, he is an exception to ponies being more harmonic beings, and rather is a lone example of a purely chaotic pony.”

“While that is true… it doesn’t explain how it feels like he’s really connected to me. Why he even acted a little like I did a few days back.” I put forth.

“This left everyone stumped for a while, making me think about it really hard to. It was like we were connected on the spiritual level, or the equivalent of. Like if he was a twin of me. The more I thought about it, the more a crazy idea kept on coming to me.

“Wait… I think I have an answer to my own question.” I announced, making everypony turned to me as I explained. “What if… and this is a really crazy idea… but what if a literal part of me was sucked into Disarray sometime during Discord’s freedom?”

“Medi… sweetie… how would that even work?” Sparkella asked, dumbfounded. “Last I checked, it’s magically impossible to lose a part of yourself to someone else. The closest would be possession, and he certainly didn’t possess you.”

“You are indeed correct, my shining pupil.” Celestia rose her voice. “However, you forgot to factor in one missing detail when it comes to this. And that was assuming Discord, or even Disarray, would obey normal rules of magic.”

“What?! But even with chaos magic, that’s impossible! It’s not like chaos magic can do everything!” Sparkella shouted before wincing a little, hastily adding a, “Princess Celestia, ma’am.”

“While it is true that chaos magic cannot do everything…” Luna began. “It can do many a great feat itself. While it cannot heal or resurrect the dead like our magic, it can change many things around on a whim. Changing souls around would be no different, though slightly harder. It is all too possible that a part of Medley now resides in Disarray.”

“Like I said, it’s crazy. But it’s the best I have to explain why Disarray acted a little bit like me.” I nodded my head.

“But that’s extremely dangerous to just leave you unbalanced like that!” Sparkella cried out.

“That is also true, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia nodded as she looked at me. “Unfortunately, we cannot do much as it is to remove the part of Order that remains inside Medley. We must wait for another to try and replicate what Discord had done.”

“But… but that could be weeks or months from now!” Dash shouted angrily.

“We do not have a choice, Loyalty!” Luna yelled back before trying to calm herself. “If we could, we would try to find a way to remove it from Medley so that he could be more balanced. However, even with Starswirl the Bearded’s knowledge of spells, the best we could do is remove all of Medley from Medley. And we will not do such a thing.”

“But if Chaos is really such a bad thing, why is it worrisome that most of it is removed from him, other than for imbalance?” Rarity queried.

“Chaos in large amounts like Disarray or Discord are indeed bad. However, for small amounts, like seen in ponies, it helps drive creativity and spontaneity in life. It allows one to try out new things, go explore, and many other things ponies take for granted. Without it, one would fall into routines and be very hard-pressed to do anything outside it. At first, it may not seem bad. But with only Order, one eventually starts to repeat themselves, even at their job. And for someone like Medley who relies on thinking of new songs to do and make, it can be harmful if left unchecked.” Celestia spoke solemnly.

Now that chilled me a little. Being unable to try anything really new, doing the same thing day in and day out? That sounded like torture to my ears. Especially since it’d mean I’d be stuck playing the same old songs as before with no variation, like what Celestia had said.

“Then take the part out of Disarray and put it back in Medley! Like we really need him around!” Dash called out.

Now the room left like it was getting warmer and warmer, as Celestia looked down at Dash. “You wish to cause the death of another pony? Because that’s what it will require to return Medley to normal. And considering that he is, as Medley said moments before, connected to Medley, you would be killing a member of Medley’s family.”

She backed down immediately from the looks she was receiving from all of us, and possibly from how it sounded when it was said in such a way. I knew she was aggressive, but this was to another level. I knew I had to speak up on behalf of Disarray, who wasn’t even here to defend himself.

“My friends… and Princesses… I know Disarray has caused lots of trouble recently. I know that he worked with Discord, and I know he escaped certain conviction. However… he is a part of me. And he is still a pony. He may not have been born into Harmony, but he can very well learn how to work with fellow ponies.” I stood my ground defiantly.

After a moment of silence, Dash sighed a little as she nodded. “Yeah… I gotcha, Med. But that doesn’t stop e from pranking his butt off with Pinkie to help me out!”

Pinkie giggled and cheered, as the atmosphere became less tense. “Of course I’d help! Somepony who doesn’t know any of my tricks? That’s super rare!”

I gave a small smile and chuckle. “Well, I’m definitely not stopping you both from doing that. Just no trying to make it potentially lethal and/or deadly.”

As they made their Pinkie Promise, Sparkella spoke up once more. “But how did Disarray escape in the first place?”

At this, Celestia sighed. “Discord often would travel to other dimensions and universes when he wasn’t trying to take over this one. Perhaps Disarray picked up on this same ability, since he alone can wield chaos magic, as Discord being trapped in stone would cut him off from his power.”

“So… we can’t get him to come back ‘les Discord’s freed?” Applejack groaned.

“It would seem to be the case, yes. Or Disarray would have to come back of his own volition. And since he knows he would be put under immediate arrest for coming back to Equestria…” Luna started.

“We really have to wait until Discord’s free again.” Dash grumbled. “At least we don’t have to then worry about him coming back anytime soon. After all, s’not like Discord’s gonna be free anytime soon.”

At this, everyone agreed, and soon enough, we were escorted back to our bedrooms while Luna attended to her night duties. While many questions were answered, some of which we didn’t even know we had until this evening, some were still flying about in my mind. What would become of me due to all the chaos that left me? Would Disarray actually come back of his own free will? And why did it feel like I should know something when it doesn’t appear in my mind? I eventually went into a fitful sleep, hoping that one day, Disarray would come back, and I would have a second chance at a family with a new brother.

Where’s The Reset Button When You Need It?

View Online

To Bring About Chaos

Where’s The Reset Button When You Need It?

It was quite the thrill to be back to my normal schedule of collapsing out of my own bed. And by thrill, I of course mean pain, pain, and more pain. Always a fun way to start out the day with a little bit of pain. Especially when it’s back in Ponyville. But at least we left the Princess’ in Canterlot with more answers than questions, though there were still a few that we couldn’t get answers for. Nevertheless, the day looked like it was going to be a swell one. The morning team of Pegasi had cleared most of the skies for a mainly clear day, there were no threats on the horizon, and I was going to be spending quality time with my marefriend.

Which of course meant something had to go wrong. And it was a wonderful start at first too. I met up with my Sparkella at about 7 in the morning to go over the stuff she had planned for today. Once I arrived, I was immediately drafted into helping Spike making the checklist for making checklists, which was a bit much, but still reasonable. The exchange that went on for a while involved quills, parchment, her extra ink and her extra extra ink as well.

“Is that everything on the checklist?” Sparkella asked as everything was on her table.

“Handsome stallion of your own?” I cheekily asked.

“Well that I can definitely check off every day.” She laughed a little before heading back to the task at hand. “Is that everything on the list though?”

“Yep!” Spike piped up.

“Excellent! Now that we've completed the checklist of things we need to create a checklist, we can make my checklist of the things I have to get done by the end of the day. Ready?” She looked at him expectantly.

“Ready!” He looked confident as he readied his quill.

“Item 1: Create checklist of the things I have to accomplish by the end of the day.” She announced, making Spike groan in complaint.

“Hey now, the list isn’t that long or hard to make.” I reminded Spike, who still didn’t look happy.

Soon enough, I helped him create the checklist of things to be done for the day, which was a lot more than I actually thought. Not only did we have to drop off some things for the day, we had to pick up some things as well, along with order some more parchment, ink and quills. It seemed she went through a lot of it for some unknown reason. Nevertheless, it was a long and peaceful day of gathering supplies and dropping off borrowed items. Eventually, we stopped to make sure we had done what we needed to thus far.

”How are we doing there, Spike?” I asked politely.

“Let's see here... We've already dropped off the cape at the cleaners, returned the blackboard Twilight borrowed from Cheerilee, ordered new parchment and quills from the stationery shop…” Spike listed off.

“It seems like only a few days ago we placed the exact same order.” Sparkella commented.

“Can’t imagine why we go through so much of them.” Spike snarked as he looked at the admittedly longer than thought of list.

“Nothing wrong with keeping track of things. Though it seems we’re ahead of schedule now, so there is that.” I nodded as Sparkella gave me a smile.

“That is so very true, my Medi. Now, what’s next on the agenda?” Sparkella, looked at Spike.

“Cupcakes!” Spike cheered.

And with that, it was off to Sugarcube Corner to pick them up. While it wasn’t exactly a necessity, it was always nice to have some of the shop’s cupcakes. Especially when I didn’t think to hard on creepypastas and reminded myself that this was Equestria, not a horror fic.

“Woah…” Spike looked in awe at the cupcakes inside the box.

Sparkella though seemed to be a little different, as she pointed out, “Uh, I only ordered twelve.”

“Oh, I know, dear, but I had an extra. So I thought I'd make it a baker's dozen!” Mrs. Cake cheerfully answered, as Spike looked ready to munch down on them regardless.

“Oh, that was very thoughtful of you! Thank you kindly.” I spoke up with a small smile, since hey, one can’t complain about a free cupcake, especially when it leads to less waste.

“It's just some of the icing from the extra cupcake is getting all over the one next to it. See?” Sparkella pointed out the rather small difference between the last one and the other dozen.

“Sparkella…” I sighed a little bit. “I know you don’t want anyone to have less icing than the others, but the amount is really so small, one would only tell the difference if they were trying to look for it. And since our friends tend to devour these at the blink of an eye, with Pinkie being the best example, I say leave it as is.”

“But… but Medi!” Sparkella pouted at me, giving those adorable, sad-looking… gah, cursed puppy-dog eyes! “I really wanna make sure that everypony’s being treated fairly.”

Must… resist… must… resist… MUST… RE… oh, what am I saying, how could I say not no such a face like that. I gave a small sigh and nod as Sparkella cheered, giving me a quick kiss before trying to even out the cupcakes.

“Not to worry, I'll just move some of this one to... hmm... I think I may have scooped too much... oops! Now those two have more. Let's just try this again... Hmm, no, that won't do. Let me just... hmm... put some here, and... no, that's not right. A little more on this one, a little bit... and wait... I'll just... ooh, a little bit here, and here, and... perfect!” Sparkella cheered as we finally got to see the results, which were… very interesting.

“Hmm, oh yes... much better…” Mrs. Cake nodded with a very patient smile.

“Okay, time to tackle the next item on our--” Sparkella turned around as she was leaving noticing Spike covered in frosting while I just suffered some splatters, giving a small nervous smile as she rethought. “Oops… Well, looks like we're going to have to add 'give a baby dragon a bath' to our list, and maybe a small clean-up as well for you, Medi.”

Spike quickly slurped up the frosting, making Sparkella and I give him a minor look of disgust. I was all for efficiency, but… yeah, that was a little gross. I would’ve settled for almost anything else, which then derailed my thinking a bit as I thought of… well, um, not important! More important, I gave a small chuckle and waved a hoof.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. I can just say I had an interesting time baking a cake with you earlier today.” I grinned as she rolled her eyes before shaking her head with a smile.

It was then we made our way back to the library, with a few ponies giving me an odd look, but having seen stranger things before, just kinda went with it and we got to Sparkella’s home without any problems. I quickly hit the shower for a rinse down, as the frosting had hardened a bit out in the open, but I managed to get the majority of it out, leaving the rest for later as I quickly joined Sparkella and Spike.

“Looks like that's everything!” Spike noted as he went through the list.

“Almost everything.” Twilight reminded him, making Spike check the list one last time.

“Let’s see here… ‘Triple-check checklist to make sure we didn't miss anything when we double checked the checklist!’ Uh... check!” He called out before wincing, grabbing his claw. “Ugh... I've been holding that quill so long, I've got a claw cramp! Well, good thing we don't have anything to report to Princess Celestia this week... I don't think I could write another word!”

This caused Sparkella to, understandably, freak out. “We haven't sent a letter to Princess Celestia this week?!”

“Why? Is that bad?” Spike questioned.

I shook my head slowly, patting him on the back as I explained. “Spike… you’ve been her assistant for how long now? You know this would get to her.”

“I get that. But how is this still bad?” He persisted.

"Bad?BAD? Of course it's bad! I'm supposed to send Princess Celestia a letter every week, telling her about a lesson I've learned about friendship! Not every other week, not every ten days, every... single... week!” Sparkella emphasized as hard as she could.

“I… still don’t get it.” Spike shook his head as I face-hoofed.

“Ohh... Where's my calendar, where's my calendar?!” Sparkella cried as she started tearing up the room in desperate search of it

"Where it... always is?” Spike confusedly pulled it out, getting dragged by it to Sparkella, who was looking through it nervously.

“When did we send the last one?” Sparkella muttered nervously, paging through it like crazy.

“I think it was last... Tuesday? Yeah, Tuesday sounds about right.” I contributed.

“And today is…?” She turned to me, expecting an immediate answer.

“Um… I think today is also a Tuesday? I think it was from when I checked my calendar.” I hesitatingly told her.

Now she was panicking even more than before. “Argh! Nononononononono! If I don't send her a letter by sundown, I'll be... tardy!”

“What's that now?” Spike incredulously asked.

“Tar-dy, Spike! Late, I'll be late! Oh, how could I let this happen? I'm usually so organized. I've never been late with an assignment!” Sparkella spoke nervously.

“Oh, please! You're the most studious student ever! I'm sure the Princess will forgive you if you miss one little deadline.” Spike shrugged it off.

“I'm afraid to take that chance, Spike. This is the ruler of all of Equestria we're talking about. The pony who holds my fate in her hooves! What if she doesn't forgive me?” Sparkella proposed.

“Yeah... I don't think she--” I was cut off through by more of Sparkella.

“What if instead she starts thinking I'm not taking my studies on friendship seriously?” Sparkella theorized.

“Why would she--” I tried again, only to be interrupted even more.

“What if she makes me come back to Canterlot and puts me back in school and makes me prove I've been taking them seriously by giving me a test?! What if I don't pass?!” Sparkella ranted.

“Twilight! Listen to me, please!” A fizzle and a cough later, I had gotten her attention by raising my voice and continued while she reapplied the spell. “You’re not going to fail because you missed one little deadline. But if it puts you at ease, I’ll help you find a friendship problem to solve. While I know Celestia wouldn’t send her prized student back to something like magic kindergarten or something like that for failing on one single letter, I know this is really, really important to you. What’s also important though is that our friends are waiting for us at a picnic, so maybe we can find a problem there, solve it, let you write your letter and have your weekly message to Celestia. Alright, my Sparkella?”

She seemed to have calmed down a little after that calm, soothing little monologue. I got the feeling today would be the day to test Twilight and her need to follow a routine though, but I was prepared to help in any way I could. Besides, it’s not like she would go crazy trying to follow through on her schedule, right? In any case, Spike nodded as he added in his own two bits.

“He’s right you know. Princess Celestia wouldn’t do something that crazy all because of one missing friendship letter. In fact, she’d probably understand if it was a little late, or if one didn’t come at all. It’s not like there’s always a friendship problem to fix on a weekly basis.” Spike weighed in.

“You're both right. I have no reason to worry. Because I'm going to solve a friend's problem and get that letter to Princess Celestia before sundown!” Sparkella rose confidently, making Spike shake his head while I gave a small nod and smile.

“Maybe if I could bring back Disarray, that would be a wonderful friendship lesson!” She continued on, making Spike, and a little bit me as well, nervous.

“Maaaaybe not that far, my Sparkella.” I smiled nervously. “After all, we did just kinda beat him up and nearly sent him to jail. I think he’d sooner cause more chaos issues at this time than learn about friendship. Plus… we don’t know exactly where he went. So I’d shelve the issue with my brother for the moment.”

She looked a little dejected, and I really did not like seeing her that sad either, but as much as I love my brother… it really would not have been the best time. After all, maybe he’d learn a little about friendship wherever he was right now and come back, wanting to be changed. At least, I hoped so in the near future for that to be the case.

“So... got any problems, troubles, conundrums, or any other sort of issues, major or minor, that I as a good friend could help you solve instead?” Sparkella turned to Spike with an eager grin.

“Huh. Hmm. Huunh. Huh... I got nothin'.” Spike thought for a while before shaking his head.

“Then it looks like I'm going to have to find somepony who does.” Sparkella sighed.

“This won't end well, I just know it.” Spike muttered.

It was there I hurried out the door after Sparkella, who was anxiously talking to herself after the clock rang. “You've got this, Twilight. You still have plenty of time to get that letter to Princess Celestia! Has to be somepony who needs the help of a good friend!”

It was then we heard very loud screaming, catching our attention. It sounded pretty familiar too. And sure enough, Sparkella caught onto it almost immediately.

“Rarity!” Sparkella called out, rushing towards the now louder screaming before bursting through the door, Spike and I trailing in right after her. “Don't worry, Rarity! I'm here!”

Rarity was currently sobbing on what looked her sewing table. “Why me-e-e-e-e-ee…” She took a gasp before dramatically continuing on. “WHYYYY?! Why? Why-y?! And of all the worst things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!”

“What's happened? Are you alright?” Sparkella asked concernedly.

Rarity gave another gasp before pressing on. “I've lost my diamond-encrusted purple ribbon! I have searched high, and I have searched low. Low and high! High and low!” She pouted before continuing on with the dramatics, laying on a fainting couch as she did. “But I can't find it anywhere! Anywhe-e-e-e-ere! How can I possibly finish my latest creation if I can't find it?!”

Sparkella eagerly spoke to Rarity. “Never fear, Rarity! As your friend I'll do my best to help you fi--”

She was cut off as Rarity noticed… the ribbon she had been trying to search for. “Oh, there it is. Isn't it always just the last place you look?”

“Well… to be fair, there are many times where that happens.” I nodded in agreement, remembering instruments, art pieces, and books lent out by Sparkella to me.

“So... you just... lost your ribbon?” Sparkella spoke incredulously as Rarity nodded, prompting her to continue on. “But now you've found it?”

Rarity nodded and smiled. “Indeed, darling. I thank you for offering to help me find it though.”

“And nothing else is bothering you? Nothing that I, as a good friend could help you with?” Sparkella asked persistently.

Rarity pondered this before answering. “Hmm... there is one thing.”

“Yes??” Sparkella pounced at the opportunity.

“I think I left my measuring tape under the fabric over there. Could you get that for me?” Rarity nudged her head over to her left.

“Measuring tape? Sure.” Sparkella sighed dejectedly before levitating the tape measure over and then zooming us out of there, muttering in a panic again. “No need to panic. Rarity is just one pony. I'm sure one of my other friends will need me.”

It was at that moment we heard the light sounds of a Dash grunting and making weird “kiai” sounds. That was then followed by the sound of smashing and crashing, which instantly caught Sparkella’s attention once more.

“What in the world...? Rainbow must be angry with Applejack! She must hate her guts! How wonderful!” Sparkella grinned widely as we hurried over to the sound of damage, only to find Dash… beating up an old barn?

“Um…. Twi, sweetie, I think that this isn’t a friendship problem and more of a friend helping out…” I pointed out as I noticed Dash and AJ both wearing safety equipment.

She didn’t seem to be listening though, as she zoomed right in front of Dash’s path. “Rainbow Dash! Stop! Listen, Rainbow. I know you're upset with Applejack, but don't worry. Whatever it is that has come between you two, I'm sure that I, as a good friend, can help you resolve your problems.”

The look on Dash’s face was that of great confusion. “Uh, what are you talking about?”

“Oh, Rainbow Dash, you don't have to hide your feelings from me! I can tell you two must've had a terrible fight.” Sparkella deduced before pressing onwards. “Now, why don't you tell me all about your issues with Applejack.”

“I don't have any issues with Applejack.” Dash firmly stated as Sparkella looked confused.

“You don't? Then why are you destroying her property?” She questioned critically.

“Maybe because it was like I said earlier and she was asked to help?” I piped up with my own question.

“Because she asked me to, like what Med said. Right AJ?” Dash looked over at AJ, who was in a ditch to take cover from any debris.

“Yes, ma'am! I wanted to put up a new barn, but this one's gotta come down first.” AJ chuckled a bit before nodding at Dash. “Now get back to it, Dash.”

“You got it, boss!” Dash grinned and gave a small salute before going high into the sky.

“I'd take cover if I were you two.” AJ advised, making both of us instantly dive for the ditch at the same time.

We timed it just right too, because as soon as we hit the dirt, Dash came barreling down with a yell, toppling the whole barn down to the down and sending some debris overhead, landing on top of us regardless. After a little clean-up and dust-off, Sparkella and I headed off, with her looking a lot more panicky and dejected at the same time.

“I can't believe I wasted all that time. I should have just come here first. Fluttershy always has some fear she's trying to get over. As a good friend, I'll be able to help her.” Twilight sighed as we made our way over to Shy’s cottage.

As we heard a bear roar, Sparkella froze in panic and hurried over to the strangest sight of Shy… beating the crap out of a bear? “Fluttershy? Fluttershy, are you OK?”

We both slowly backed away as Shy seemingly defeated the bear, with a groan from Sparkella. “How can this be happening? Of all the days she had to stop being such a scaredy-pony, she had to pick today?! What am I going to do?!”

“You could just… wait until tomorrow?” I offered half-heartedly, knowing it would be ignored, judging from Sparkella’s expressions.

“It's fine. It'll all be fine. The day isn't over yet. But it will be over soon!” She groaned as she sat nervously on a bench. “It'll be all over! My time in Ponyville! My advanced studies! Nono. You're a good student. You can do this. Ooh! But what if I can't? You can! You just have to keep it together. Keep. It. Together!”

“Um… love? Sparkella?” I hesitatingly asked. “You’re… talking to yourself.”

She didn’t seem to be paying a lot of attention, which was making me very worried. Luckily, Spike was headed our way, holding the container of cupcakes we had ordered just today. He quickly ran over to us as he saw Sparkella freaking out a bit.

“Twilight! Snap out of it!” Spike called, making her stop and look up in confusion.

“Are you okay, Sparkella?” I asked, hearing some fillies laugh which seemed to make her nervous all over again.

“Twilight, I'm really worried. I mean this letter thing is really getting to you. Here you go.” Spike held out the box of cupcakes. “You've been so anxious all day that you completely forgot about the picnic. Why don't you just relax and go hang out with--”

He was interrupted by an excited gasp from her, and a grumble of remembrance from me. “The picnic! I should go see my friends!”

She quickly ran off with the box in a wide grin, resulting in me grabbing Spike as I made a small comment of relief. “I'm glad you've come to your senses a little dear.”

We made it to the picnic in record time, where it looked like everypony was just relaxing and having a peaceful day. Rarity it seemed had done some dramatic stuff, judging from the repeat appearance from the fainting couch, but other than that, just a normal picnic. Until, of course, Sparkella and I showed up, and everyone looked at the both of us worryingly.

“Are both y’all alright?” AJ asked first.

“No! I am not alright.” We both responded in unison, giving each other looks as the others whispered to each other.

“It's just been terrible today.” She continued on, making me give Sparkella a small glare.

“Yeeeees?” The group asked.

“Simply awful.” I responded, which got her to give a small glare at me.

“Yeeeeeees!?” The group continued on

“It's the most horrific trouble I've ever been in and I really really really need your help!” She cried out.

“YEEEEEEES!?” The group impatiently asked.

“My letter to Princess Celestia is almost overdue, and I haven't learned anything about friendship!” Sparkella finally answered to the sighs of relief, making my eye twitch a little.

“Oh, thank goodness. I thought something really awful had happened.” Shy softly answered.

After Sparkella made some strangling noises, which I honestly don’t blame her for, she continued on. “Something awful has happened! If I don't turn in the letter on time, I'll be tardy! TARDY!”

My eye twitched again as I heard them giggling. Would one of them at least pretend to take this seriously enough? After all, it was very clear that my Sparkella was clearly freaking out over this so much, the least they could do was TRY.

“No offense, sugarcube, but it looks like somepony's gettin' themselves all worked up over nothin'.” AJ shrugged.

“This is not nothing. This is everything! I need you guys to help me find somepony with a problem I can fix before sundown! My whole life depends on it!” She called out in a panic.

After I heard more giggling, I’m sorry, I snapped. “Would one of you at least PRETEND to care here? Why is it I’m usually the one having to help Sparkella out because you didn’t care to notice anything?!”

“Hew now Med. Just calm down a little bit. Come on now and have a seat and stop sweatin' the small stuff.” AJ calmly returned, resulting in me making the similar strangling noises Sparkella made earlier.

Sparkella groaned in annoyance as we both left, leaving the cupcakes behind as it was clear nobody would be taking this seriously but myself. I know that AJ was telling the truth and this might be blown out of proportion, but still! A routine is something that shouldn’t be direly messed with like this. And to just blow it off like no big deal was a major offense from someone who is the Element of Understanding.

“OK, clock is ticking, Twilight. Clock. Is. Ticking. Keep it together.” She muttered before getting what looked like an insane grin on her face, making me a little fearful. “If I can't find a friendship problem... I'll make a friendship problem!”

“Um… Love?” I panickedly asked. “I think you’re taking this friendship letter a little too far here.”

“Oh no, I’m not going far for this, my little Medi.” She cooed as she then set her sights on me. “In fact… I know just… what… to… do.”

My eyes widened as I quickly took off, not wanting to find out. I love her, I really do, but the last thing I wanted was to end up being dissected all in the name of a friendship letter. I didn’t want to go back to the picnic after what was said and done, so I decided to just hide out in my music studio until hopefully she calmed down a bit. She knew where to find me, but the way she was now, I don’t think she would.

Unfortunately, it seems I did not plan on her becoming even more crazed to get a letter sent by today. Not one moment later, I hear what sounds like a stampede during one of my many, many tunings and check-ups on my instruments. When I went out to investigate, it seems like a huge swarm of ponies… fighting over something. This situation made me immediately think that Sparkella had caused it before I noticed what they were fighting over. And… oh boy… that doll… I NEEDED IT! I didn’t care who got in the way, I was going to take that doll, since I needed it most!

It was only after hearing Princess Celestia call out my Sparkella’s name that got me to snap out of it, just as Celestia shot out a wave of magic. This stopped everyone’s fighting, making us look at each other in embarrassment and mutual agreement to just… not bring this up again. I soon noticed my friends and quickly made my way over to them in confusion as Celestia told Sparkella to meet her in the library before flying off.

“Goodbye, everyone. If you care to visit, I'll be in magic kindergarten, back in Canterlot.” Sparkella sighed in defeat, giving me a pained expression before sadly trotting off.

“Um… ladies? What… exactly went on?” I asked confusedly, as I got my answer of an infused doll with a “Want It, Need It” spell.

“Magic kindergarten?” Shy brought us back on track.

“Canterlot?” Dash fretted.

“We're never gonna see Twi again!” Pinkie exclaimed in panic.

“Uh, what are we gonna do, y'all?” AJ steered the conversation yet again.

“Of all the worst things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!” We all gave her a look as she looked sincere this time. “What? I really mean it this time!”

We all agreed to quickly hightail it back to her library, because Princess or no Princess, she was our friend, and my marefriend. And I’d rather go mute than have to not see her as she would possibly go through magic kindergarten again. And with that in mind, I quickly pulled ahead and burst through the door, tumbling into Sparkella as I did so.

“Wait!” Dash called out right behind me, looking a little surprised at my speed.

“You can't punish her!” Pinkie cried out, getting in line as I stood confidentiality next to my Sparkella.

“It wasn't her fault!” AJ insisted.

“I'm listening.” Celestia looked down at us for the explanation.

“Please, your Highness. We all saw that Twilight was upset.” Shy started us out.

“But we thought that the thing she was worrying about wasn't worth worrying about.” Dash winced a little.

“So when she ran off all worked up, only Med here tried to help out and rightly call us on our behavior.” AJ lowered her head a little.

“As Twilight's good friends, we should have taken her feelings seriously and been there for her like what Med did!” Rarity continued on.

“I wasn’t there for her to actually solve the problem. I just kinda lashed out and then left once I thought things were getting too tough. I should’ve stayed with her the entire time.” I spoke up, feeling a bit crappy about what I did.

“Please don't take her away from us just because we were too insensitive to help her.” Shy pleaded, looking up at Celestia with begging eyes.

Princess Celestia smiled as she looked out at all of us again. “Looks like you all learned a pretty valuable lesson today.”

We all gave an agreement on that, because it was true. We all did learn something, even me. While it wasn’t the same lesson as the ladies, it was a lesson on sticking it out there for your friend when they needed you most.

“Very well. I'll forget Twilight's "punishment" on one condition.” Celestia waited until we all had agreed before continuing on. “From this day forth, I would like you all to report to me your findings on the magic of friendship when, and only when, you happen to discover them.”

We all gave a cheer on that, even as Sparkella asked, “Princess Celestia, wait! How did you know I was in trouble?”

“Your friend Spike made me aware that you were letting your fears get the best of you. I commend him for taking your feelings seriously.” Celestia smiled at a modest-looking Spike. “Now, if you will all excuse me, I must return to Canterlot. I'm expecting some mail.”

After flying off, AJ turned to Spike. “Welp. Y'all heard the Princess. Spike, take a letter!”

Spike nodded as he wrote down the letter, with all of us contributing to the letter, involving the two lessons learned from today. I gave Sparkella a small nuzzle as I spoke, hoping it was reassuring her a little. Soon, Spike wrapped it up, before adding his own little commentary at the end.

“P.S. Obviously Spike did not have to learn a lesson, because he is the best, most awesome friend a pony could ask for. Unlike everypony else, he took things seriously, and-” He got some looks as he nervously chuckled. “Eheh... uh... yeah... I'll just, um… erase that…”

We all then kinda chuckled at his antics before having a mini-celebration for keeping Sparkella in Ponyville, soon calling it a night. I stayed after everyone had left, where Sparkella visibly sagged in worry and self-disappointment.

“I’m really sorry for what I did, Medi… I didn’t mean for you to get hypnotized by my ‘Want It, Need It’ spell… I feel like a horrible marefriend for putting you through that…” Sparkella spoke softly and sadly.

I instantly wanted to put a stop to any kind of those thoughts, hugging her as I spoke softly. “Sparkella… I know you didn’t mean too. It was my fault for up and bailing out on you when you really needed someone to help you out… It was my fault…”

She shook her head as she looked up at me. “Now you listen here, mister. It wasn’t your fault at all. I was the one that went coo-coo crazy and tried to use magic to fix it!”

“But I was the one that was trying his best, and failing, to help his marefriend! I’m the orrible coltfriend that wasn’t supporting you enough, and should’ve just-” I was cut off by a kiss from Sparkella, making me instantly lose my train of thought as I melted into the kiss.

She then pulled away from me with a small smile. “It really wasn’t your fault, Medi. Please, don’t take the blame and try to hurt yourself because of it. You did the best you possibly could, and I really, really thank you for that.”

We nuzzled a bit and then eventually had a small discussion for what to do for a date soon, and what to go for on Nightmare’s Night. I was pretty excited, to be honest. From what I can remember, I thought I once had somepony that I was really into, but it was really fuzzy. I know I didn’t really have a marefriend before Sparkella, but something was nagging at my brain that I did. Whatever the cause was, I was just really happy to do something normal, and together, very soon. After all, today was not exactly the best quality time with my special somepony. Plus, Nightmare’s Night! Free candy and a valid excuse to wear a costume and not get as many weird looks! Hehe.

In the end though, I went back to my home, sighing in relief as I crawled back into bed. While it was very irritating that I thought I remembered something yet didn’t, and for the fact that today was hectic as all Tartarus… it was a pretty OK day. At least I did spend a small bit of quality time with my Sparkella at the very end, and now I was to write letters to Princess Celestia like how Sparkella usually did them. Pleasant night for those ready to sleep, and have pleasant dreams.

End of Chapter 3

A Piece Of Candy Would Be Quite Dandy

View Online

To Bring About Chaos

A Piece Of Candy Would Be Quite Dandy

Ah, Nightmare Night. One of my favorite holidays, but not as fun as Hearth’s Warming or, with Sparkella now a closer part of my life, Hearts and Hooves Day. Still, it was the perfect time to hand out candy, see all the interesting and creative costumes everybody had been waiting to use, and of course… spooky songs! Oh glorious times to be able to sing the campy scary songs for the little foals to the weirdly creepy for the fillies and colts, and of course, the most-dread-inducing songs for all the grown mares and stallions. A little something for everyone, and everyone having a blast.

For me, however, the night was more interesting than normal. Not just due to Sparkella, though there was that. No, that went to the ever impatient number one assistant that was Spike, who was pacing in the library.

“Ugh, come on, Twilight. We're gonna be late for the Nightmare Night festival.” Spike groaned as it looked like he was all dressed up in… a dragon costume.

“Considering it’s all night and you’re getting a ton of candy, I find that hard to believe.” I rolled my eyes a bit as I had taken the time to dress up like Beethooven for this Nightmare Night.

“Says the guy that looks like he should be in a nursing home.” Spike snarked back.

It would’ve probably devolved into a childish argument had it not been for the arrival of Sparkella, who looked like she was dressed up even more ancient than me. I do have to say, seeing her with a fake, long beard made for a very strange image.

Spike noticed as well as he went on a roll. “Huh? Are you that one kooky grandpa from Ponyville Retirement Village?”

“I'm Star Swirl the Bearded! Father of the amniomorphic spell? Did you even read that book I gave you about obscure unicorn history?” Sparkella accused him angrily.

Spike looked like he was sweating for an answer before a knock at the door could be heard. “Sounds important!”

I rolled my eyes as I turned to Sparkella with a small chuckle. “I see we both at least went with historical. Wanna bet to see how many ponies will say we look like we came out of a nursing home?”

Sparkella rolled her eyes as Spike got the door, opening it with a yelp as the fillies at the door sang out, “Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!”

“Hi, everypony. Great costumes!” Sparkella smiled before noticing Granny Smith escorting them. “Happy Nightmare Night, Granny Smith.”

“I should have been asleep five hours ago…” Granny Smith murmured in response.

As Sparkella passed out the candy, a new little colt popped out, striking a dramatic pose in his pirate costume. That was, until he fell over after overextending himself. Ah, truly, life hated everyone and not just me for doing something awesome.

“Pipsqueak the pirate, at your service! It's my very first Nightmare Night.” Pipsqueak exclaimed excitedly.

“Since you moved here from Trottingham?” Sparkella asked curiously.

“No, my very first Nightmare Night ever!” Pipsqueak corrected before he was interrupted by a squawking chicken called Pinkie.

“Enough chitchat! Time is candy!” Pinkie pecked at the ground.

“Pinkie Pie, aren't you a little old for this?” Sparkella deadpanned at her.

“You’re seriously asking this about Pinkie?” I raised an eyebrow as Sparkella rolled her eyes, giving Pinkie the smallest piece of candy she had.

“Thanks Twilight!” Pinkie grinned as she eagerly pecked inside her bag.

Sparkella took a moment to show off her costume in all of it’s jingley glory. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah! Great costume, Twilight! You make a fantastic weirdo clown!” Pinkie cheered before she made off with the rest of the bowl of candy.

“A clown?” Sparkella looked mortified as we started out towards the rest of the festival. “Look at the borders on these robes. These are hoof-stitched!”

“It's a great costume! Grandpa!” Spike laughed as he went on ahead, ignoring Sparkella’s growling.

I shook my head with a small amount of amusement, putting a comforting wing around her. “It’s alright, sweetie. I know you care deeply for him and have studied him religiously. Other ponies though… not to much. To be honest, I don’t know that much about him either, only that he worked on a few spells for voice modulation before discarding it entirely, along with some legend about monsters with singing voices.”

“Starswirl is way more than that!” Yep, Sparkella was on a roll as she continued on while I steered her towards the festival. “Star Swirl the Bearded is only the most important conjurer of the pre-classical era! He created more than two hundred spells! He even has a shelf in the Canterlot library of magic named after him.”

“OK… that is admittedly impressive for just a unicorn to accomplish.” I nodded in agreement.

“Maybe I should start up a pony group to teach ponies about history. I bet everypony would love it!” Sparkella theorized.

“That’s… not a bad idea… Maybe make it a volunteer sort of thing, like community service? Oh, wait, maybe something for the foals to do as extra credit or a learning opportunity!” I went on, kinda liking this idea.

“I knew you’d love it! And that sounds really, really good!” Sparkella cheered as she gave me a quick kiss, with a hurried explanation. “A sweet kiss for a beautiful idea and for Nightmare Night.”

I blushed heavily as well as I returned it, giving a small grin. “It’s only fair you get one in return then, especially since it was originally your idea.”

We would’ve been left in peace and enjoyed tonight like a couple, but it seemed that our friends were really interested in being with us. Kinda put a small damper on the couple thing, but I couldn’t really be that mad at our friends.

“Twilight, Twilight! Look at our haul! Ah! Can you believe it?” Pinke excitedly showed off her pretty full bag before pecking it all down, continuing on without a problem, “And then, we went to Cheerilee's house, and got a bunch more goodies. Didn't we, Pip?”

“Sure did!” Pipsqueak nodded as I noticed Dash sneaking up in a thundercloud.

“And then, we had to stop and wait for Granny Smith, and-” Pinkie was interrupted by a lightning bolt striking right behind her, making her squawk like a chicken and run away, with the foals following suit.

“Seriously Dash, not cool. Not cool at all.” I gave a pointed look at the laughing Dash.

“Lighten up, old-timer. This is the best night of the year for pranks!” Dash unapologetically cackled still.

“He’s right you know, Rainbow Dash! You could’ve seriously harmed someone!” Sparkella berated Dash.

“Oh come on, it’s all in good fun.” Dash waved a hoof before looking off in the distance. “Oh! Oh! There's another group over there!”

Right before she went off, I gave a small grin before flapping my wings really hard, making Dash go wildly off course and crash into a different and bigger cloud.

“Remember, it’s the best night of the year for pranks!” I parroted back snarkily, giving a small chuckle as Sparkella glared at me.

“Do you really need to encourage her?” Sparkella crossly stated.

I gave a small shrug. “She’s a pegasi, it’ll wear off easily. Plus, she said it, not me. I would also like to point out that now she has to get a new bit of could if she want to continue the prank, or just land and go trick or treating like the other ponies. And since she just landed in a bunch of cloud…”

Sparkella rolled her eyes a bit as she marched along. “Still… please don’t do that.”

“Yes my dearest lady!” I grinned, making Sparkella shake her head with a smile as we continued onwards.

We soon caught up with Spike, who was busy gorging himself on as much candy as he could possibly stomach. He was over by AJ, who was at the apple-bobbing stand and looked like she was dressed up as a scarecrow. I got the feeling it was a reference to something, but to what I really didn’t know.

“Happy Nightmare Night, Applejack!” Sparkella called out as we got closer.

She noticed and waved back with a wide grin. “Howdy Med! Hey, Twi! Nice costume.”

“Which one of us were you referring to? I asked confusedly.

“I think she means me, Medi.” Sparkella smiled as AJ chuckled.

“Well with that beard, I reckon you're some sorta country music singer, Twi. As for Med there, you kinda look like someone outta ancient Canterlot or somethin.” AJ critiqued.

Sparkella gave an annoyed grunt as I gave a small chuckle, teasing Sparkella only a little. “Told you something like this would happen.”

“No, you said nursing home, I remember quite clearly.” Sparkella firmly rebuffed.

AJ snickered a bit before interrupting us. “While y'all are here, ya' feel like bobbin' for an apple?”

We looked over and saw Carrot Top and Derpy Hooves bobbing for apples. Hilariously though, it seemed Derpy had found the plug for the tub and drained the colored water. We gave a small chuckle at the sight before noticing the crowd at the platform, and Mayor Mare about to give a small speech… while dressed as a clown.

“Thank you, everypony, and welcome to the Nightmare Night festival!” Mayor Mare called out as everyone cheered, pausing the speech for a moment before continuing onwards, “Now, all the little ponies who have been out collecting sweets should follow our friend Zecora to hear the legend of... Nightmare Moon!”

“Spooky voice might work better if she wasn't dressed like that.” Spike deadpanned while Mayor Mare tried to laugh maniacally.

Sparkella and I could help but get a small giggle out of that, as it was a valid point. Then Zecora took the stage and told the tale of Nightmare Moon. I know that this is just a retelling of how my day went, but honestly, I don’t think I need to write down every little thing Zecora said, even if it was done in some very good rhymes. Wait… nevermind, I can just list it out, without the audience participation. One sec… gotta remember it…

Ah here, we are! This is how it went:

Listen close, my little dears.

I'll tell you where you got your fears.

While it is quite dark and scary…

Nightmare Moon should make you wary.

Every year, we put on a disguise.

In order to save ourselves from her searching eyes.

But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing.

And that’s to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!

Hungrily, she soars the sky!

If she sees nopony, she passes by.

So if she comes and all is clear.

Equestria is safe another year!

“How come we still need to give her some candy?” You might ask my friend

For Nightmare Moon you must not offend.

Fill up her belly with a treat or two.

So she won't return to come eat you!

I think that’s how it went. Or at least paraphrased. In any case, after she had finished her rhymes, we all noticed a figure coming down at us while Pinkie and the other little fillies and colts dumped out all of their candy. Once it got closer, Pinkie explained it perfectly and in such a calm and reasonable manner. That is, what normally constitutes as calm and reasonable for Pinkie.

“It's Nightmare Moon! Run!” Pinkie shrieked as she, along with the foals and Zecora, ran back towards town.

“Do… do you really think it’s… her?” I whispered urgently to Sparkella.

“I don’t know… but we better get to town quickly, just in case it is.” Sparkella replied as we both hurried back to town, with a frightened Spike in tow.

When we arrived though, while everyone was bowing, Sparkella smiled and spoke softly as I looked a little relieved. “Princess Luna!”

Luna seemed to notice everyone kowtowing to her, and approached everyone, while Spike managed to pull us down, looking fearful. Honestly, couldn’t he tell that… well… then again, Spike was on a sugar rush, and had already been frightened before. Plus, Luna did look pretty intimidating, especially once she spoke up in what I assume was the proper Royal Voice back 1,000 years ago.

“CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! WE HAVE GRACED YOUR TINY VILLAGE WITH OUR PRESENCE, SO THAT YOU MAY BEHOLD THE REAL PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT! A CREATURE OF NIGHTMARES NO LONGER, BUT INSTEAD A PONY WHO DESIRES YOUR LOVE AND ADMIRATION! TOGETHER WE SHALL CHANGE THIS DREADFUL CELEBRATION INTO A BRIGHT AND GLORIOUS FEAST!” Luna roared, scaring and making the audience retreat, not that I blame them.

“Did you hear that, everypony? Nightmare Moon says she's gonna feast on us all!” Pinkie fearfully thought out loud, causing more panic.

“What? No, children, no! You no longer have reason to fear us! Screams of delight is what your princess desires, not screams of terror!” She stomped her hoof angrily as she turned to the Mayor, her voice this time quieter than before. “Madame Mayor, thy Princess of the Night hath arrived.”

As she pointed at the Mayor, and her assistant, I shook my head a little, starting to speak up before Spike quickly slapped a claw over my mouth. I really wanted to be a little child and lick his scale, but I felt mature enough to not do that. However, if I accidentally sang the ever popular ditty I Know A Song ad nauseum while he was nearby… well… no one can truly blame me.

“What is the matter with you? Very well, then. Be that way. We won't even bother with the traditional royal farewell.” Luna pouted with as much dignity as she could muster, walking off as everypony fearfully got back up and continued the festival with trepidation.

Sparkella looked out at where Luna had left, looking pretty determined. “I'm gonna go talk to her.”

“I would be in total agreement with you, Sparkella.” I smiled a little at her.

Spike looked at us as though we were crazy, saying nearly such as well. “You can't talk to her! She's Nightmare Moon!”

“No, she's not. We saw the Elements of Harmony change her back to good. But it seems like she's having some trouble adjusting after being gone for a thousand years.” Sparkella countered as we made our way forward.

“Besides Spike. I’m confident in Sparkella’s abilities to help us in the off chance that you are right.” I soothed, making Sparkella blush a little and shake her head at me, leading me to continue on. “What? It’s true!”

After a small bit of giggling from Sparkella and an eye roll and a more relieved look from Spike, we soon caught up with Luna. It seemed she decided to sit down in front of a statue depicting… Nightmare Moon. Well… good timing for the holiday and the statue, not so good reminder for Luna. Nevertheless, we got close enough to speak normally to her.

Sparkella led off with a warm smile. “Princess Luna? Hi, my name is-”

Luna quickly turned around at the sound of her voice, looking at Sparkella and I with appraisal, cutting her off in the process. “Star Swirl the Bearded. Commendable costume! Thou even got the bells right. And it seems you are accompanied by none other than Beethooven thyself!”

“Thank you! Finally! Somepony who gets my costume!” Sparkella and I spoke in unison, giving each other a small weird look and giggle before noticing the expression of sadness on Luna’s face, as I let Sparkella continue on, “Uh, we just came to welcome you to our celebration! My actual name is-”

“Twilight Sparkle and your companion is Medley Royalwind.” Luna remarked before turning on her Royal Voice again. “IT WAS THYSELVES WHO UNLEASHED THE POWERS OF HARMONY UPON US AND TOOK AWAY OUR DARK POWERS!”

“And that was a good thing... right?” I meekly asked.

“But of course. We could not be happier. Is that not clear?” Luna spoke at a normal volume again, though it still sounded like she was yelling at us.

“Well, you kinda sound like you're yelling at us…” Sparkella parroted my thoughts exactly.

“But this is the traditional royal Canterlot voice! It is tradition to speak using the royal "we", and to use…” Oh great, more Royal Voice. “THIS MUCH VOLUME WHEN ADDRESSING OUR SUBJECTS!”

You know, that might explain why your appearance was met with... mixed results.” Sparkella deduced.

“I think if you just changed your approach a bit, you might be met with a warmer reception.” I added on with a small nod, not risking getting any closer in case she was angry at that.

“CHANGE OUR APPROACH?” Luna questioned in her Voice still.

“Lower the volume?” I politely suggested.

“Ohhh. We have been locked away for a thousand years. We are... not sure we can.” Luna hesitatingly answered.

“Well…” Sparkella turned to me with a small smile. “Thankfully, we have two ponies who can most definitely help with that. There’s Fluttershy, who’s delicate and demure with the sweetest little voice. Or… we can go with Medi here, since he’s used to not being able to shout at all.”

“Is this true, Royalwind?” She turned to me with an unreadable expression.

I gave a small, sad nod as I explained. “I’m sure if you looked in the Canterlot medical records of recent times, I’ll be in there somewhere? That crazy mare was the reason I nearly lost my voice at all. Heck, just to be able to talk like I am right now means I have to constantly use a voice amplifier. If I short it out, I become a lot like Shy, except maybe less sweet and demure.”

Sparkella shook her head firmly as she looked at me. “I think you’d still sound so sweet…”

I smiled back at her before I heard a small cough from Luna, indicating that perhaps it was time to move along and not be distracted by my very beautiful, dazzling, adorable… gah, focus, right!

“A-Anyways… here’s me when I sound NORMAL!” I shouted the last word, hearing a fizzle as I coughed, continuing on with a soft whisper. “Like so… This is me normally. What we need to find is a middle range between my extreme low and your extreme high.”

“HOW IS…” Luna tried it, sounding just like a normal yell now. “This?”

I nodded and grinned. “Already showing improvements. Let’s see if you can go a little lower though.”

“How... about... now?” Luna sounded out, still practically yelling it.

“Well… it’s at least consistent. Just a little lower more please.” I squeaked as loud as I could with a whispery voice.

“And... how about now?” Luna spoke in a normal tone, looking eager.

“Yes! Well done.” Sparkella congratulated Luna.

“I THANK THEE, DEAR MEDLEY! OUR NORMAL SPEAKING VOICE SHALL SURELY WIN US THE HEARTS OF THY FELLOW VILLAGERS!” Luna boomed with her Voice, pulling me with a magical grip as she hugged me tightly, almost breaking a rib with how powerful her hug was.

“Twilight! You've gotta hide us! Nightmare Moon is here and…” She squawked like a chicken in fear as she saw my predicament. “Ah! She stole Med's voice so he can't scream when she gobbles him up!”

As she and the foals ran in terror… again… Luna called out to them in a vain hope. “NAY, CHILDREN, WAIT! I… I mean... nay, children, no, wait.”

Sparkella applied the speaking spell on me as she rubbed her chin in thought, then looking like she had an idea. “Come on, princess. Time for plan B.”

Curious as to where Sparkella was going with this, we both followed her back into town. At this point, should it really be worth mentioning that once ponies saw Luna they instantly bowed in fear and wouldn’t look up? Since that seemed to be the general reaction tonight.

“It is of no use. They have never liked us and they never shall.” Luna looked down with a hurt expression and a frown.

“Our friend Applejack is one of the most likable ponies around. I'm sure she'll have some ideas.” Sparkella confidently answered as we approached AJ.

AJ, it seemed, was making sure Pipsqueak didn’t fall into the apple bobbing tub before turning around, copying the rest of the townsfolk in quickly bowing and looking down in fear. I lightly facehoofed myself at the action, because seriously, AJ SAW Luna turn good! Whatever, I guess it’s just the holiday spirit gone too far.

“Uh... Applejack, the princess is looking for a little advice on how to fit in around here.” Sparkella didn’t looked amused as she whispered to AJ.

“Fit in? Really?” AJ looked at Sparkella before wincing a bit at the glare she got, quickly talking on and sounding a lot more supportive of the idea. “I mean... that's easy! All you gotta do is have the right attitude. Loosen up a bit, be positive, play a few games, have some fun.”

“Fun? What is this "fun" thou speakest of?” Luna questioned before we pointed at the spider tossing game, letting her walk over and ask inquisitively, “Pray tell, what purpose do these serve?”

“Try to land the sp-sp-spiders on the web.” The attendant fearfully pointed out with a hoof.

“You can do it, princess!” AJ cheered on as Luna tossed a spider.

While the first time was a complete fail, the second one looked like it was a dead-on hit. The surprised looks on everyone’s faces was something to behold, clearing through the fear that the other ponies were feeling. It looked like we were even getting a crowd going as Luna excitedly chattered.

“Ha! Your princess enjoys this "fun"! In what other ways may we experience it?” Luna eagerly asked.

We all had a small grin at each other before heading over to the pumpkin catapult station. While we had some fearful and confused looks, we soon got a pumpkin locked and loaded.

“Fire away, princess.” I called out as best I could.

“Ha ha! The fun has been doubled!” Luna called out as everyone cheered, being a lot more comfortable with her now.

“Why don't you try bobbin' for apples? We got the best apples in Equestria here, princess.” AJ lightly suggested.

“I ask that thou call us... me... Luna, fair Applejack. Hear me, villagers! All of you! Call me Luna!” Luna announced happily to a crowd of positive, murmuring ponies, who followed us to the apple bobbing station. “Show me to these bobbing apples.”

Unfortunately, it seems the siren call of the apple bobbing tub was too much for Pipsqueak, who landed right in the tub. Luna hurried over to him to quickly fish him out. And you’d never be surprised who showed up just in time to make things worse. That’s right… Pinkie came by, mistook the situation, and everyone fled again, landing Luna right back at square one. To be honest, I felt a little sorry for her, especially as she tried desperately to regain the affection from earlier. It all came to a head though as she spoke in her Royal Voice once more.

“Princess, remember! Watch the screaming!” Sparkella reminded Luna.

“NO, TWILIGHT SPARKLE! WE MUST USE THE TRADITIONAL ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE FOR WHAT WE ARE ABOUT TO SAY. SINCE YOU CHOOSE TO FEAR YOUR PRINCESS RATHER THAN LOVE HER, AND DISHONOR HER WITH THIS INSULTING CELEBRATION, WE DECREE THAT NIGHTMARE NIGHT SHALL BE CANCELLED! FOREVER!” Luna proclaimed, with thunder and lightning to back her up before she disappeared.

AJ sighed as she looked about along with us. “Shoot. We had everything goin' our way. Luna was happy, everypony in town was happy, now look at 'em.”

We could see an untold amount of fillies and colts looking so distraught over the cancelling of the holiday. Honestly, I kinda felt sad about it too. It really was one of my favorite holidays, the one time of the year I could play my scary music and have everyone be enjoying it. I gave a small growl as I looked around.

“Where is that bird-brained friend of ours? Because right now, she’s been the reason every single time that Luna’s progress gets shattered.” I huffed angrily.

“Med! Honestly! Don’tcha ya know Pinkie by now? She’s probably thinkin’ it’s all in good fun or somethin’ and ain’t realizin’ that it’s just Luna, not Nightmare Moon!” AJ scolded me.

I gave another huff, but couldn’t refute that point. I turned around to see what my Sparkella was up to, but it seems she thought of something and ran off. I sighed a little as well, looking over at the equipment I had all set up for later tonight for the adults.

“Well… might as well make sure everything’s working just fine. If this is the last Nightmare Night, I’m gonna go out on a bang. If for some reason it’s not… it’ll just be a normal, epic night instead.” I grinned before getting to work.

After some amount of time, I could see the fillies and colts from before following Zecora and AJ with their sacks of candy. Being a bit curious, and honestly not hearing them earlier, I decided to tag along with the group to see what it was all about. Arriving at the statue of Nightmare Moon made me remember that we had to leave an offering of candy for her. I gave a small, sad smile as they reluctantly placed their candy down, Pipsqueak being last.

“Goodbye, Nightmare Night. Forever.” Pipsqueak morosely stated before starting to leave.

He was interrupted, as were the rest of us, by howling winds and an eerily familiar voice. “Citizens of Ponyville! You were wise to bring this candy to me. I am pleased with your offering. So pleased that I may just eat it... instead of eating you!”

We all then the statue of Nightmare Moon brought to life. And… OK, yeah, I may have screamed loudly like everyone else and was paralyzed in place, looking horrified. It was only lessened when Nightmare Moon shrunk down to Luna, who spat out a fake set of vampire teeth.

“I am not certain that did what you meant for it to do, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna noted as she looked at me.

“Just wait… Oh dear Celestia!” Sparkella panicked as she noticed me. “I’m really sorry sweetie!”

“I’m… OK… spell please?” I managed to eek out.

Sparkella nodded as I eventually got to speak and move again. Thinking back on it, that was a really excellent prank to pull, making me grin widely. Before Luna could comment any further either way, Pipsqueak came up to Luna and tugged at her a little, getting her attention.

“Um... Princess Luna? I know there's not gonna be any more Nightmare Night, but do you suppose maybe you could come back next year and scare us again anyway?” Pipsqueak innocently asked.

“Child. Art thou saying that thou... likest me to scare you?” Luna questioned confusedly.

“It's really fun! Scary, but fun!” Pipsqueak nodded eagerly.

“It… is?” Luna repeated in the same tone of voice.

“I do have to say, that was one of the best scares pulled off during Nightmare Night. Plus, I think I can say for Pipsqueak here when I say it’s one of my favorite nights.” I spoke up, grinning widely as Pipsqueak nodded once again, this time in agreement with me.

“Well then. We shall have to bring NIGHTMARE NIGHT BACK!” Luna proclaimed once more.

“Whoa! You're my favorite princess ever!” He ran back to the foals, who were nearby. “She said yes everyone!”

As the foals cheered, Sparkella came up beside Luna with a wide smile. “See? They really do like you, princess.”

“Can it be true? OH, MOST WONDERFUL OF-” She stopped herself, looking a little embarrassed before continuing on like normal. “I mean... Oh, most wonderful of nights.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle some more as Sparkella took a letter while Luna went into town. This Nightmare Night would certainly be one of the more memorable ones Ponyville’s ever had, by far. Especially with the ups and downs and everything in between when it involved Luna and Nightmare Night. Though near the end of Sparkella’s dictation, I could see Dash trying to scare her with another thunderclap. It seemed though that someone else beat her to the punch, as a bolt of lightning went off right behind Dash, making her flee as I looked closer while Sparkella turned around. To our minor surprise, and to much laughter, it was none other than Luna, presumably getting back at Dash who did the same to her.

“Hey, Princess Luna? Before the night ends, there’s a special little hour for the stallions and colts to have their own Nightmare Night. I got a few songs loaded up, so I gotta go and take care of that. Wanna come with and hear it?” I offered.

“We think that would be a splendid idea. Lead back the way.” Luna nodded happily.

I chuckled as we went back to the festival, and sure enough, all the kids were gone for the night, including Spike, who had gone home with a huge pile of candy to munch through. I gave a devious grin as I got on the stage, looking out at everypony.

“Alright, mares and stallions of all ages! It’s time to start Grown-Up Nightmare Night the only way I know how! And that’s to sing a special little tune that’ll haunt you good!” I announced into a microphone.

“Hopefully you got something good this time!” Dash taunted from the back of the crowd.

“I can promise you… that this tune will be sending shivers down your spine.” I chuckled evilly as I started up the song, choosing to play the piano this time to make a more haunting melody. And with that done, I can definitely say… Best. Nightmare Night. EVER!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14b2aoH9Igw

End of Chapter 4

The Doctor Is In, Out, And All About

View Online

To Bring About Chaos

The Doctor Is In, Out, And All About

It seems like I could never catch a break, huh? Is it always too much to ask for a normal day? But nevertheless, I woke up to a splitting headache and a crash out of bed. Practically routine by now, at least the crashing out of bed. The headache was surprisingly new though. After managing to get down the stairs, I heard a hurried knock at the door.

Sparkella was at the door, looking both excited and frantic. “Medi! Medi! Come on, I have to show you something!”

“Mmph… Sparkella… I just got up…” I muttered tiredly.

It seems she didn’t listen to me, as I soon felt myself being dragged by magic as Sparkella went on happily. “I think I found out how to fix your voice for good now!”

That got my attention immediately. “Wait… really?! Awesome!”

I quickly flew by her side as we stormed into her home, heading down the stairs, only to come across… someone new? It looked like Sparkella wasn’t expecting him either, as she readied her magic, just in case. She also started to approach him cautiously, while I noticed that his own cutie mark was… an hourglass?

“Who are you? And what are you doing in my private lab?” Sparkella pressed.

“Oh! Terribly sorry. I thought I heard a commotion going on earlier today, and I simply had to investigate it. I do hope you don’t mind if I snoop a little.” A very Canterlot-ish voice popped up, surprising me a little.

“Yes, actually. I do. This is my private research, and some are special projects for Princess Celestia herself.” Sparkella coolly stated.

The pony turned around, looking rather confused. “Really? Hm, I do suppose it was rather rude of me to presume otherwise. Apologies!”

I came up next to Sparkella, nuzzling her lightly to calm her down enough as I got a better look at him. He seemed to be an Earth Pony, with a dark brown mane and a lighter brown fur coat. What was also unusual about him was the green bowtie on him.

“None taken… so long as you didn’t mess with anything of hers. But sometimes, you have to keep back your curiosity.” I replied smoothly.

“Well, I do say! I nearly forgot to give my own name! I am the Doctor, though my companion has recently started to call me ‘Doctor Whooves’, for some odd reason.” The… Doctor? Replied.

“Doctor? Doctor of what exactly? And what is your real name?” Sparkella brusquely asked.

“Oh… er…” He took a while to reply before coming up with something. “Astrology. And my name’s not that important. Tell me, what do you think of this odd mixture brewing here?”

Deflecting the question of the name, I looked over to where he was pointing. Indeed, it looked pretty odd for a potion of some sort. I turned to Sparkella with a raised eyebrow. It looked like she was slowly getting more and more angry about this strange pony who barged in and started asking random questions. She then noticed where he was pointing as well and quickly remembered why she dragged me out of bed, giving a wide grin.

“Oh, that’s right! Medi, I’ve been able to study on the side for a while now, and after making a request of one of Starswirl the Bearded works, I think I managed to make a potion that will restore your voice!” Sparkella giddly spoke.

“Wait… is this true?” Oh come on, he was still there! “One moment, I think I might have something that will fix you up in a jiffy.”

“What are you talking… a… bout?” Sparkella trailed off as he pulled out some strange looking device from his mane.

“Jolly good. Now, let’s take a look-see here, shall we?” Doctor Whooves muttered as he pointed it at me, looking like he was scanning me before giving a small cry of success. “Aha! Well now. It seems you’re quite the conundrum there! Seemingly two different set of memories, though one seems a lot more faint than the other. Current health signs are a positive, except for where your vocal folds are located.They seem to have taken quite the magical damage… and are still afflicted with it? But that’s not possible… unless… ah, of course, voice magnification spell! Brilliant work around!”

“Um… what?” Sparkella and I spoke in a confused unison at the doctor’s ramblings.

“I don’t know whether my sonic screwdriver can patch you up… but I do believe I can easily come up with something to fix it! After all, the last thing your vocal folds need is more magic.” He waved a hoof as he stored the… sonic screwdriver… back in his mane.

“Now hang on!” Sparkella cried out angrily. “I already have the solution ready to go, and I know perfectly well what damage he happened to get! I think we don’t need some technological supplement when magic has the answer!”

“And that is where I think you’re wrong, Ms. Sparkle. After all, magic was the CAUSE of the problem in the first place. We needn’t make it worse off than it currently is.” Doctor Whooves argued.

“Um… everypony? Maybe we should settle down a bit…?” I meekly piped up, only to be ignored as they stood face to face with each other.

“What’s so wrong with magic anyways? I bet you that magic can do anything science can do, but better!” Sparkella challenged.

“And I think magic is nothing more than highly advanced and unknown science, which makes your argument completely invalid! I accept!” Doctor Whooves shouted in agreement.

I facehoofed lightly as I stepped in between them. “Doc, Sparkella, mind if I actually have a say in this?”

“Hmph. Fine…” Sparkella reluctantly backed down.

“If you both are so insistent on this, why don’t we hold a contest with three pieces involved. One that magic can do easily, and where science has to try and replicate, the reverse of that, and then one thing where science and magic have a level playing field so that neither has an advantage. I will pick the third challenge, Twilight will pick the first, and the good Doctor can pick the second. Does this sound agreeable?” I looked to each of them, getting a small nod from each as I sighed. “Wonderful. Since it’s clear neither of you will back down on your claims, this is the only solution I can think of to let this all go peacefully. Tomorrow will be the magic challenge, the next day the science challenge, and the final day the even challenge. You both will have one hour now to think of what your challenge will be. Twilight, you have to tell him what he will need to do tomorrow to give him a fighting chance. Doctor Whooves, you will do the same tomorrow. Once the first two are done, I will tell you my own challenge. Now then… Doctor? Can you please leave?”

He quickly fled after hearing that last bit, making Sparkella grumble angrily at him. “First he invades my house, and then he says that science is better than magic…”

“Wait… aren’t you a scientist on the side?” I asked, remembering that little detail.

She scowled a little. “It’s not the same. I don’t try to prove that magic is science or that magic pales in comparison.”

I got the feeling she was blowing this out out of proportion that normally Dash would’ve done, or even AJ on an off day. Then again… it was a pretty bold claim to make to say that magic was just advanced science, especially with someone who worked very closely with magic. I knew that technology could do some good… but also bad. And… is it weird to say you don’t know a reason even when it’s a good one? Because that’s what it felt like. And… yep, that’s the headache coming on from thinking about this so hard. One sec.

Ah, OK, back to writing. After about an hour, Twilight had come up with her challenge, and I soon found where the Doctor lived to make a fly-by delivery outlining what he needed to do. Soon enough, it was the next day, and both ponies came out, glaring daggers at one another. This time though, it seems the Doc brought along a familiar face.

“Derpy? What brings you out and about here?” I asked curiously.

“Huh?” She looked around for a moment before catching me in her sight, giving a small happy wave of her hoof. “Oh, hiya there Medley! The Doctor said something about a competition because of Twilight, so I had to come along and make sure he was alright. I’m really sorry about all this… I really had muffins on the brain, and I guess I lost sight of him.”

I waved a hoof silently, accepting the apology as Doctor Whooves spoke in a tense voice. “So… you want to go through with this, don’t you?”

“You bet.” She tersely replied as her horn activated, creating the challenge ahead.

“Alright, let’s review to make sure everyone’s on the same hoof here. The purpose of this challenge is to find your way to the top of the tower, using only these thin sheets of metal and pieces of wood. Anything is permitted, except messing with the other’s challenge, and of course, and sort of violence. This is meant to be a clean competition. Are both of you ready?” I pointedly noted, getting two nods as I looked to Derpy.

“Wait… I get to be the countdown mare? Yay!” She grinned before looking adorably serious. “3… 2… 1… Muffin!”

It took both of them a moment before realizing that was her way of saying ‘Go!’, and quickly went to work. And I have to admit… it was a pretty good challenge, if only favored towards the more magical approach. Sparkella quickly started to form a rising platform, using her magic to hold in place the metal and wood. The Doctor, meanwhile, used his strange device on the metal, making it form into a platform for him while desperately working on the wood, mumbling something about it not working on wood. In the end though, Sparkella won, hooves down.

“And the winner is… Twilight Sparkle!” Derpy called out as The Doctor huffed.

As Sparkella looked a little smug, the Doctor turned to her with a small grin. “While that may have been close, I have the most ingenious idea for your own challenge tomorrow. I made sure to design it in such a way that requires advanced knowledge of science.”

“Oh it is on, Doctor Whooves!” Sparkella grinned.

Sure enough, the next day, a new challenge was made up and I explained once more, with now a bigger crowd than before. “Alright, telling the challenge so that neither side thinks of one thing over another. The purpose of this exercise is to escape from a locked box that is wrapped with 5 locked chains that prevent simple teleportation and are resistant to magic. The first out wins, and if half an hour passes without exiting the box, I have the keys to unlock all the chains. Are both parties ready?”

They both gave a nod as they got inside, Derpy and I locking the boxes up as the chains glowed lightly.

“Alright… 3… 2.. 1… Go!” I sharply spoke, and soon the chains could be heard rustling.

I must admit, it was a pretty clever idea to have chains that blocked teleporting out of them. Though it made me wonder where he even got those kinds of chains in the first place, and also why he would ever feel the need to get them as well. I then shook my head a bit, looking forward to who would win this challenge. It was a pretty quick one this time, as the Doctor walked out while pocketing his strange device things. Meanwhile, Sparkella, who had just managed to break to unlock the last chain by levitating the keys over and slowly finding each lock, took an extra 10 minutes to get herself out.

“Aaaand the Doc wins this challenge.” I announced as Doctor Whooves looked even more smug than Sparkella was yesterday.

“Told you that’d be a bloody good challenge.” Doctor Whooves grinned at Sparkella, who looked royally ticked off.

“Hey now, you two. Please, no trying to fight with each other.” I warned, making both of them step down a bit as I continued on. “Tomorrow will be the final challenge, and this time, I’m the one who will give it. And since I already know what I want you both to do, I can just say it here and now.”

“Oh goodie! The last one obviously must be suited to a scientific mind like myself.” Doctor Whooves bragged.

“Hah, as if! Obviously it’ll involve something very magical, since he knows and likes me a lot more than you!” Sparkella hotly shot back.

I face-hoofed yet again as I shook my head. “No, neither. Instead… you both will be required to give a proper definition of what you think your opposite is. That means Twilight dear, you will have to properly explain science, and Doctor Whooves, you’ll have to properly explain magic.”

“It’s on!” They both called out before running off to their respective homes, leaving me in the dust as I shook my head slowly.

“Quite the interesting turn of pace to see Twilight like this.” Rarity commented as my friends approached me while everyone else kinda went back to what they were doing.

“No kiddin’! When Trixie came, she was more modest than anypony I knew, ‘cept maybe Shy. But seein’ her this riled up in defense of her magic is kinda new.” AJ threw in her own two bits.

“Why do I get the feeling that tomorrow will not be pleasant for me at all?” I muttered.

“Probably because you put Doctor Who up against Twilight.” Pinkie shrugged and grinned. “Fan service at it’s finest! At least those who watch the show!”

“Um… Pinkie? What in Equestria are you talking about?” Dash asked, speaking for all of us confused ponyfolk.

“Oh nothing! Oh I just remembered I gotta make some more cakes see you girls and Med soon bye!” Pinkie rambled before zooming off.

We all gave a collective shrug at her strange way of speaking, used to it at this point, and went home, wondering how the day would turn out tomorrow. But sure enough, it seemed like everyone in Ponyville had gathered, and it was all set up to look like a debate between two political opponents, with Sparkella on one side and Doctor Whooves on the other side.

“Alright you two. You will take turns to make your argument. Please do not interrupt the other pony’s argument, for the love of LaurFastia.” A nod from both of them confirmed everything. “Alright then. 3… 2… 1… Debate! Twi, you’re first!”

Sparkella nodded as she launched into her own speech. For the life of me, I cannot remember the entire speech she gave on science, but what I do remember taking away from it all was that science was a suitable alternative for those that couldn’t access magic for one reason or another, but tended to be unreliable even at the best of times. She finished with a scathing remark about how science didn’t exactly replicate sentience.

The Doctor, in turn, gave a harsh critique of magic, calling it a shiny distraction and a waste of time in some cases. He noted that most uses of magic and spells were mainly for frivolity, and didn’t exactly go out of it’s way to try and be useful in any way like science could. He then ended on his own remark saying that not everyone could use magic, so science was clearly the better option of the two for everypony.

It seemed like both sides were waiting for the other to finish their arguments before immediately launching into a near shouting match. At this point, I was getting kind of ticked off at just how out of character this was for Sparkella. I understood that this was magic, and that he didn’t exactly leave a good first impression, but dear LaurFastia! She was really going at it while trying to defend magic at the same time. Soon enough, it started to slightly veer off into personal details territory, and that is where I finally put my hoof down and really let them have it.

“ENOUGH!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT YOU TWO ARE ACTING LESS MATURE THAN THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS RIGHT NOW! YOU ARE TWO, FULLY GROWN, ADULT PONIES, THAT ARE ONE OF THE HIGHEST IN YOUR RESPECTIVE CATEGORIES! THERE IS NO NEED TO GET PERSONAL, AND YOU BOTH SHOULD BE SO ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES FOR TRYING TO EVEN ATTEMPT SUCH A THING! THINK BEFORE SPEAKING!” I shouted as loud as I possibly could, looking like I was making everyone’s ears ringing before I felt something completely shut down.

Sparkella looked so hurt and ashamed, while the Doctor looked pretty worn down himself. It seems it finally caught up to them what they were doing, and from how they were standing just a moment ago, they were ready to start pulling kicks and punches.

I tried to continue on peacefully, but found myself unable to speak, even in a whispery voice. Again and again I tried, still with no results. Now I was starting to panic, and while in hindsight, it did look kinda funny with how I looked while silently yelling in panic, it was still so damn terrifying. I was starting to have flashbacks to when I was at Canterlot Hospital and had just been attacked by that crazed mare, and let me tell you, it is… fucking terrifying to go from being able to speak to losing it, especially if it’s only being repeated recently.

“Oh my goddess… Medi? Medi, are you alright?” Sparkella quickly rushed down to me, casting what looked like diagnostic spells over me.

“Oh dear, oh dear, no no no no…” Doctor Whooves mumbled as he ran down as well, checking me out with his sonic screwdriver before paling, speaking up. “Erm… it seems you… um… possibly have a worse condition than before? Most likely brought on by excessive use earlier…”

“You… you stay away from my Medi.” Sparkella growled a little, turning to the Doc with her horn alight. “Ever since you trespassed into my home and tried to tear down my life’s work, you’ve done nothing but cause trouble.”

“Oh, so this is all my fault, is it?” Doctor Whooves challenged, looking her squarely in the eyes as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver. “I’ve faced down many creatures with far greater technology than can be even dreamed of. If anything, you’re making a mockery of science, only using it to support your own form of science and nothing else! It was also you who went along with turning this into a competition to see who was better.”

“And you still accepted it!” Sparkella accused, looking even more angry than before.

It was times like these that I wished I had my voice. Which is a new statement, considering that I normally would be able to whisper. Still, I thought I would be able to stop this from breaking out into yet another debate and/or fight again, just this time be very direct with body language. And with that, I stood firmly in between them, looking cross as I spread my wings as far out as they could be. I was sick and tired of all the fighting that was happening, and just wanted an end to this.

“Medi…” Sparkella looked angrily. “Please dear, move away.”

“For once, I’m in agreement with Miss Sparkle. Please move.” The Doctor asked frimley.

As I shook my head, Sparkella and the Doc both yelled at me at the same time. “Move aside!”

As I held my ground, the rest of my friends came up, looking out of sorts.

“Twi, honestly, I think this has gone on far ‘nough!” AJ called out.

“Med just lost his voice completely, and what is this all trying to prove anyways?” Dash challenged.

“I…” Sparkella angrily looked at them before sighing, slumping defeatedly. “You’re right, girls… I’ve been way too worked up and angry about this…”

“Doc! I thought you knew better than to try and needle others with your insistence on sciencey stuff!” Derpy went over to the Doc, looking pretty angry herself. “Now, what do you say you got out of all this? Was this all worth it?”

“I… er…” The Doctor seemed to go through the same thing, reluctantly bowing his head. “...not… really…”

I nudged my head at both of them, with a cross look in my eyes. This had gone on for far too long, but at least now amends could be made.

“I’m… sorry for what I said… and made you go through.” Sparkella started off first.

“And for my part, I apologize for my own attack on you and your own talents.” Doctor Whooves mumbled out loud enough for us all to hear.

Sparkella then reached a hoof out. “I know we might never agree on which is better… but I think I can admit that science has done more good than what I initially said.”

Doctor Whooves looked at Derpy for a split second, who was looking at him intently, before shaking her hoof, reluctantly responding. “And I also suppose in this world filled with magic, sometimes science isn’t always needed to fix a problem when a magical solution is quicker and easier to apply.

Sparkella nodded before looking at me worryingly. “I… I’m sorry I made you lose your voice… Medi…” She teared up a little before quickly and tightly hugging me.

I simply gave a gentle hug back, patting her lightly with a small smile. While I couldn’t speak, I know I would’ve said something about it being alright, so long as she learned her lesson from this and didn’t try it again.

“Wait a tick… don’t you still have that “potion” from a few days back?” Doctor Whooves brought up.

It was like a switch flipped for Sparkella. She instantly looked up, remembering it suddenly with a nod. Quickly pulling me into her magical grasp, she sped off towards the library with me in tow, making everypony else run along behind us, with the exception of Dash.

“Wait, what potion? Twi, what did you do exactly?” Dash asked.

“It was a potion I made a few days ago to restore Medi’s voice completely! I had completely forgotten about it until now! Oh, I do hope it’s still potent…” Sparkella frettered as she made her way inside, heading down the stairs.

“Wait… he never drank it until now?!” Dash sputtered. “Why?!”

“I was so caught up with the challenges ahead, and Medi was just trying to keep me company, and it must’ve slipped out minds…” Sparkella mournfully thought back before finding the potion, which looked a bit more dull than before. “Alright Medi. Let’s see if it works still! The worst thing that could happen is that nothing happens.”

I gave a small nod as I quickly snatched up the potion, quickly guzzling it down as I felt it running through my system. Everyone had arrived when I finished the ption, giving a hacking cough at the sudden wave of taste that was flooding my mouth. Seriously, only Pinkie, Ray, or Discord could’ve thought these flavors would work well together! Bleech!

“Darling! Are you alright?” Rarity looked extremely worried as I winded down.

“Never… better…” I whispered out, making that as loud as I possibly could.

Sparkella squeed with happiness as she gave me a very tight hug. “It worked it worked it… wait… can you actually speak higher than a whisper?”

I shook my head, whispering some more. “I’m sorry, my dear… this is as loud as I can possibly get…”

“No… all this effort to get you back to normal… and all I’ve done is just return you to where you were before all of this…” Sparkella was starting to tear up again.

“Actually… hold on just a second.” Doctor Whooves pointed his sonic screwdriver thing at me again, giving a small nod as he continued on. “While you did indeed restore him to normal, I can fix up whatever damage is left. It seems your potion targeted the worst spots and now only minor spots are left in strategic places to still make him whisper.”

“Sparkella looked a little relieved before giving a hard look at The Doctor. “Will this be painful for him at all?”

“No more than the potion.” Doctor Whooves shrugged. “Besides, I feel as though I’m at partial fault here for taking things just a hair overboard. It’s literally the least I can do here.”

“Hit it, Doc.” I whispered to him with a nod and grin.

“Excellent! Now, do please hold still, and please don’t talk.” Doctor Whooves warned me before his sonic screwdriver activated.

Sure enough, I stood still, and resisted the urge to even cough, even as his screwdriver thingy went about it’s thing, patching things up and making me feel very, very dry in the throat. As soon as he put it down, I devolved into another coughing fit, making Sparkella quickly levitate over a small glass of water to wet my suddenly dry throat.

“M-Med… are you… OK now?” Shy mumbled worryingly.

“Like I said… never better.” This time, I actually spoke it, much to everyone’s surprise.

“Wait… I didn’t apply any enhancement spells… that means… Medi? Y-Your voice… it’s…?” Sparkella prompted.

“It’s… it’s all cured now! I can finally speak and shout normally!” I cried out, making everyone cheer.

Soon enough, it was a party up in Sparkella’s library, at Pinkie’s insistence on overcoming such a large obstacle. Derpy and The Doctor were both invited, as The Doctor did indeed finish up fixing my voice, even if he was the cause of me losing it entirely. And Derpy because… well… she somehow knew him well enough that he’d behave himself. I thought about asking Derpy about it, but then thought it’d be pretty rude to ask a very personal thing, so I kept my mouth shut. And on that note, I think that summarizes everything perfectly. I know that Sparkella and I cuddled after the party was all said and done, happy that we could now speak equally with each other. But otherwise… that’s all I got. At least this night, I could rest, feeling very happy about myself, and wondered what this could possibly mean in my future.

Pet-Smart, And The Pet-Adventurous

View Online

To Bring About Chaos

Pet-Smart, And The Pet-Adventurous

“Hey Med! Time to get up already, sleepyhead!” Dash called out from my window in an obnoxiously loud voice.

I glared out the window, barely raising my head to do so as I saw that shit-eating grin of hers. “Rainbow Dash… you are so lucky I am just getting up and do not have the energy to hit you with a pumped up sonic voice. Though you are giving me the temptation to do so as of right now.”

Dash just rolled her eyes and waved a hoof. “Got time to talk, got time to move it and see where everypony else is!”

“I… hate you… so much…” I grumbled as I staggered out of bed, reluctantly leaving my comfortable bed.

I’ll admit, I was being very petty as I took as much time as I could to go through my morning routine and make Dash wait an agonizingly long time. But hey, she made the mistake of waking me up so early, so I thought I was due for a little revenge on my part by making her wait longer than if she had just waited until later.

As I was going through my morning routine, I had time to think about what I was supposed to do today. I couldn’t remember if today was a teaching day or not, then realized it was a Saturday, and thus didn’t apply for once. Then I tried to think of something that I had promised Dash to do very soon, but I was coming up with a blank. When I finally finished everything, I remembered what exactly was going on today.

“Wait… today’s the Pony Pet Playdate, isn’t it?” I spoke aloud in confusion.

“The what now?” Dash looked just as confused as well.

“It’s a thing the other ladies do every weekend or so. Normally I don’t go, seeing as how I don’t have a pet and don’t really plan to. Occasionally I’ll tag along and play with Owlowiscious, but it’s just not my kind of thing, you know?”

“Yeah… kinda weird to be there on a Pony Pet Playdate if you don’t have a pet, right?” Dash agreed, looking very awkward.

“Wait… did you seriously take a nap at where the others were meeting up?” I snorted.

“Shut up!” Dash whined. “I didn’t even realize that was a thing until just today!”

I snickered at Dash’s reaction. “Aw, come on now. At least it’s not the worst thing you forgot, right?”

“You miss one weather report…” Dash grumbled.

“Dash. We needed a blizzard. In the summer.” I rolled my eyes a bit.

Any further back and forth comments were ended when we finally arrived at the area everypony was meeting up for the Pony Pet Playdate. Sure enough, everyone was with there with their pets. Sparkella with Owlowiscious, Pinkie with Gummy, Shy with Angel, AJ with Winona, and Rares with Opal. I, of course, had no pet alongside Dash, but seeing her jealous looks, I got the feeling that was about to change rather quickly. Sure enough, after some awkward tension, Dash finally burst.

“Hey, now wait a minute! Just because I don't have a pet now doesn't mean I never want a pet!” Dash came to the realization, though spoke it out loud.

That quickly got Shy’s attention, who gave an excited gasp and wide smile as she spoke on a long tangent. It was kinda funny, since for once, Shy was the one being excited and dragging Dash off towards her cottage. Dash rolled her eyes as she went with it, flapping her own wings to make it easier for Shy to take there quicker.

“Oh! Medley, did you want a pet too?” Shy smiled at me.

I chuckled as I shook my head. “Sorry Shy. I barely keep myself going as it is, I don’t think I could quite handle remembering a pet.”

It seemed this time though, Shy was extra stubborn on the issue. “I have a lot of songbirds, and I know they can easily remind you and can live quite comfortably alongside Owlowiscious.”

At that, I gave a small groan and capitulated. “Fiiiiiiiine… but I might not have them for long. I say if needed, let them live with you instead, and I can visit them.”

Shy squeaked with pure joy as she brought us back to her cottage and… she began to sing alongside Dash. I had to say, for somepony that is usually very reluctant to do anything related to singing, she had a pretty good voice. With enough work, I could make it even better, if I’m tooting my own horn here. But anyways, back to the song, it really sounded like Dash wanted a fast-flying pet to keep up with her. And of course it had to be “cool and awesome”, just like her. Of course, that led from having so little at the beginning to too many near the end. The brilliant idea to help pick a pet? A race, of all things. One to test their speed, agility, and guts. Gotta say, an impressive duet between the two, and of course recorded. Because like Tartarus I’m gonna forget a song like that.

“Oh! What did you decide on Medley?” Shy blushed as she finished the song, now noticing I was there.

“Hmmm…” I took a moment before finally settling on the parrot with a small grin. “You know what, I’m feeling…”

Dash noticed the trail-off, and nudged me. “Hey, you OK there Med?”

I blinked as I nodded. “Yeah, sure thing. Songbird please.”

Shy looked confused for a moment. “But… you were looking at the parrot, weren’t you?”

“Raawk! Looking at the parrot!” The parrot warbled back with a nod.

I shook my head. “No, I was thinking the sensible option was the songbird.”

“You’re sounding kinda weird dude. But whatever, your pet.” Dash shrugged as I got my pet.

It was apparently a female blue jay, who’s name was Lexitara. For some reason, I felt like I could both bond with and somehow not feel quite right with her. But hey, a pet is a pet. She could work very well around Owlowiscious, and could even fend for herself if needed. Now at least I could be a part of the Pony Pet Playdate alongside the other ladies. All that would be needed to be complete was Dash finding her own pet. Which, of course, included many a challenge for the birds, plus one tortoise, to complete.

All in all, it was a rather interesting experience seeing Dash line up all the pets for the first event, as though she was a drill sergeant. She even sounded like one as well, making me remember when she used to try and sneak into the Wonderbolts Academy as a filly.

“So! You all think you've got what it takes to be my pet, do ya? Well, we'll just see about that! If any of you don't think you can handle it, bow out now before you humiliate yourself in front of your peers. This competition isn't for the weak. You'd better be prepared to step up your game! You call that flapping?!” Dash stopped mid-tirade to yell at a butterfly, who flapped even harder than before in response as Dash continued. “That's better. There's only room on Team Dash for one of you, and my future pet needs to be able to take it to the extreme! Any questions?”

“I got one. Does she understand what a pet really needs?” AJ retorted quietly to the rest of us.

“Yeah, like care and attention, love and affection-” She was cut off with a lick from Winona, making a face. “Ugh! And breath mints!”

I rolled my eyes with a small smile as I saw Shy and Dash argue about the tortoise competing with everyone else. Gotta admit, it was only slightly childish, but it was Dash wanting her own pet. But after some prodding, and some adorable puppy dog eyes from Shy, Dash relented as she reluctantly accepted the tortoise as a competitor.

“Alright, now these games will determine which one of you has the most important qualities I'm looking for in a pet. Speed. Agility. Guts. Style. Coolness. Awesomeness. And radicalness.”

“I think some of those things you mentioned are in fact, the same thing.” I dryly pointed out.

“You would think that, Med. And that's why you would never qualify to be my pet.” Dash patted me on the head with a smirk.

“No, but I think that would qualify him to be my pet.” Sparkella smirked before blushing, hearing what she just said.

Everyone blinked owlishly, except for me, as my first thoughts made me blush, get a wingboner, and then promptly pass out from blood rush.

When I came too, I could hear Sparkella giggling at me, as I groaned. “Sparkella… didn’t know you were that brazen.”

“I’m really sorry Medi!” She laughed lightly. “It was a spur of the moment idea, and I finally got payback from Dash’s… insinuations from earlier.”

I rolled my eyes as Lexitara settled back on my shoulder. “Now you realize she’ll try even harder to say stuff like that.”

Sparkella blinked before groaning. “Celestia damn it…”

Now I was the one chuckling, nuzzling her lightly. “Hey now, it could always be a lot worse. Especially knowing Dash like we do.”

That got a nod from Sparkella, along with a small chuckle and smile. We soon made our way back over to where the animals were still competing, and it looked like I only really missed the beginning part of it all.

“Hey everypony. What’d I miss?” I casually tried to reintegrate myself into the action.

It looked like no pony had forgotten though, especially Rarity, who gave a light smirk as she responded. “Oh, nothing much darling. I dare say you and Twilight had a bit more fun than us.”

It’s a bad sign when even your pet is snickering at you from how much you sputter. But seriously, what the heck?! It wasn’t anything like that! Though thinking about it now… no, bad Medley, bad! No daydreaming stuff like that, at least until she’s comfortable with… GAH! One sec, be right back, need to take care of something real quick.

OK, back now and ready to continue the day as it played out. And honestly… there really wasn’t much to put down of note. Dash would go to the next section, some would perform better than others while the tortoise just tanked at everything. It eventually reached it’s ending, with a “pep talk” from Dash to the tortoise before it started.

“I mean... 'A' for effort and everything, you gave it your best shot, maybe I've got a gold star sticker around here somewhere you can have, but, seriously, go home. You're starting to creep me out.” After a bit, Dash continued on, pointedly trying to avoid the tortoise. “So, anyway, you're all outstanding competitors, but there can only be one of you who's number one. So the final tie-breaking contest is going to be... pause for dramatic effect... a race against... me! Through Ghastly Gorge!”

I was pretty impressed that Dash would try and use that place for her final test for pets. After all, with a name like that, there’s a reason ponies try to avoid it. Especially pegasi. Still, I went with everypony, just to see who exactly would win out of the pool of a hawk, an eagle, a bat, and an owl.

“Actually, Ghastly Gorge isn't scary. It's fun. Heh. I've flown through it a million times myself, so obviously I'll be at the front of the pack. But whichever of you make it across the finish line with me will have proven you can keep up with me, and will have earned the honor and glory of getting to be my pet! Ready? Setgo!” And just like that, Dash was off, with her possible pets following in close pursuit.

Now we were left with some down time, hearing Dash’s whoops and cheers as she made it deeper into the valley.

“I do hope she’s alright…” Shy murmured worryingly.

“Well, gotta admit somethin’, and that’s Dash can take carea herself quite nicely.” AJ threw in her own two bits.

“I hope so… especially with those terrifying, horrible Quarray Eels in there…” Shy murmured.

“Wait… I just remembered something super duper interesting about the Gorge too!” Pinkie interjected. “It’s rrreeeaaallly unstable, which means it’s waaaaaay too easy to cause an avalanche!”

“That’s… not especially a fun fact, darling. I do hope Rainbow Dash is at least trying to be safe about this.” Rarity sighed.

I rolled my eyes a bit. “Yes. The daredevil trying to play it safe and not show off to her possible pet. It’s just as likely as me disowning my instruments and becoming a traveler of the world.”

“Med…” Sparkella looked at me curtly. “Please, try not to be sarcastic about this, alright?”

“Yes Twi…” I grumbled as I looked back out, only to look a little lost. “Hey, is it just me, or are the birds coming back without Dash?”

“Wait… Something’s not right here.” Sparkella looked out with a set of binoculars in agreement.

“Where’s Dash?” Shy looked especially worried now, bumping Sparkella aside to desperately look through the binoculars.

AJ popped up in front of Shy, taking a third look before giving a small shout of horrified surprise. “Great galloping galoshes! There's been an avalanche in there!”

“Dash!” Shy cried out.

Now we were especially worried, Sparkella leaving the duty of searching with me as the others talked worryingly. However, I was beaten to the punch by Pinkie, who noticed it before I did.

“Wait! Look!” Pinkie called out. “It’s the turtle!”

“Tortoise!” Shy and I both called back, but were happy nonetheless.

“And it looks like he’s carrying something on his back…” I mumbled, trying to get a better look through the dust.

“Wait a tic! It’s Dash herself!” AJ commented,

We all started to cheer before it slowly died down, as we then all realized something important: Dash was riding on a tortoise, after what looked like an avalanche.

“Maybe we better go meet him halfway.” Shy offered, which was met with general agreement as we caught up with Dash, moving the finishing line with us to celebrate the tortoise finishing the race.

As we cheered him on, Sparkella looked at Dash with relief. “Oh, thank goodness you're not hurt, Rainbow!”

“Just my pride.” Dash smiled a tiny bit, brushing off some dust from herself.

“I certainly hope all of this dreadful dust was worth it!” Rarity pointedly stated before sneezing.

“It sure was, if'n it means Rainbow gets to have her own little critter just like the rest of us from now on.” AJ grinned at Dash knowingly.

Dash though, looked down at the tortoise before getting off and getting down to his level. “Uh… thanks. What you did… I owe you one.”

With Dash making a hoof-bump with the tortoise, Shy smiled as she called over the falcon. “Rainbow! Your new pet is over here waiting for you!”

“Oh... Right... Yeah... That.” Dash looked very unenthusiastic, which was kinda odd for her.

“What’s the matter?” I looked at her curiously.

“You got your perfect pet, right?” Pinkie added.

“The best of the best like you wanted, remember? It can fly and it's not a squirrel! Should we sing about it again?” Shy offered readily.

“A falcon sure looks good on ya, Rainbow.” AJ commented while Rarity took a picture, making the tortoise flee back into his shell instantly.

“Easy, fella. Nothing to be afraid of. The falcon sure does looks cool... He's absolutely everything I wanted in a pet.” Dash sighed dejectedly.

“Yay…?” Shy confusedly cheered.

“But I said whoever crosses the finish line with me gets to be my pet.” Dash pointed out.

“That is true… She did say that.” Sparkella nodded, almost connecting the dots with a small smile.

“And the only racer who crossed the finish line with me was the one who stopped to save me when I needed help. The tortoise!” Dash picked up the tortoise with a hoof, grinning.

I have to saw, it was a unique experience watching a falcon have a wide array of emotions before admitting defeat gracefully.

“Wait, what about the-” I was cut off as I noticed the falcon shaking… appendages in the likeness of a hoof shake before the tortoise turned around, giving a slow smile, and making me lose my train of thought from how adorable he looked.

AJ even made a comment on it. “Wouldja look at that? He even smiles slow.”

After a good laugh at that, Dash looked to Sparkella. “Could you please take a letter and have Spike deliver it later?”

“Of course, Rainbow! I take it this is to Princess Celestia?” Sparkella agreed amicably, taking out a sheet of parchment and a quill.

“You bet! Ahem…” Dash then proceeded to sound out the letter, which looked like this:

Dear Princess Celestia,

I used to think that the most important traits to look for in a pet, or any best friend, were all physical competitive abilities. But now I can see how short-sighted and shallow that was.Today I learned what the most important quality really is. A certain kind of spirit. A stick-to-it-ive-ness. A never give up, can-do attitude that's the mark of a real winner. And this tortoise has it.

“I think you were looking for the word tenacity.” Sparkella added.

“Gesundheit.” Dash responded to an slightly affronted Sparkella before looking back at the tortoise. “You just can't stop that little guy. He's like a... like a... Tank!”

“Well, at least we have a name instead of just calling him the tortoise.” I chuckled lightly, Lexitara giving a small nod in agreement.

“But Rainbow! You didn't want a pet that couldn't fly because it would keep you grounded and hold you back, remember?” Shy reminded Dash.

“Hm…” Dash looked like she was in deep thought before getting an idea, turning back to Sparkella. “Could you please help me out with my idea?”

“What are you thinking, Rainbow?” Sparkella raised an eyebrow.

“Something to help get him off the ground without wings! Like, I dunno… a propeller or something.” Dash asked.

“That… that could work.” Sparkella looked a little surprised before smiling. “Good idea Rainbow!”

I blinked before looking at Pinkie in great worry. “Is this the end of the world as we know it? Sparkella and Dash agreeing on an idea? Dash getting a super slow pet? What’s next, we find out we have Opposite Elements or something?”

Pinkie laughed as she shook her head. “Silly Med! It’s not the end of the world! I have a Pinkie Sense combo for that!”

I blinked before abruptly cutting that train of thought out, not wanting my brain to short-circuit on me. Soon enough, we bid each other goodbye for the night and headed back to our respective homes. I have to say, it was a wild day from start to finish, and I did get my first pet out of it as well. Who knows how this’ll work out? Either way, I’m happy knowing that I’ll be able to join the next Pony Pet Playdate alongside Dash.

End of Chapter 5

Don’t Get Too Big For The Britches, They Might Fight Back

View Online

To Bring About Chaos

Don’t Get Too Big For The Britches, They Might Fight Back

I cannot believe Dash at times. It goes without saying of course, but seriously, there are days. Why do I say this? Well, since I had grown up alongside Dash, I know how much of an ego she can get. Luckily, Shy’s usually there to bring her back down, if only out of guilt. But today, it seems like it wasn’t stopping. Though I suppose it wasn’t that bad of a start. After all, she was at least doing good at first.

It all started when, after a usual bout of misfortune when waking up, I went off to school to do my job. Before I had even gotten there though, I saw a small crowd forming, with all of my friends and marefriend within. As I got closer, I noticed Dash bursting out of the well with a filly in tow, and to be fair, that was a kind and noble thing to do. No, it was when the crowd started cheering and praising her that I began to worry. Oh sure, for now, she was being modest, but I knew her well enough that it would spiral out of control.

“Heya Med!” Dash called out, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Hello there Dash.” I nodded and gave a small smile. “I take it that this was not something you were expecting during one of your… siestas?”

“Hey!” Dash pouted but noticeably didn’t try to comment back on the siesta remark. “Yeah, it was kinda weird. Who let their filly get close enough to a boarded-up well to fall into it?”

I sighed a little, shrugging. “Who knows, honestly. All I know is that I’m glad you were there to get her out. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to make it to my classroom before the bell rings.”

Dash started to nod but then frowned a bit. “Wait… but doesn’t school start in, like, half an hour? Why do you get there so early?”

“Because I have to actually prepare everything in the classroom. And since I’m not a unicorn, it has to be done by hoof.” I patiently explained.

“But that’s another thing. You always get up about now, walk the exact same route, and give the same greeting every day.” Dash commented.

I rolled my eyes a little at that. “Honestly Dash, I’m not turning into a robot or whatever your imagination is cooking up. It’s just that some things seem repetitive, and besides, a routine is never a bad thing to have.”

Dash just shrugged before taking off quickly, leaving me to quickly get back to the school and set up for the day. Once the class settled in, I could see a few of my students wearing what looked like… Rainbow Dash merchandise? OK, now was the time where I was dreading the next talk with her. Especially since I heard a couple of commotions going on outside the school, one of which involved a foal, and the other elderly ponies. By the time class was dismissed for the day, I quickly hurried off to find my friends.

It seems like Sugarcube Corner was busier than usual today, judging from the large crowd gathered inside. It was only once joining up with everypony did I realize why that was the case.

“Has this been going on the entire day?” I groaned.

“Fraid so, Med.” AJ sighed as Dash looked like she was recounting her tale in all of it’s “awesome retelling glory”.

“And then I zoomed into the well. I knew it would be dark and dangerous, but I didn't let that stop me. Danger's my middle name. Rainbow 'Danger' Dash. Thinking back on it, I acted pretty awesomely heroic that day.” Dash bragged.

“That… day.” Spike repeated, scribbling down everything.

“Awesomely heroic that day and awesomely arrogant ever since.” Applejack muttered as Pinkie, Sparkella, and I all agreed.

“Hey Applejack. How'd you like to be immortalized as my friend?” Dash pulled AJ aside with a smug grin.

“Immorta- what?” AJ looked confused before the flashing of cameras stopped her from continuing on.

It was at that point I spoke up again, noticing Spike actually writing down word for word what Dash said. “Wait… are you taking notes, Spike?”

“Yup! I've been hoof-picked by Rainbow Dash herself, to write her autobiography!” Spike proudly responded.

“But autobiographies are supposed to be written by the pony they are about. If they weren’t, they’d be biographies.” Sparkella pointed out.

“Maybe for your normal, run-of-the-mill ponies. But I'm far too busy saving lives to stop and write. That's why I hired Spike as my ghost writer.” Dash arrogantly explained.

“Spike’s a ghost!” Pinkie yelped before dashing off.

“Anyways…” Dash trailed off, getting back on track from Pinkie’s… Pinkie thing. “Spike here writes down everything I say. Don't you, Spike?”

“Don't... you... Spike. Got it!” Spike smiled happily.

“This way, I can stay focused on performing those acts of bravery that nopony else has the guts to perform. Yep, it takes guts. But it also takes brains. And sometimes a big lunch and a nap. Being a hero is surely not for everypony, but I'm up to the challenge.” Dash proclaimed as we all looked highly skeptical.

After Dash went outside with her entourage, the rest of us gathered together to discuss the situation.

“Can you believe that kind of nonsense she’s been spouting all day? I simply can’t imagine how big her ego is right about now.” Rarity started off with a small growl.

“Believe me, Shy and I would know. After all, we grew up with her.” I deadpanned before sighing a bit. “I just didn’t realize how bad it could get though.”

“Wait, are you sayin’ this kinda thin’s been happenin’ with her?” AJ looked at the two of us questioningly.

Shy gave a meek nod before quietly explaining. “I usually manage to talk her down before she got worse, but she’s not even listening to me right now.”

“Well then, we just hafta knock some sense back inta her with a stern talkin’ to!” AJ declared.

I face-hoofed at that declaration. “AJ, if she’s not listening to Shy of all ponies, she’s not going to listen to any of us.”

“Well, maybe there’s a chance we can get her head out of the clouds! Metaphorically, I mean.” Sparkella interjected.

I shook my head at that. “I’m sorry Twi. She’s not gonna listen right now, so I say we come up with something that’ll make her be more humbled.”

“Why would you even say that?!” Sparkella glared at me. “I thought we were her friends, not teachers!”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “First off. I am a teacher. Secondly, some ponies don’t learn through words, no matter how stern they might be. Dash is one of those ponies that needs to be brought down a peg. I’m not saying we, her friends, drag her back down. She’d learn nothing and she’d hate us. What I’m saying is that right now, her ego is built off of being a hero, and with all the fame that goes with it.”

“Ooooh! Are we doing a superhero thing??” Pinkie appeared from out behind a nearby cabinet, scaring us very well as she exclaimed, “I gotta tell my friends about this!”

We blinked as she quickly dashed up to her room, wondering who and what she meant by that. It was quickly forgotten though as Sparkella pinned me with a heated glare again. I sighed a little, knowing that she wasn’t gonna like it no matter what.

“Well… Pinkie’s right. In a strange way. Why don’t we have a new super-heroine on the scene? Show Dash what it means to be an actual hero. One that does it for the right thing, not the popular thing.”

“I still say we should talk to her first.” Sparkella held fast, looking distinctly unhappy.

I shrugged a little. “You’re free to try and talk some sense into her. Just know that it won’t end well.”

“We’ll see about that!” Sparkella proclaimed before marching outside to where Dash was.

Everypony gave me a strange look before Rarity spoke first. “Darling…? Are there any problems between you and Twilight?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, being pretty confused.

“Well… um… it looked like you two were arguing a lot more than before… and it was a bit more… um… heated.” Shy explained.

I blinked owlishly before finally catching on. “No no no no no! There aren’t any problems between us!”

AJ raised an eyebrow. “Uhhhhhhh-huuuuuh. Riiiiiiiiiight…”

I gave a grin for a good while before eventually sighing. “OK, maybe a small problem. It’s just that we both have way different ways of approaching a problem.”

“Whatever do you mean?” Rarity prompted.

“It’s just that… she goes for the analytical solution, the one that results in long talks between ponies. I, on the other hoof, tend to go at the heart of the matter, trying to find a dynamic response that results in a great shift. Yeah, we agree on lots of things, but this is just the one thing we haven’t agreed on. Not everything can come from a book, but I know that sometimes, knowledge is important to help others. But she wants to remain solely by the book, or by instructions sent. You know how she reacted when she thought she missed a deadline.” I laid out.

Everyone listened patiently as I laid everything out in front of them. After all, was said and done, Fluttershy was the first to speak out, surprising us a little.

“Maybe that’s not a bad thing though. I-I mean… um… Maybe it’s good that you have… differing… views?” Shy eked out.

“I gotta agree with her on this wild hayride. Might as well tell ‘er what’s been botherin’ ya and be honest about it.” AJ added on.

I rolled my eyes a little. “Yes, because that’s a good idea to do just when I said sometimes talking isn’t the best answer.”

AJ growled a little. “Med, either stop tryin’ to make it worse or actually listen, ya hear?”

“Hear what, Applejack?” I froze a bit as I heard Sparkella’s very pissed off voice.

“That Med’s thinkin’ you two are havin’ problems communicatin’.” AJ bluntly put it, despite my best silent warnings to lay it off already.

“Oh really now? And who’s fault is that, Medley?” Yep, she was very pissed off.

I quickly turned around to glare at her. “You don’t exactly make it easy you know.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe I should give you a guide on how to talk. You know, since I’m so by the book.”

“At least I know how to actually think outside the box!”

“Rules are there for a reason, Medley!”

“When the rules are that stupid, why should I-” I suddenly stopped, frowning for a moment before shaking my head. I just figured this was a stupid thing to argue about since she was completely right. “Sorry… you’re right, Sparkella. I don’t know why I’m even fighting on this.”

For a moment, she looked like she was filled with pride, most likely from winning the debate so easily. It only lasted a little bit before she gave me a mysterious look that I couldn’t identify. I thought she’d be happy being proven correct since rules are there for a reason, and that it’s best to make sure you listen to those in authority, no matter what. And I know it sounds like I should be bitter… yet strangely, I wasn’t.

“Well… I’m glad we had this sorted out.” She then sighed a little. “I went out to try and talk with Rainbow Dash, but she brushed me aside as though I wasn’t even there.”

The rest of us all gave a small nod before giving each other a knowing look, with Fluttershy asking, “So… um… what do we do… now…?”

“Well… Pinkie had that remarkable idea about a superheroine showing Rainbow Dash what she’s supposed to do… but I’m not sure who amongst us would be the best fit for the role.” Rarity pointed out.

“Hehe, that’s super-duper easy!” Pinkie exclaimed from behind the counter, giving us all a small fright. “Why don’t we all become one!”

“As in… different multiple heroes or…?” Sparkella questioned cautiously.

“Nnnnnope! We all be one hero, and just have the same costume! That way she can’t tell who’s who!”

“Only one problem… well, technically two. The major one I’m finding is that we’re all definitely different shapes, not to mention some have horns or wings. Secondly… I’m a male. I know, nitpicky, but… still, I don’t quite have the feminine look.” I quibbled with Pinkie.

“Leave that, to me!” Rarity gave a small grin. “After all, I can quite easily create a costume that can hide features away! It may be a bit of a fit, but I can most assuredly hide any wings on the body, and with a snazzy hat, I can hide whether or not this superheroine has a horn! And with all my modifications, they won’t even be able to tell if they are a mare or stallion!”

I blinked a little bit at the very enthusiastic response. At first, I was a little surprised, but then it kinda hit me that this meant Rarity would have a new project, test it out on a lot more ponies than before, and be able to truly shine. I then gave a small chuckle.

“I could make a theme song once we get a name too.” I contributed.

“Best. Idea. Ever!” Pinkie cheered. “Oh, man is he going to love today’s episode! Wait, no, this is the wrong format! Chapter!”

“I...” Sparkella started up before shaking her head. “...never mind. I actually don’t want to know for now.”

“Best to keep that when it comes to Pinkie.” I joked, making her roll her eyes as I chuckled again.

Now with a plan in motion, we set off to work. Or rather, Rarity and I set off to work while Sparkella tried a second attempt at talking down Rainbow Dash from her lofty heights. Sadly, nothing seemed to work, and I was starting to get irritated as well with Dash. I knew she had an ego problem, but this was blowing it way out of proportions! I was quite ready to serve some karmic justice when Rarity unveiled the basic design of the super costume. It looked like it was going for a darker motif, with a purple outfit that jutted out behind like a cape, along with a purple hat with the base bandaged in a very dark purple and the top part in a similar color, also jutting out to form the top part of the cape. The hooves as well were bandaged in this dark fabric, and on the cape’s clasp was an ‘M’ symbol. The eyes were covered with built-in goggles and overall… all I could think of was ‘lighter colored pony Batman’. I know, silly and kinda dumb, but we were talking about superheroes, and he was one of my favorites, OK?

“Well? What do you think, everypony?” Rarity questioned.

What she got were various positive responses, which got her to grin as she unveiled 6 other versions of the costume, all slightly different to account for the various heights and shapes of the ponies.

“I had to do a bit of work with yours, Med, but this should make sure that you don’t look too off from the rest of us.” Rarity explained as she handed out the costumes to everypony.

“Hey, I don’t mind. I was all but prepared to sit on the sidelines for this one.” I responded jokingly.

Sure enough, we made our moves and steadily got Rainbow Dash more and more furious with each successful attempt. I helped with saving some ponies from a hot air balloon, Applejack managed to save a cart full of ponies from flying off a cliff, Pinkie helped in saving almost everypony from a collapsing construction site (sans one that Rainbow Dash managed to get), and finally, Sparkella and Fluttershy both teamed up in helping save Rainbow Dash from a broken dam, and fixing it up. Soon, we were all hanging out at Sucarcube Corner, discussing this heroine.

“Gotta hand it to the gal, that Mare Do Well sure can pull off some pretty heroic feats.” Applejack commented.

“I must say, I was impressed by that spell she used to fix the dam,” Sparkella continued in the same vein. “Seems like something like that would take quite a bit of study.”

Rainbow Dash growled under her breath before Fluttershy spoke. “She really cares about everypony's safety.”

“Have you seen her costume? It is to die for! If you ask me she's a hero of fashion.” Rarity bragged.

“And she's modest and humble.” Applejack added on. “She lets her actions speak for themselves.”

“Well, ya gotta admire that. Wonder what kinda theme song she was going with?” I chuckled.

That seemed to be the tipping point for Rainbow Dash, as she abruptly flew up. “I don't have to admire that! I don't think she's all that great!”

“She's... great.” Spike murmured as he wrote it down.

“I didn't say that.” Rainbow Dash bit out.

“Sounds like somepony's jealous.” Sparkella pointed out.

“Who, me?” Rainbow Dash looked pretty annoyed as she said that.

It didn’t help as Spike continued to write down the ‘wrong information’ for us. “Rainbow Dash is jealous.”

“Don't write that, Spike!” Rainbow Dash commanded angrily.

We all had a laugh at that desperate attempt, especially since Spike further ignored her by stating, “Correction: Rainbow Dash is very jealous.”

“Fine! Laugh all you want, but I'll be the one laughing when I prove to you all that I'm just as good– no, that I'm a better hero than Mare Do Well!” Rainbow Dashed vowed before bursting out the door.

We all shook our heads at that as I gave Sparkella a meaningful look and spoke in a very dry voice. “Yes. The power of words can surely soothe the jealous beast.”

“Medi…” Sparkella sighed. “Fine… I guess you were right in the end… No need to rub it in now.”

I winced a little, now thinking over what I said and how arrogant that really sounded. “I’m really sorry, Sparkella… It’s just… you know I grew up alongside her. You really should have listened when I said that this kind of thing really doesn’t get through to her. She sees it as a challenge to break, not as a lesson to be learned.”

Fluttershy nodded as she sighed slightly. “She normally really isn’t this bad though… I really don’t know why she’d be this… um…”

“Arrogant? Air-headed? Narcissistic?” Applejack called out.

I made a small, angry huff. “That second one was really uncalled for, Applejack.”

“What? Just bein’ honest. She’s been acting like she was given a free pass to act like a jerk.” Applejack bluntly stated.

“Um… everypony?” Pinkie called out, trying to defuse the situation.

It seemed no one was listening, as now Sparkella was taking “my side” in this out-of-nowhere argument. “You know that second one’s really offensive to pegasi, right? It’s like calling you a-”

“EVERYONE!” Pinkie shouted, derailing the argument as everyone looked at her before she spoke. “Sorry for interrupting the super-duper heated fight, but I just got a letter from Mayor Mare! She wants to hold a parade for ‘The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well’!”

It took us all a collective moment before we realized that we all had to go since we were all playing the role of ‘The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well.’

“Huh… looks like our fame came back to haunt us. Ah well, nothing to it.” I shrugged a little. “If the mayor wants to hold a parade, it’d be pretty bad of us to not go.”

“While I do love time in the spotlight… the better question is, how are we going to get everypony there, and keep the ruse up?” Rarity questioned.

“I’ll go up first. Everyone else, be ready in the alleyways. I get the feeling Rainbow Dash’s going to try and do something during the speech.” Sparkella offered.

We saw nothing wrong with that plan, and so it was that not a few hours later, Mayor Mare was giving her speech, Sparkella already up on stage.

“Welcome to Ponyville's first, but surely not last, thank you parade, in honor of our city's greatest hero, the mysterious Mare Do Well!” Mayor Mare cheered, along with the crowd.

Sure enough, this goaded Rainbow Dash into crashing during the speech. “The Mysterious Mare Do Well, huh? So what are you hiding? Let's see how mysterious you are without that mask!”

And after a failed attempt of removing the mask, it devolved into a pretty funny chase scene, with all 6 of us flitting in and out to make Rainbow Dash more and more confused. However, even after leading her throughout town, someone had to give eventually. Sadly, that pony was me, as Rainbow Dash snuck up on me while I was walking through to make sure if she was coming down that way or not.

Rainbow Dash growled as she pinned me on the ground. “I got you now! Alright, Miss Mysterious! Mystery... solved!”

I gave her a weak smile and a nervous chuckle. “Indeed…?”

“M-M-M-M-Medley?! Whudda- hud-d-duh- hud-d-duh- huh?!” Rainbow Dash gesticulated at the reveal before Twilight and Applejack followed suit. “Twilight?! Applejack?! There were three of you?!”

“Actually… all 6 of us were. We just played Mare Do Well at different times.” Sparkella corrected Rainbow Dash as she got her off of me.

“I stopped the carriage bus with these babies, Bucky McGillicuddy, and Kicks McGee.” Applejack clarified.

“I saved the construction workers with my Pinkie Sense!” Pinkie chimed in, demonstrating it rather suddenly as someone accidentally dropped a pot where Pinkie was standing before.

“And I used my magic to fix the dam,” Sparkella explained, using her magic as an example.

“Ooh, ooh! And I did the flyby afterward.” Fluttershy quickly added.

“I made the costumes. Fabulous if I do say so myself!” Rarity bragged.

“And of course, I was the very first one, saving those ponies from the hot air balloon.” I finished, giving a small chuckle.

“I don't understand. Why? Don't you want me to be a hero?” Rainbow Dash looked confused, and a little betrayed.

“Of course we want you to be a hero,” Sparkella assured Rainbow Dash.

“But a real hero doesn't brag.” Applejack continued in the same vein.

“Uh, I guess I did start to brag a little…” Rainbow Dash sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

“A little?!” We all sounded a bit incredulous that Rainbow Dash just tried to downplay her bragging.

“Okay, a lot.” Rainbow Dash amended her previous point well enough.

“Celebrating your accomplishments is natural. But…” I spoke up now, giving her a chastising look.

“...Rubbing them in everypony's face is not.” Fluttershy finished for me, looking at Rainbow Dash critically.

“Yeah, the only thing that should be rubbed in anypony's face is chocolate cake.” Pinkie drooled as we all shook our heads and smiled at Pinkie’s… Pinkie-ing.

“I think we're gettin’ off topic here.” Applejack redirected the conversation.

“What we're trying to say is, it's great to be really good at something, but it's important to act with grace and humility.” Sparkella prompted Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash, for her part, seemed to get it right away. “Ohhhh. That makes loads more sense. Yeah. You're right. And I guess I should've also acted with grace and humility when others outshine me. Like Mare Do Well.”

“Sounds like you've got a letter to write to Princess Celestia.” Sparkella prompted.

Spike grinned as he held up his notebook. “Already got it covered. As your ghostwriter, I've already penned a letter to the Princess.”

“That's nice of you, Spike, but I really wanna write this letter myself.” Rainbow Dash chagrined.

“Aww, come on, I wrote the whole thing already! Spike whined.

I chuckled a little as well. “Then let Rainbow Dash look it over before she sends it off.”

Spike acquiesced and handed over the notebook with only a small amount of grumbling and laugher amongst the group. Afterward, things settled down, and the celebration for Mare-Do-Well was ended rather quickly for a Ponyville celebration. Soon it was just the 8 of us hanging out and having a good time.

“So darling, I was just wondering something.” Rarity started talking to Pinkie. “When will Mr. and Mrs. Cake be expecting?”

“Ooooooooh! I can’t wait for it!” Pinkie giggled with glee. “They’re going to be here any week now!”

“While a wonderful answer… it’s not exactly clear on when.” I pointed out.

“Oh! Yeah, I think they said sometime in about 2 weeks. I dunno what day specifically, but I already have baby cakes picked out!” Pinkie grinned.

The rest of us gave small bits of laughter at her antics until it was about time for us to split up for the night. Before getting home though, Sparkella stopped me with a look of concern on her face. I was getting worried that it was something I had said or done today, then remembered what had happened, and really started to panic internally.

“Medi…” Sparkella spoke quietly. “What’s happened to you?”

Out of any of the questions I could’ve gotten, I had to admit, this one was a new one to me. “I… what?”

“I mean… at first, you were dead set on trying to do this superheroine plan, citing past reasons. But then right after I come back, you apologize and say that I was right to do what I did. I… I don’t know how you can change minds so quickly like that.”

I looked even more confused than before. “But… It was wrong for me to yell at you. You were right, we weren’t exactly telling everything when it came to Rainbow Dash. And-”

“And that brings me to my second point.” Sparkella interrupted me. “You aren't using nicknames for anyone but me and Pinkie.”

I shrugged a little at that. “Must be rubbing off on me. Wait, crap, no, not like that, I meant- You know-!”

Sparkella giggled a little at my flustered expression, looking a lot more relieved. “I hope that’s the case… Please sleep well tonight, alright Medi?”

“Of course, Sparkella.” I smiled as I nuzzled her lightly. “No worries, Luna wouldn’t let me get bad dreams even if I wanted them.”

With a roll of her eyes and a small nod, we both departed for the night. And that seems to be really anything of interest that happened. So, with that, I bid myself a good night.

End of Chapter 6

Ignorance Is Not Always Bliss

View Online

To Bring About Chaos

Ignorance Is Not Always Bliss

All I can say is… I managed to completely fuck this up. Not sure how, or even why, but I managed to do it. Now, I know this is all just written by me, for me, with no one really reading these things, but I know a question someone would ask: What, pray tell, did you do? Well, answering that question is kinda difficult. So I suppose a good place to start is… well, the start.

As is normally the case, it was a pretty nice day out. The weather for the next couple of days were scheduled to be nice and warm, with good overcast. Perfect picnic weather, to be honest. As I knew this well enough in advance, I decided to take the initiative for once and ask Sparkella out to just talk and munch on some food, and overall chillax. I think we all kind of needed it after Spike’s Birthday Disaster. And boy wasn’t that a mess to clean up.

Still, the sheer novelty of going on a picnic and not having to deal with a monster or friendship problem was too tempting to pass. Apparently, it was also too tempting for Murphy not to enact his Law and proceed to start trashing it completely.

“Medi?” Sparkella started slowly after munching on her daisy sandwich for a little bit. “I was wondering about something.”

That, admittedly, should have, and now does, set off many alarms in my head, but hey, it was a pretty relaxful day, and I wasn’t exactly in the mood to be thinking too hard over something. So, like the fool I was, and some say still are, I answered back without a doubt. “Yes Sparkella?”

“What exactly did you do for fun when you were on Earth?” Sparkella questioned.

That threw me for a loop, since I thought we’d all just come to a silent agreement not to talk about my life on Earth, as it really isn't relevant anymore. Until today, apparently, with a random question to boot. Nevertheless, I thought about it for a bit before answering.

“Well… sometimes I’d pick a book and just read for a couple hours while music played in the background. Only problem is that I eventually read all I had, since I only had a small selection when I moved out. Outside of that, it was mainly video games.”

“Like the arcade games, except at home?”

At that, I gave a small snort. “I don’t think I could have afforded an arcade machine, but even if I did, nope. It was a lot more high-tech than that, letting someone play out entire worlds. Kinda like what you saw with my memories, except you could interact a lot more.”

“What kind of games were available?” Now it seems this really piqued her interest.

At this point, I should have been well aware what some ponies would think of the games that I had. But I was pretty excited to talk about something I really enjoyed that couldn’t quite be replicated here in Ponyville.

“Well… there’s a bunch of different genres, kinda like books. You have your basic ones, like strategy, puzzle, FPS’, RPG’s-”

“Wait, wait, what was that third one? F P S?” She looked pretty confused at that one.

“Oh, First Person Shooter, sorry, way too used to the technical terms. Anyways, I-” I mindlessly filled her in on the acronym before my mind caught up with me.

Judging from the look of complete shock on her face, that was definitely not the wisest move on my part. But in fairness, she did ask! Although, to be fair to me as well, I should’ve had a little more tact than basically shrugging it off like no big deal.

“That’s a form of entertainment?!” Twilight screeched furiously. “I thought you said that you wanted nothing to do with that!”

That stunned me for a moment before I looked right back with a steely gaze. “I never said such things. I really do not like being violent in real life. But a game. Isn’t. Real. Life.”

“Then why in Celesita’s name would you see shooting other living beings as a form of enjoyment?!” She growled back.

At this point, we were both standing up and glaring each other down before I gave a small huff, and started to walk away before being harshly yanked back by magic.

“Oh no buster! We’re going to be finishing this little discussion!” Twilight snarled.

“Fine, you want the fucking reasons? I’ll give ‘em to you!” I harshly bit back.

At this point, I really don’t know where exactly the conversation went, but I do know that we both had some pretty harsh things to say to each other. It all came to a head when she slapped me upside the head hard and teleported away, making me rub my chin as I dashed off with the leftover picnic stuff.

“Of all the- Why on earth would she- AAAAAAAAAGH!” I yelled as I threw the picnic stuff on the kitchen counter, storming up to my room. “You know what? I’ve had it! So much for doing stuff like that anymore! Maybe it’s time I got a new romantic partner! One that won’t NAG AT ME!”

I was in a complete huff as I threw myself into the music, completely shutting out the rest of the world as I aggressively worked on my songs. And worked. And worked. And worked. To the point where it felt like no time had passed whatsoever, yet I could feel it. By the time I was anywhere near calm, it took me by surprise a little to see that a whole day had passed and I hadn’t noticed.

So it was with some trepidation that I walked out the door, into the blinding sunlight… and immediately stumbled into somepony.

“Woah there buddy, watch your step! Especially hungover.” A stallion’s voice called out as he helped me up.

“Sorry… got really invested and really lost track of time…” I mumbled an apology as my vision started to come back.

I had to admit, he wasn’t a bad-looking stallion. Certainly no Big Mac or Braeburn, but he did have a little charm to him. A tannish pegasus that had a dark brown mane, he could almost pass off as normal. But his Cutie Mark was certainly something to look at, seeing as it was a pony’s face blindfolded, along with question marks over their head. I then started to realize I was probably staring and shook my head.

“Hey, no problem, my main dude. Who might you be?” The stallion held out a hoof to shake.

“Medley. You seem new to Ponyville. Might I get a name as well?” I responded, shaking his hoof.

“Nescientor. And… kinda, yeah. Got a little lost reading the map, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out sometime soon. Least I got the name of the town, since I couldn’t understand that pink pony that ran away from me earlier.”

“Ah, I see you’ve met Pinkie already. Yeah, she’s like that sometimes, we just kinda roll with it.”

“Works for me. Anyhow, mind showing me around since I got someone’s attention finally?”

“Yeah, sure, follow me.”

And like that, it seemed, I made an instant friend. At least, for the first hour or so, it felt like an awesome time, showing someone around Ponyville. But then niggling doubts started to come up that I ruthlessly set aside.

One of the bigger ones was him wanting to see if there were places similar to his hometown. Initially, not a bad thing, since one can get comfort from familiar pastimes and places. The problem started to arise as he looked uninterestedly at the bowling alley and the arcade, even though it was specifically what he requested. Nevertheless, I set it aside as just a “new town” feeling and continued on.

The second major one came up the very next day after checking in with him. Turns out, he completely blew off Pinkie’s party, just moving his stuff in and crashing for the night. Now, with everypony else I knew, it pretty much was a guarantee that you’d be spending at least a little of the night partying at Pinkie’s before getting to sleep. So for someone not to would mean either very deliberate action, or chalked up to being a heavy sleeper. I decided against my better judgement to go with the latter, and tried to get to know him a little better.

Then not a week or two later, the third and final flag went up when Zecora came into town to gather some supplies not readily available in the Everfree Forest. He pointedly looked anywhere but in her direction, and when she left, gave me an odd look. “So, what’s up with that?”

“What do you mean?” I looked at him confusedly.

“That… thing. The witch doctor. You guys seriously let her into town?” He scoffed.

“OK, what’s your problem with her? She’s a nice zebra, and we talked numerous times.” My hackles were starting to rise, but it seems he point blank refused to acknowledge it.

“Just saying, can’t normally trust them in cities. Tend to steal some things, and claim ignorance whenever they’re caught red-hoofed. Plus, none of them can speak right, or even straightforward!” He complained, ponies around us giving a wider berth now.

And of course that was the exact moment Twilight came walking by, looking at the situation in puzzlement before quickly heading over.

“Oh, hi there! You must be the new pony Pinkie was talking about! I’ve been meaning to ask you some questions…” She trailed off as she noticed me.

“Hi Twilight.” I flatly said to her, trying my best to look stone-faced.

“Oh. Hello there, Medley.” She replied in the same kind of tone.

Now the place was definitely empty of anypony, with the exception of me, Twilight, and Nescientor. The tension was thick enough that one could probably cut it with a knife. Unfortunately for Nescientor, he used a chainsaw to cut it down.

“Well heya there, sweet cheeks. Now I wish I’d gone to that party if you were there.” Nescientor preened, much to Twilight’s and my ire.

“The name is Twilight. And who might you be?” She responded in a frigid voice I never really heard before.

“Name’s Nescientor, but you’re free to call me whatever you like, little filly.” He tried to put off a charming air, but we weren’t really having any of it.

“Thank you ever so kindly, Nescientor.” Her sharp tone didn’t seem to dissuade him, and I immediately stepped in front of him, giving a small glare.

“Hey now. I’m her coltfriend, she’s very clearly not interested, so back. Off.” I warned him, and this prompted an angry look.

“Really? Your annoying ass is her coltfriend? Get real, featherduster. Someone like her obvious deserves someone like me, not someone that nags constantly about boring crap.” He growled.

“I assure you that I am. I don’t know what the hell I found so attractive about you, but clearly, you’re just semi-decent at hiding your trash self.” Apparently this was very much the wrong thing to say, judging from this expression.

“You mean you’re one of… those… ponies?” The disgust was clear from his voice as he backed away. “Get the Tartarus away from me, freak!”

“What. Did. You. Say?” If Twilight sounded cold before, this was sub-zero levels of ice.

“You heard me! I said-” He was about to repeat himself before being encased in a magical bubble, cutting off whatever he was about to say as Twilight strolled up to him.

“You can insult me, degrade me, or whatever you feel like to me, because I heard it all before. You’ve said nothing new, and doubtlessly never will. However…” She looked him dead in the eye, and I swear I could feel her anger rolling off of her as she continued on, “...don’t you DARE say a bad thing about! My! COLTFRIEND!”

Following that, the bubble shot off high into the air, to the point where I could barely see him. I blinked in confusion before turning to her, giving a small gulp as I summoned what little courage I had to face a pissed off Twilight. But before I could speak a word, she quickly pulled me close to her, giving me a crushing hug.

“Sorry… I’m really sorry, Medi…” She whispered to me, sounding nearly broken.

“I’m sorry too… Sparkella…” I murmured back, holding close to her as well, doing my best to contain the flood of emotions running through me.

It took us a while to finally be able to talk, but when we finally parted, she looked serious.

“I know I had no right to yell at you like that, but…” She looked downcast

“I understand, Sparkella.” My mouth twitched into a small smile before returning to neutral. “To be fair, I didn’t exactly make the situation better. Remember, I did have a life before, and that series always inspired me a little. That you can do a lot of good and stop the past’s mistakes from ever becoming a reality once more.”

“But it’s still-!”

“I know. But these are humans were talking about. Not ponies.”

There was a moment of silence before Sparkella spoke up again. “Sorry for yelling at you… and assuming the worst.”

“And for what it’s worth… I apologize as well, for blowing up at you over something like that.” I gave a small smile again as I nuzzled her. “What say we go out for a bit and catch a movie. I’ll let you piiiiiiick~”

She gave a small laugh as she pulled me along with her magic. “Oh you’re so gonna regret that, Medi. Cause I’ve been wanting to watch this one for a while now! The Mane Attraction!”

I dramatically gasped and feigned trying to escape from her magical grip. “Noooooooo! Anything but that! Mercy! Mercyyyyyyy!”

We ended up having a small laugh at that before calming down, where I then remembered a small, but not quite insignificant detail.

“Hey, Sparkella? Did you really shoot him up high in the air? While still in the bubble?” I questioned.

“Oh… him. Well, the bubble wouldn’t last that long. And pegasi can land on clouds, so he’ll be fine. Shaken up, but fine.” She waved a hoof nonchalantly.

Deciding to not further test her patience with him and for the sake of the newly kindled bond between us, I let the matter be as we headed towards the movie. It’s only now while I’m writing this that I do slightly worry about him. Even if he did say some -truly awful rubbish-, as Rarity would put it. While I hoped I’d never see him again, knowing my luck in life, it was really only a matter of time before he reappeared, except now very much pissed off at me and at Sparkella.

End of Chapter 7

Book 2: To Bring About Chaos

by Medley of MLP

What Once Was Wrong Is Now Left, Right?

I Can’t Believe Some of His Titles For These Chapters

The Fundamentals Of My World

Where’s The Reset Button When You Need It?

A Piece Of Candy Would Be Quite Dandy

The Doctor Is In, Out, And All About

Pet-Smart, And The Pet-Adventurous

Don’t Get Too Big For The Britches, They Might Fight Back

Ignorance Is Not Always Bliss