How can I, one pony, topple the Equestrian Government?
We've all made some very strange or regrettable choices in our lives. For me, most of mine were forgotten the next day, but this one simple choice had now burdened me with the task of overthrowing a Princess. I'm not from this world, I was once from Earth, living my life as best I could, and now because of someone named Discord, I'm in a place know as Equestria. My entire life is now at risk. If I do this job that the God of Chaos has tasked me with, I can live, if not, I die. I'm not going to like what I'm about to do, but I'm more afraid of dying by the hand of my own personal nightmare.
Authors notes: I am looking for anyone who could do a cover image for this. PM me if you want to contribute artwork for my story.
Let's see, shooters go here, racing here, and adventure goes here. If there's one thing in I've worked out so far in my life it's this, my job at the video game shop is dead easy. All I have to do is organize shelves and keep the back room guarded, easiest eighty bucks ever. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention my name, my name is Scott Websly. I'm from the north of the United Kingdom, yep, Scotland. I'm a Scotsman and I couldn't be prouder. I've been keeping my Scottish accent for a good long time now since I arrived in the United States. I still have no idea why my family moved. I try not to think about my old life in the good old hills of the north, all my friends and family have been left behind for nothing and I hate it. I'm all by myself, I'm one of a kind here. It was not fun being the only kid in school with a heavy Scottish accent, the only perk from it was that people thought that I was Soap MacTavish from Call Of Duty. But I left that behind after that one day, I never talk about it but it still haunts me. My life got changed after my choice of leaving behind all the misery, my parent's still think I'm an idiot from doing that, I didn't see what the big deal was until later, but I'm never going back, I made that decision and I'm glad I-
"WEBSLY!" someone yelled behind me. I stumble into the shelf and send most of the game boxes falling to the floor.
"Bleedin' hell Johnson," I say after getting up, "Don't bloody scare me like that when I'm working."
"Sorry, you weren't listening to the boss."
I sigh and begin picking up the boxes, Johnson leaned down to help.
"What did he say?" I ask.
"He said that today's shifts are being cut short because no-one has come in," Johnson replied.
"No customers today?"
"Not one, you get to leave early."
"Dammit," I sigh. Johnson looks over at me quizzically.
"Why, what's up?"
"I hate going back home," I reply.
"I thought that you liked going back home after a long day," Johnson said.
"Not since I dropped out of high school," I reply. Yeah, I dropped out of high school. I didn't want to but the teachers in there were completely bonkers, I don't know why my study hall teacher made us work in the only easy class in the school but hey, they're teachers. But working in study hall wasn't the main reason I left, the real reason is much more discriminating than that. The full and real reason I left was this: Because I had a thick accent and they knew very little of what I was saying, they came to an obscured conclusion and decided that I had a mental defect. The bloody nerve of them. Because the prats couldn't understand how I pronounce certain words, they thought I had some sort of disability and then they thrived off it, they gave me worksheets asking what my disability was. Thing is, they never did tell me what one they had picked for me.
"Why did you drop out?" Johnson asked me.
"I told you before, I don't want to talk about it," I say as I set the last game on the shelf. I walk into the back of the shop rubbing my head, trying to forget that one day. Three weeks had passed and I'm still wondering if it was worth it. I still come to the conclusion that it was after what the teacher did, I still remember it.
"Look I'm telling you, I'm not mentally impaired," I say.
"You have your assignment, Scott," the teacher said, "Either you do it or you get a zero for the marking period.
"I don't sodding care if I get an F for the entire bloody semester,"I said as I dropped the paper on my desk.
"You're going to do it."
"No I'm not, I've been for scans, I'm clean."
This annoyed the teacher quite a bit.
"Scott Websly," the teacher yelled, grabbing everyone's attention, "I'm telling you now; you-are-DISABLED!"
My hand under the desk clenches into a fist while the other one grips the edge of the desk.
"Do you get it now?" the teacher asks, "I'm pretty sure that if you didn't get the message I'm pretty sure everyone else did. So, know do you know what your problem is?"
"Yeah," I said darkly, "It's you."
The bell to signal the end of the day rings and I watch as my class walks out, I see them whispering and pointing at me. After they leave I stand up and look the teacher dead in her eye.
"You're going to burn in hell for what you did to me. The devil will be waiting for you and believe me, he doesn't like it when people steal his job."
And without another word I left, dropping the paper in the trash. I head down to the office and stroll up to the front desk.
"Can I help you?" the person behind the desk said.
"Yes hi," I said, "I was wondering if this was the place where I can get out of this hellhole."
The receptionist tosses a paper up onto the desk without looking up.
"Just sign on the lines and you can leave for good."
The memory of that day still sticks in the back of my mind, it only seems to come back in my dreams, along with other life changing choices. I head to the back door when I hear someone walking up behind me.
"Ah, there you are Scott," I hear my boss.
"Do you need something?" I ask but I'm hoping that he wants me to work overtime.
"I was hoping that you could do something for me," my boss said.
"Please keep me here longer," I think.
"Now I don't usually ask my employees to do this, but I think that your capable."
"Overtime?"
But my boss didn't offer me overtime, he hands me a few game boxes. I look at them and see that they're newly released, so new that I've never seen them before.
"When did these arrive?" I ask.
"Only a few days ago," my boss replied, "We've got at least three boxes full of each."
"Nice," was all I managed to say.
"Now I want you to come in early tomorrow and get these up on the shelves."
"Why not now?" I ask my boss.
"Because I want you to to go and play these so that we can give a store review."
Play them? Why would my boss want me to play these, the games aren't to be released until next week. I don't argue however, this is a rare opportunity to get games before they get put up on the shelves, it's one of my favorite perks of this job, right next to being allowed to play games when it's a slow day.
"Sure I can play them," I say, "Do you want me to give you the review when I get in tomorrow?"
"So long as you can give me the reviews before the deadline release," my boss replies.
I nod and leave, taking my new games with me. I head outside to my car, the one thing in my life that seems to work properly and my only escape from my home life. I've always liked my car, the car in question is an ex police interceptor, one I bought myself after I sold that scrappy little VW Golf from the 80's that my dad got me. I was glad to get rid of it, it was rusting, slow, the inside smelled strongly of mildew and best of all, the engine never worked. My new car however is the best thing I've ever got, considering that it was once used by an undercover officer so most of the attachments are still on the car. My personal favorite is the PIT bumper on the front of the car. Now anyone who's seen those TV shows with car chases, you'll know what the bumper's for, as for me, it's just another stage of frontal protection against crashes. The spotlight attached to the driver's side of the car works as well but I never really used it other than scaring my friends. I open up the door and get inside, I'm not looking forward to going back home. Reason being is because my family isn't what it used to be. Before we moved to the US we were always happy and having a good time, now however, we never seem to even talk to each other. I've tried to avoid my dad since I got my job, he has never liked the concept of me enjoying myself. My dad wanted me to live his early life through his eyes since I was old enough to realize what my dad wanted. I never did like my dad's concept of life being hard and boring, the way he had his, which fully explains his bitterness toward my happiness. Once I'm old enough and I end up where I want to be, I'll make sure he doesn't get any of my support. My mother is the true definition of a succubus, evil, irritating to have around, and above all, she feeds off of finding thing to shout at me for. Only last week she yelled at me for leaving a few lights on in my room, I was going back in there anyway. The only thing I like about my parents is that they are very gullible and forgetful. I can get away with anything provided that I'm not in the room. As I fumble around for the keys I remember that it's my younger sister's birthday in a few days. Just the mere thought makes me groan as I try and think of a present to give her, I try not to strain my mind and decide to get her a gift card or something for one of those stores she likes. I really don't like my sister, she's very self-centered and rather sullen. My sister has a habit of making friends and then never talks to them again. I still don't know how she hadn't become an outcast in her school.
I eventually find the keys and start up the car, as the engine starts up I give it a couple of revs to get it running. Johnson is outside as well and I can see him shaking his head. I give him a small wave as I drive out of the parking lot and onto the snow coated road in the dark winter night. I realize that it's late and my dad will want me home in less than an hour, but the old man can wait, I'm going to take the long way home, that'll annoy him.
"Get off your bloody phone you pillock!" I shout in irritation as I pass a Kia with some old lady trying to talk on her cell phone. Honestly, some people should never be allowed to drive. People with cell phones go right next to people over the age of seventy on my list of people who should be banned from driving. As I'm reeling from almost hitting another car that had just skidded on the snow I turn off the main roads and use the back road to my neighborhood. This route is barely used and always clear, frankly I don't know why I never see anyone else using it aside from tractors or farmers in their pickups. I switch o the radio so I can listen to some good music before I get home and have to listen to all of the worst British bands ever formed.
"And so, scientists and meteorologists are unable to determine the cause of the unusual color of the Northern Lights," the news anchor said, I turn the radio up so I can hear more, I was a bit of a space nut when I was a kid and even now I still like the concept of outer space. I still think that we aren't the only living things in the universe, heck I believe that there are different universes and parallel dimensions.
"The investigation on finding out why the Northern Lights were a bright pink rather than the usual green has baffled many. Scientists have come to the conclusion that it might have to do with the amount of pollution in the atmosphere but many are opposed saying that this is a sign of the coming Apocalypse. Ever since this has happened many strange paranormal occurrences have been happening around the world, many people claim to see strange lights in the sky and several strange weather patterns. No-one knows what is going on but for now, here's some music."
Just as the music starts the radio dies and all that comes out is static. I hit the radio and after realizing how futile that is, turn it off. Just bloody fantastic that the radio dies right when the music starts, but then again I don't really want any distractions on the road, more snow has begun falling from the sky and I do not want to come home on a stretcher, or worse, in a busted car. I really don't want to crash in this kind of weather, I don't even like driving in it. Then again, every second out here by myself is better than an hour back home. As I slow down to try and figure out which turn to make I here my phone ring, I look at it and see that it's my dad which is a laugh because he was the one who told me to never talk on the phone and drive. Nevertheless, I pull over and answer, he gets angry when I don't, something I learned the hard way.
"Hello dad," I say.
"Scott," I hear my dad, he's sounding irritated which means that my sister just got yelled at, "Where are you?"
"On my way back, do you need me for something?"
My dad gives out a heavy sigh which I don't like the sound of.
"Just get back here now," he says grimly, I don't like the sound of that either, I try and find out what's got him in a bad mood.
"Is there something up?" I ask innocently.
"Just get here now."
"Okay then, let me just remember the road to take," this set him off.
"Scott!" he yells in my ear, "You get back home right now you little sh-"
"Okay that's enough of that," I think as I mute the phone. I wait and then un-mute the phone but then after calling him I realize he's hung up. I shake my head and continue back down the road. The man really needs anger management but I still think it would be funny if he used cannabis to calm his nerves, he'd be a little easier to be with if he was stoned.
The car jerks as I put it in gear which is strange because it's never done that before. I forget it and head down the road which I know is wrong but I don't care since my dad is desperate for a screaming fit, the fact that I still haven't ran away from home still befuddles me. This begs the question, why don't I? I'm capable of living in my car, I have money, I have a job and best of all, I don't need to worry about school. The only problem would be if I should trade my current car for a camper van, I have seen some for a price I can afford. After mulling it over I decide to run away only if I get sick of my parents. I still wonder what would happen if I just kept on driving, would my family miss me if I give them one last phone call and say that I'm heading north to start a new life? Probably not because I got lost while driving one month and they didn't bother looking for me or calling my phone until three days passed, I still haven't forgiven them for that.
The road that I take is long and winding, the only clearance in the trees which border the side is for driveways and homes, every now and then I slow down and see the families in the window, laughing and enjoying themselves. Each pass makes me both happy and jealous, I wish my family could be like that, but I'm glad that they don't have the home life I'm living now. As I pass by a large, brightly lit housing development I wonder what would happen if I pulled up to a house, went to their front door and after knocking on it, say to the home owners that I'm an orphan now living in a car after my family was killed in a horrible accident. They might take me in, but they might not. I'll use that idea after I run away so I don't have to sell my car. Just as I pass the place I see a bright light in my rear view mirror, I pull over and let it pass because it's barreling toward me at a great speed. It passes me and disappears behind a corner, I pull back onto the road and the light then shoots past my car almost making me drive into a ditch. I curse under my breath and look in my mirror, the light was probably some hoodlums in a souped up Hyundai trying to look cool. It was likely the kind of teenager car, the ones with the oversized rims and the muffler that was once a piece of PVC piping or a tin of beans. I pick up my phone and see that my dad has called me again, it takes a lot of willpower to not toss the thing out of the window but I'm distracted once again by the light. This time it passes me and continues in front of me until stops dead in the road. I slam on the brakes and honk my horn at him, the idiot thinks he's funny for doing that, I should ram him with the PIT bumper. But just as I'm revving the engine to smack into his rear, the light levitates several feet off the road, no car can do that, then I realize something: If it was rowdy teenagers, then the obnoxious sound coming from the back of the car would have been present. The light then slowly advances on me.
"Alright laddie sod this," I say as I put my car in reverse, spin around and gun it down the road. I look in my mirror and see that the light is now chasing me, this cannot be good.
The light is no more than twenty feet behind me but I think that outrun whatever it is. The twisting road becomes much more slippery as I try and keep control on the snow coated surface. The car skids into an intersection and I spin around and try and confuse the light by driving in one direction then pulling a handbrake turn and shooting off down another road. The idea works for a second as the light spins and then resumes it's chase. The next turn that comes up I almost drift around it but I almost hit an oncoming car, as I pass it I watch the light pass it and send the other car into the trees. Now more than ever I want to escape the light. If it can throw cars like toys then I don't want to be anywhere near it. I push my interceptor to go faster as I approach a busy intersection, I have no idea which one it is but that doesn't matter when a flying ball of light that has a force field is trying to kill you. The cars I scream past honk their horns and flash their lights at me, but the ball of light has now swelled to almost three times it's original size. The light flies into the center of the intersection and throws several cars into the air, and it wasn't just a few feet, it was almost fifty feet into the air. I don't stick around after seeing that.
By now the chase had gone on for about seven minutes according to the clock on my radio, it feels longer but the fact that I'm running for my life might have something to do with it. The light is still behind me as I check the mirrors, two more cars and a garbage truck have been sent skyward in the light's wake, I feel some remorse and guilt as each car is blasted off the road. People might be dying because of this light, I have to stop it, no matter the cost. I wait until I get a section of wide road and then I plan my attack. What I'm going to do is stop and let the light pass me, then I'm going to wait until it realizes what has happened then I'm going to charge it with the hopes of smashing it with the PIT bumper. This might kill me but I don't want anyone else to die, if I have to die in order for others to live, then so be it.
I slam on the brakes and the light shoots over my roof and stops dead a hundred feet ahead of me, I rev the engine and wait for the light to realize where I am. I see the light turn and face me, that's when I release the brake pedal and shoot toward the light. The light starts up and charges at me at an ungodly speed, I have little time to react as the light barely touches my car and sends me flying backwards. My car lands on it's roof and slides before it starts rolling, each tumble makes me sick and dizzy, not to mention battered as loose objects hit me with sheer force. The car continues rolling until it hits a large pole and stops dead. My head slams against the window and breaks. At first I feel nothing before the pain returns and my vision becomes blurred. The pain rockets through my body, I begin to think that I might have several broken bones and maybe a concussion. As I see the light slowly approach the wreckage of my car I manage to unbuckle myself and open the door, if I'm lucky, whatever that thing is might think I'm dead and I can escape but as I clamber out of the car I fail to see the ditch and I fall into it, further damaging my broken leg. I scream out curses and see the light hover over me.
"This is it, Scott," I think, "You might as well welcome death, it'll be less painful than what's going on now."
With all my remaining strength, I pick myself up and kneel in front of the light. I don't move as it engulfs me and I lapse into unconsciousness.
At first when I embraced the death light I wasn't afraid. I was somewhat glad to end my pathetic life with dignity by trying to take on the light with my car. I could at least die knowing that many lives were saved from my sacrifice. But slowly, I feel my chest rise and fall, I'm still alive somehow. I try and rub the side of my head which hit the window but a sharp tight feeling encloses my neck and cuts off my breathing. As I struggle to try and breath I almost pass out and I feel my airways open up again and I suck in as much air as possible. My eyesight begins to come back and I can just barely make out the corners of a large dark stone room. I try and turn my head and then see why I can't move my arms, both of them are in chains.
"What the hell?" I say as I tug on them, each tug cuts off my windpipe so I stop, hoping that my neck isn't bruised. I have no idea where I am or what's going on but the only thing I'm aware of is the itch on my nose which is driving me mad. Once I manage to ignore it I try and see how I'm chained up, both of my arms are almost behind me and there are chains on my legs as well. I try and kick my foot but I almost strangle myself from what I'm guessing is another shackle around my neck which can choke me. Since struggling doesn't work I try and see if there's anyone else in the room I can try and talk to.
"Hello?" I call out, "Is anyone there?"
No answer or reply comes. I start to panic because I'm in a vulnerable position and I don't want to end up like those kids I heard about in school, you know the ones who vanish and then are found about a week later in a ditch, dead.
"L-look," I stammer, "I don't know what you want with me but I tell you that I want an explanation and someone to talk to. I don't want to die like this, not chained up on a wall."
A few tears begin to form in my eyes but I have a good reason to be scared, not that I'm scared too often, but anyone else would start to cry if they were chained to a wall in a stone room with no idea where they are.
"Let me go!" I yell.
"Don't bother my little friend," a dark and amused voice says, "Escape is impossible."
"Who are you?" I ask.
"I am one of many names," the voice says, from where I'm at I can see a faint form in front of me, "From cataclysm to Apocalypse, the begining of the end I have may names. But one I have taken a liking to."
I try and strain my eyes to see the figure in front of me.
"What is your name then?"
"My real name," the figure says, "Is Discord."
No sooner had the person said "Discord" the entire room bursts into a bright red and orange light which almost blinds me. I shake off the blinding light I'm staring in the face of the weirdest looking creature I've never seen, from what I can understand it looks like the face of a goat with one massive tooth, a really weird eye and two very peculiar horns on it's head. My terror turns to aggression, I'm not going to look scared in front of this freak, I'm a Scotsman! Secretly however, I'm still kind of weirded out by what this is.
"Lean closer so I can headbutt you," I say harshly. The creature tuts and shakes his head.
"You're kind was always aggressive even in the face of potential death. I'm still impressed how your mood changed after I showed you my form."
"I'm just pretending that this is a drug induced hallucination and your just an ordinary person," I say flatly, "You're just a coward."
The creature chuckles and strokes my chin with what looks and feels like an eagle talon.
"Ah Scott, I always did like your personalty," it said, this kind of surprises me.
"How do you know my name?" I ask.
"Simple," the creature replied, "I've been watching you for a while now, ever since I lost interest in my other candidates or they refused my offer."
"Other candidates? What candidates? Tell me everything, freak!"
"I will ask that you call me Discord," the creature said as he tapped my neck chain, "You show me respect and I will do so likewise. However, don't try and insult me."
"Okay then Discord," I say, "How long have you been watching me and what do you want me for?"
"Simple," Discord said with a sly smile, "I want you to overthrow a princess."
I tilt my head to one side quizzically. Overthrow a princess? What is Discord babbling about?
"If you wish for me to explain I will."
"Go ahead," I say.
Discord conjures up a leather armchair out of the ground and sits in it, he leans back and a teacup appears in his lion paw. How typical but he clears his throat and I try and lean closer to listen, the chain around my neck doesn't tighten.
"I know your dreams Mr. Websly," Discord said, "I know that you want to make a name for yourself or change history but from your position, you're incapable of either."
I nod in agreement but I let Discord continue.
"Most of humankind has always wanted to be famous somehow, it's a bit like where I came from but with more marks and less bragging. It's pathetic really but it no longer bothers me. What really bothers me is the fact that I should be ruling over that land and instead, I'm here on this rock. You know something Mr. Websly, when I want something I take it, but after the last time I had Equestria I've been having trouble get what I want. And It's all because of Princess Celestia and the Elements of Harmony."
Princess Celestia? Elements of Harmony? What the hell are those? What has Discord been smoking? And the place where he came from was called Equestria, where the hell is that and if it does have creepy looking nutters like Discord, why haven't NATO blown the place apart or set up something there? The questions I ask myself can only be answered in time, and that time is now. I do not want to become a drug addict in order to work for this guy, actually as I think about it, I don't want to work for this guy. He's nuts and he want me to overthrow royalty, does he know how hard that would be? And if I was able to do his job, what's in it for me?
"Why do you want me to do this?" I question Discord.
"I know that you've always wanted to be an agent or assassin of sorts, this is kind of like that," he replies.
"And what if I say no? What if I down and out refuse?"
Discord's chair slides up to me and he looks me in the face with a hint of anger.
"Then you will suffer greatly when the end of days come, I will show you what would happen to you if you decide to resist."
He forms a mist cloud and pushes me head closer to it. Inside I can see a world burning, fires erupting all over the land, meteors crashing into building, charred skeletons and worst of all, me. I can see myself stumbling around as my skin and muscles falls off the exposed parts of my body, I see myself fall to the ground and cough up blood before collapsing and remaining still. I grimace at the sight because I know what day this is going to happen.
"You work with me and you can avoid this, If not, well you know now what will happen to you," Discord said. Seems like I don't have a choice, the end of the world is actually going to happen in a week and I do not want to die like how I've seen. I sigh and give in.
"What would you have me do?" I ask. Discord smiles and I feel the chains fall off me, I look up and feel slightly relieved that he's smiling, it's a creepy looking smile but a smile nonetheless.
"I knew you were smarter that you looked," Discord says as he make the chair and tea vanish, "Now that you've accepted I can give you the full details of your new assignment."
Assignment, yeah, at least it sounds better than "assassination" because that would really have put me off. On the other hand, what I'm going to do is really going to change my life. I really hope that it'll be worth it. I rub the stiffness on my wrists and feel something drop over my head, I look down and I see a small pea sized rock on a black chain around my neck. I take the rock in my hand and examine it, the stone is a sort of dark red color and transparent.
"What's this?" I ask Discord.
"What you are holding is the only fragment of my powers, the Element of Chaos."
Element of Chaos? The name seems a little unoriginal but I continue to ask about it, see why this is called the Element of Chaos and what it's capable of.
"So how does this thing work?" I ask.
"It's simple really," Discord said, "It works almost the same as the Elements of Harmony but you can use it at will. You basically have all of my powers, it's just that they're scaled down to minimize the life draining effects. Don't look at me like that, it won't kill you unless you use it more than several times or try to do something big. Now the only way this can be defeated is if all six of the Elements of Harmony are used against you, but with my plan, you won't need to worry about that. As for Princess Celestia, you let me deal with her, I don't want my best ally doing anything that will end his life."
The chain around my neck tightens so I can't take it off, I don't resist because I know that it's futile and I don't want to anger Discord any further. Discord goes on to explain that he's going to teleport me into Equestria and once I'm there, I have to find a way to get to a city named Canterlot and then locate the Elements of Harmony. Once I find them then I would use the Element of Chaos to destroy the Elements. After that happens then Discord would fight Celestia and without the help of the Elements, she would be defeated and Discord would take over Equestria. Discord also goes on to tell me that as gratitude for my service, he would allow me to live in Equestria and be his personal bodyguard and commander of the Equestrian military. It sounded like a good plan, but there was a problem that I would have to address.
"Okay then," I say, "But there's a small thing that is niggling in the back of my mind and I would like to say something."
"Go ahead," Discord said.
"If I'm going to this place that you mention, how am I going to blend in?"
"Explain Mr. Websly."
"Well," I say uneasily, "This place where you came from, from what you described, is populated by ponies. Talking ponies."
"And what is the problem?"
"The problem is the species that I'm rooted to, I'm a human. I don't think that I'm going to be able to sneak around Canterlot without attracting attention towards myself."
Discord taps his oversized tooth and mutters to himself. Then he faces me with a look of disapproval.
"There is one way that I can make you 'blend in' but I don't know if you'll like it," he said.
"Oh bugger, he's going to do something to me," I think. Discord takes a few steps toward me and his shadow is cast over me.
"This way is for the best," he says as he reaches down at me.
"Anything else you can tell me before you do what you're about to do?" I ask shakily. What is he doing, putting his talon hand on my head?
"There is a pony in a town called Ponyville where I'm going to drop you off. Try and avoid her and her five other friends."
"Why? What do they look like?"
"You'll know when you see them." Discord says as a pink light slowly forms around me. It eventually covers me and I'm once again in darkness. I'm certain that what Discord want's me to do is practically suicide, but I'm going to make sure I prevail, I am not dying in the Apocalypse like Discord showed me.
The pink light is now really beginning to bug me. It hurts when I open my eyes and whenever I keep my eyes shut, the brightness still gets through my eyelids. So now currently, it's a lose-lose situation but I try not to think about it. After what seems like an hour I feel my stomach rumble. I remember that it might have been several hours since I last ate anything. But the hunger is then taken over by sheer internal pain. From what it feels like, it's like my internal organs and bones are shifting around inside me, I try and claw at my chest to stop the pain but to no success. The pain move to my arms and my legs, they feel as if they are shrinking and shifting into something different. Eventually the seething pain moves to my face and my scalp. I have no clue what is happening but right now, I'm hoping I pass out. My wish is granted and I slip into blackness and go numb all over. I wake up after a while and, through the darkness of what I presume is evening of wherever I am, see what looks like the top of a tree in front of me. Wait a second, top of a tree? Where am I?
"Bollocks," I say as I look down and see that I'm suspended almost ten feet above the ground in a pinkish haze. The pink disappears and I crash to the ground. I feel several bones shatter as I hit the ground. I scream in pain and try to roll over onto my back, the pain becomes too much and I vomit up blood. The smell of it makes me hack up more blood and stomach acid and the pain doesn't help. I drag myself under the tree and try and figure out what might be broken once more. From probing my chest I can tell that several of my ribs are broken and the rest have cracked. But what confuses me is that I didn't press very hard on my rib cage and it felt as if I almost stabbed myself. What the hell is up with my hand? Did my finger come off? I bring my right hand closer to my blurry eyes and see the most disturbing sight that no-one should see: my right hand has been cut off.
I panic and try to see my left hand but once I can focus on it, it too has been cut off. Same goes for my feet as I try and stand up which has me end up on the ground and almost breaking my leg even more. What the hell happened to me? Did this happen to me when I was in the pink light?
"Discord!" I shout, "What the bloody hell have you done to me?!"
"I've changed you into one of them," Discord's reply came from inside my head, "You might want to learn to walk in this form."
He leaves with a chuckle and I start shouting every last curse word I can think of, even if it doesn't mean much. Whatever Discord did to me has pretty much messed up my anatomy and I am not pleased he didn't have the decency to fix up my broken bones. Or that could have been the fall.
I try and stand up, using the tree as support and take a few steps, I crash to the ground and break another rib. I shout out another curse and try to walk once more but this form prevents me from getting any balance on two legs, this might be because of the lack of feet and balance. When I fall over I manage to protect my chest at the cost of my arm, which I feel splinter as I fall. I roll over and vomit up blood once more, it's nasty but I can't take this much pain in one go, not even a hardened Spetsnaz commando could withstand this. The only difference would be that he would have a gun to end his suffering, here all I have is a massive monolith that I can't move in the middle of a forest. If there is one thing I do know now it's that I need help now or I'm going to die. But I have no idea where any help might be, my only hope now is to follow the strange light that I can see off in the distance. Trying to stand is causes too much pain so I end up trying to use a stick to drag myself to the source of the strange light. As if attempting to stand was hard enough, dragging myself across rough uneven ground made everything worse. I could feel parts of me slowly being torn apart, in order to stop myself from screaming I take a twig and bite down on it. The twig helps but it can't speed up my progress, if I can get to a clearing then I might be able to locate something to make either a fire or something to use as a distress beacon, if I can find a road then my chance of survival might increase. If only I could see in this forest.
Eventually I make it to an open area but I feel as if I lost a lot of energy. My vision is staring to fade once more but I can see the source of light in the distance, it's a small house and it looks as if there might be someone there but how I'm going to get their attention is beyond me. If I had something that would let off a loud noise or a bright light then maybe then whoever's there could help me. But my mind is so befuddled I can't think of anything that could help me. I drop the stick and collapse onto the grass, my breaths are coming out in pants and my motor abilities have given up. My severed hand runs down my neck and then over a small bump, I remember that Discord gave me the Element of Chaos. I suddenly realize that this rock could save me, Discord said that I could make anything that I wanted but it would drain my life force and at my current state, this could kill me. I don't care however, what I need is something loud and bright, I think that wouldn't kill me. I take hold of the Element and try to think of something.
"Flare!" I scream in my head, nothing happens. I try again and a small puff of red light pops out of the ground in front of me and goes out, a good start but I need something bigger.
"Rocket!" I think. This time a small rocket shoots out from behind me and nose dives into the ground. I'm hoping that my next idea will work.
"ROMAN CANDLES!" I yell. No sooner than a second later several small flaming streaks of fire burst out from a tree stump and explode. The effort makes me fall on my back once more but I know that worked because I see the front door of the house open and something step outside. I try and fight slipping into unconsciousness but it's a losing battle, I try and make another flare but it only stays lit for a second before it goes out.
"I hope this works," I think as darkness, once again, takes over. It may be natural but right now, I'm bloody sick of being half dead.
If there was a list of anything I truly hate, being unconscious would be somewhere near to top next to my family, American teen dramas and stupid people. You know, the type of person who forgets everything the next second like a goldfish, the only thing I like is that I can get them to do my bidding and they will forget and I can get them to do something else. But the main problem right now is the fact that I'm still in darkness and that no matter how much I try, I still can't wake up. The possibility of being dead is not likely, even though I can't see, I can hear and feel myself breath. I take this of a sign that I'm starting to wake up. The lack of hospital equipment noise is a little disconcerning, I was expecting to hear a heart rate monitor and life support machinery but the absence of anything is starting to freak me out. I remember the last time I broke my leg when I was at school, they put me in a cast and said to try and rest for a few weeks until it healed, sadly, my dad made up a story saying how he broke both of his arms and still had to work in the house. The concept of using your arms after they've been broken is a little unbelievable but my dad said that he still managed to scrape by. After that little speech he had me on the roof of our SUV picking leaves out of the luggage rack, I don't know why he wanted me doing this but when I tried to get down I fell off the roof and broke my other leg. I was stuck in my room for six weeks after that and I had never been more bored in my life, to pass the time my mother gave me trashy magazines, my dad told me to twiddle my thumbs. Once I recovered I stole and hid my dad's car as an act of revenge, he never found it.
My vision slowly returns and all I can see so far is the flickering ember of a candle on a table in the corner of the room and that I'm on a bed with strangely patterned covers. I try and sit up so I can examine my surroundings but that only leads to extreme pain, the fact that I'm able to move impresses me since it felt like I was about to fall apart earlier. How long was I out for and more importantly, where am I? I look over to my left and see a rabbit sitting on a stool, but that's not what makes me look at it like it has two heads. The rabbit is giving me an evil stare and it's front legs are folded.
"What?" I ask it. The rabbit continues to stare at me.
"Where am I?" I ask slowly, "Can you understand me?"
The rabbit nods slowly and hops onto the bed, I'm really wishing that I had something to defend myself with. The rabbit walks over to me and takes the Element of Chaos in it's hand, or paw, I have no idea what's going on.
"Bugger off," I say. The Element glows and the rabbit's eyes go purple and glassy as it hops down from the bed and goes back to it's stool. Did I just use mind control? If so then how the hell did I? The rabbit shakes off the mind control, looks at me then shoots off out the door, slamming it shut which make the whole room shake. That bunny has some social issues, or my mind control is still affecting it.
"Excellent work, Scott," Discord's voice says. I don't know where it's coming from but now is a good time to set things straight.
"What have you done to me?" I ask.
"That does not matter now, I'm amazed how you were able to figure out how to to use the Element of Chaos without draining your life force. Mind control, one of my favorite powers."
"I'm asking you again, what did you do to me?"
"Simple," Discord replied, "I changed you into one of them. You might want to look in a mirror, and take a shower."
"Wait, who's them?" I ask.
"You'll see," Discord says as his voice fades and the sound of footsteps take over. I sit up and brace myself for the worst. The door slowly opens and the last thing I ever expected walks into my room; a bright yellow pegasus with a pink mane.
"Oh, you've woken up," the pegasus said. The pegasus sounds female, thank God for that. What a shock that would have been if it wasn't a girl. But still, I'm on the verge of freaking out. I try and keep calm and see what is going on and where I am.
"Yeah," I say slowly, "I woke up a few minutes ago."
"I'm sorry about Angel here," the pegasus says as she looks toward the rabbit, "I don't know why he's acting like this."
I too look at the rabbit and see that it's pointing frantically at me and acting like a zombie, it might be trying to say about the mind control but the pegasus thinks that it's balmy. Thank goodness for that.
"Right then," I say, "I have two small questions: who are you and where am I?"
The pegasus smiles and walks closer.
"My name is Fluttershy," the pegasus said, "And as to where you are, you're in my cottage."
Fluttershy? What kind of name is that? Well at least I know her name now, but I know that I'm in her cottage.
"I mean what the country I'm in is called," I ask Fluttershy.
"Oh, sorry, you're in Equestria. One of the best places to live."
"E-Equestria?" I slowly ask her.
"Yes, why, are you okay?"
"No, no I'm not," I reply, I'm still suffering from the pain. Right now I don't care where I am, I need medical attention.
"I hope you don't me mind saying that you looked a mess when I found you after I went to see what those lights were."
"Thank God for the discovery of fire," I think, then I ask, "How long have I been out for?"
"Almost two days," Fluttershy replies, "I was worried that I wouldn't be able to wake you up. My friends offered to help but I didn't know if I should have let them."
"You bloody well should have," I say, "I need to get to a hospital, do you know how badly broken I am?"
I grunt and slide down the headboard, that outburst really took it out on me. I might be more battered than I think. Fluttershy cowers and starts to look somewhat guilty.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't know if it was for the best."
"Hey, it's alright, you've kept me alive for two days by yourself, you should be proud."
Fluttershy perks up and grins, she then hugs me. I'm wishing she would let go because I can hear my ribs crack.
"Thank you for not being mad," she said.
"Ahggg, let go of me!" I yell. Fluttershy lets go and stares at me with concern.
"You really are not well."
"Oh really?" I say between racking coughs. It feels like a lung has been punctured.
"Listen, I can't take you to the hospital now but I promise that I'll get my friends and we'll all take you tomorrow," Fluttershy said. I look over at her and nod.
"First thing tomorrow."
Fluttershy nods and leave the room, before she shuts the door she pokes her head in.
"One more thing," she says, "Welcome to Ponyville."
"Okay, two steps was good, now lets see if I can get to that mirror," I say.
For the past hour I've been trying to walk on four legs like how I saw Fluttershy do it. So far I've been unsuccessful for two very good reasons, the first is that my legs are still broken and the second is that I was never a quadrupedal being before. For the most part I've been falling over into things. I'm glad that Fluttershy left some time ago to get her friends, she would be up here in a flash. As for Angel, he's been staring at me ever since he fell under my mind control. The little bugger hasn't taken his eyes off me, I'm sure he knows what the little stone around my neck is and I don't want my cover to be blown. I manage to stagger over to the mirror and I see what Discord has done to me.
"Oh no," I groan. I've been turned into a pony. It's kind of strange looking into a mirror and seeing something else staring back but you know that it's you. For me, it wasn't what I wanted to happen. Even though I have been changed I kind of like my appearance, my entire body is the gray that you'd see on an old battleship. My hair, or mane, is black with silver streaks running through it, my tail, which I noted last night was the same color with the same streaks. Thankfully my eyes are the same dark blue but I'm still really annoyed with Discord changing me into a pony without telling me anything.
"You like it?" Discord's voice said.
"Show yourself," I reply as I stare into the mirror. Discord appears from behind my reflection smiling.
"Do you like your new form? I based it off what I thought I would look like if I were a pony."
"Why? Just why?"
"You said yourself, you wanted to sneak into Canterlot. But I digress that you should have thought things through a little more."
"Do you know what kind of pain I went through?" I ask as I lean closer to the mirror. Discord looms closer and makes my reflection disappear.
"No I don't," he says flatly, "Now you listen here Scott, you are here to serve me. Do not make me come after you because if you do, you will suffer a slow and painful death. Worse than what you saw."
Right about now if I was still calm, I would have backed down. But I'm not taking this anymore, I don't know if I'm alive or dead and I don't care where I am but I'm not accepting that this is happening My life got destroyed for some freak's amusement. Discord is going to die for what he did to me, I'm not going along with this change anymore. I now know that I've snapped, I blink and Discord has vanished and all I can see is my reflection. I blink again and I see that my irises have turned blood red, one more blink and the reflection of the room behind me is on fire and all the people who I hate are burning alive. My parents, my sister, the teachers who I hate and Discord are all alight and I see myself staring back, completely unfazed. The reflection changes into Discord's sneering face.
"I am going to murder you!" I yell. I headbutt the mirror and send shards of glass all over the room. I step back and see that a few pieces of the mirror remain intact. In them I can see blood running down my face, I feel what could be foam forming in the corner of my mouth and a feeling of bloodlust slowly starts to consume me. I hear voices and more footsteps coming down the hall and I clamber onto the table next to the door and wait for my victims to enter the room.
"So he's awake?" one voice asks.
"Yes, he woke up last night, but I still don't know if you should see him," Fluttershy replied.
"He said that he needs help, that's why you called us over, so we could help," another voice asks.
"But I-"
"Come on!" a hyperactive third voice says, "I want to say hi!"
"Hold up surgarcube, he might be sleeping," a forth said.
"It's okay, I'll knock first."
A short tap on the door follows and the door bursts open and a pink pony bounds through the door.
"Hellooo new pony!" the pink pony said. She looks around and sees the mirror shards on the floor.
"Oh my, what happened?" a different voice asks Fluttershy.
"I don't know, I hope he isn't hurt."
"Did you not ask him for his name?" the first voice asks.
"No, he looked like he needed sleep," Fluttershy replied.
"Maybe he's playing hide and go seek!" the pink pony exclaims.
"Pinkie, I don't think he'll be playing-"
"Ready or not here I come!" the pink pony said. I poise to strike. She turns around and sees me.
"Hi," I say creepily.
"You don't play like that," the pink pony said, she then looks at me funny, "Are you okay? Why is your head bleeding?"
"Let me show you," I say.
"Wha-?"
"VENGEANCE!" I yell and dive on the pink pony. The struggle isn't too hard because I manage to pin her against the wall with one hoof, or hand and in the other is a large piece of broken mirror.
"You look like candy, I wonder if you'll taste like it too," I say.
"PINKIE!" I hear someone yell. I look to my left and two hooves smash into my head and I go flying into the wall which stuns me. I once again can feel myself slipping out of conciseness.
"How much longer am I going to be knocked out for?" I think to myself. Through my fading vision I can just see six ponies gather around me, a purple one looks at me in the face with a look of disbelieve.
"You okay Pinkie?" she asks.
"I'm fine," a voice replies.
"What in the hay was up with him?" an orange pony asks.
"Why did he attack Pinkie like that?" a white pony asks.
"Dash, get some rope so Applejack can tie him up." the purple pony said as she turns to a levitating blue pony who nods and shoots off out of the window.
"Should we got him to the hospital?" Fluttershy asks.
"It's probably the best place for him," the purple pony said. She leans closer to me and looks at the Element around my neck. The stone lifts off the floor in a purple haze and moves closer to the pony.
"What is this?" I hear her ask before everything goes black.
If there is one thing I learned today it's that I never should have tried to ram the light when I was back on Earth. I was probably going to to outrun it once I reached the forest near my house. If I had escaped then I might be back home playing those new games my boss gave me. Instead I'm strapped to a hospital bed with more tubes running into my arm than the London Underground. Only a half hour ago I woke up in the hospital room, completely unable to move. At first I panicked and the doctor had pumped anistectics into my veins to stop me from struggling. I woke up again and was glad that the doctor was still there. He asked if I would calm down a little. I told him to sod off. That earned me another dose of sleepers. When I woke up the third time the Doctor had gone but the straps on my bed were taken off and my arms or front legs, I have no idea still, were in cuffs so I could move but I couldn't get out of the bed. I was glad to see some food sitting on a table next to me, it was hospital food but I was too hungry to care. Being knocked out several times in a short period of time really takes it out on you.
After eating a hearty meal of what I could guess was porridge and fruit I lay back and try to access where I am. The room I'm in is a pretty normal room aside from there being no windows and my bed having straps on it. This might be because of my attempted murder of the pink pony. What was her name again? Pinkie? More importantly, did I actually try and kill her? If so then there must be something up with my mind. It's either that or Discord took control of me and made me do all that crazy stuff. I really need to talk to those ponies as much as I don't want to but I need to explain and apologize for what I did. All I'm hoping for is forgiveness and help, and more food. How long did they put me under for?
Just as I try tugging on the chains the doctor opens the door and walks in.
"I see you have woken up," he said.
"Yeah, for about the twentieth time," I reply irritably.
"I'm sorry about using anistectics on you but we had to make sure that you wouldn't hurt yourself."
"Yeah about that, what happened to me?"
The doctor sighed and pushed his glasses further on his nose.
"You were suffering from a psychological relapse where you tried to murder somepony. The ponies who brought you here wanted to make sure you didn't bring any harm to yourself or others."
"So is that why I'm chained to this bed?" I ask. Did the ponies I try and kill bring me here because they care about me? If so then I have to thank them for helping me get back to my normal self. The doctor now is over at one of those wall lights where they look at X-ray sheets, I can just see one that shows my rib cage broken up and cracked. No wonder I was having a hard time breathing.
"So, uh, doctor, how long was I out for?"
The doctor takes down one X-ray sheet and looks at it closer.
"About a week, Mr?"
"Websly," I say, "Scott MacDuff Websly."
The doctor looks at me funny and goes back to what looks like a brain scan sheet.
"A strange name you have there," he said, "Are you from around here?"
"No, I'm not," I reply. I groan from the stiffness of my joints. I've been knocked out for a week, no wonder everything hurts. But what's strange is that my arms or front legs, I'm still deciding which anatomy to work with, are no longer hurting when I move them. Am I healed? I feel for my ribs and find out that they are back in line and no longer cracked. My head, although in a bandage, felt much better. The doctor told me that one of the ponies had kicked me in the head quite hard, he said that I had only suffered a small concussion which is good because I would be no use to Discord if I had become a gibbering vegetable. I then remembered that I was still serving Discord or at least under his watchful yellow eyes. But for now all I wanted to do was say sorry to the pony who I tried to kill and I'm hoping that they forgive me and help me get back on my feet.
"So when are you going to let me out of these?" I ask.
"When we get an evaluation that you're okay to let go," the doctor replied.
"It's okay, I've had my episode."
The doctor comes over to my bed and removes the straps from me. I rub the spots where the straps had been and sit up. The doctor leaves saying that he had to retrieve some more medical papers. While he's gone I take the Element of Chaos and practice creating stuff from my mind. In just a few minutes I make some random puffs of fire, cause one of the lights to explode and make several familiar objects from Earth such as a laptop and a radio controlled helicopter materialize on my bed. The door creaks open and with a quick wave I make everything seem the way it was before. I wait and the six ponies from earlier enter the room. I see Fluttershy cowering behind the purple pony and Pinkie standing next to the blue pony, then I see the wings and figure out she's a pegasus.
"Hi," I say, trying to break the ice.
"Don't go near him," the purple pony said. I focus closer on her head and see a horn. Is she a unicorn? What kind of crazy world am I in? I just decide to go with it, no point in repeating the past.
"Look I'm okay now," I said, "I've had my moment and I'm fine now."
"Are you sure or are you tricking us?" the blue pegasus asked.
"Yes, I'm fine now."
"Okay, in that case," Pinkie said and bounded over. She drops a small box on my lap and stands back, grinning widely. I'm a little confused but I open up the box and see a cake and written on the cake is "Get Well Soon". I'm touched and very confused about this, I try and murder her when I went nuts and now she gives me a cake and wishes me to get better.
"I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything," Pinkie said, "I get over things quickly and I knew that there was something wrong with you."
"Are you sure about this?" I ask.
"Yeah I'm sure! After this we could have a party and there'll be more cake, drinks and-"
The orange pony sticks her hoof in Pinkie's mouth and looks at me.
"Sorry about that, she gets carried away sometimes."
"It's no problem, she's probably the most friendly being I've met in my entire life," I reply. Pinkie gives a muffled "thanks".
"Anyway," the orange pony said taking her hoof out of Pinkie's mouth, "We're really here to find out what your name is."
I sit up and look at them, I noticed that Fluttershy never did ask me my name and I'm sure that they would have asked me on the day I went berserk.
"Scott MacDuff Websly," I say. The six look at me, I know that my name does't fit in this country but I'm sure that they won't question it.
"Scott MacDuff Websly?" the purple unicorn asks slowly, I nod in reply.
"I've never heard a name like that before," the white unicorn said. I can tell she's a unicorn, her horn is in plain sight.
"So, uh, hi Scott," the orange pony said, "Mah name's Applejack."
"Why is she named after a brand of cereal?" I think.
"I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie said, "And since I know your name now you can be one of my new friends."
I'm her newest friend? A little overzealous considering that I tried to slice her neck open with a piece of mirror shard. By now they have all surrounded my bed and are introducing themselves.
"My name's Rainbow Dash," the blue pegasus said, she looked a little angry, "Don't think that I'm going to trust you yet after what you did, earn my respect and maybe we could be friends."
She gives me a small smile and the white unicorn takes up my view.
"Hello, my name is Rarity," she said. Rarity, okay, just go with it Scott, you can have your nervous breakdown later when you're by yourself.
"Rarity," I repeat, "Nice name, it kind of matches you if you don't mind me saying."
"Not at all," Rarity replies as she fluffs her mane. I sense extreme vanity with her.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle," the purple unicorn said, "I'm sure that you already know Fluttershy."
Fluttershy squeaks and dives under the bed.
"Hey it's alright, I'm not going to hurt you," I say.
"You really got to her," Twilight said, "She's afraid of you, she thinks that you're some sort of monster."
"What happened was temporary psychological damage," I say in objection, "I am fine now and I will prove it."
"Are-are you sure?" Fluttershy's voice comes from under the bed. I lean down and see her.
"Yes, yes I am okay now and I'll make sure that what happened never repeats itself."
Fluttershy emerges from under the bed and smiles at me.
"So Scott," Twilight said, "Where are you from?"
"I'm from, uh."
I've only just realized that Discord never gave me any fake information about myself to work with. I know that I can't say I'm from Earth otherwise they could expect something. I go with the best and most likely option I have, amnesia.
"I, I can't remember," I stammer, pretending to be confused.
"Oh Applejack, I knew you bucked him too hard!" Fluttershy says as she tries to nurse my head.
"It might be the drugs as well," I say. I'm trying to make friends here, Fluttershy, not accuse them of assault.
"So can you remember anything about your home?" Twilight asks. I shake my head and say no.
"Awww, you can stay with me!" Pinkie said before any of the others could object. She really is friendly, I wonder if she does this for anyone else?
"You can accommodate me?" I ask Pinkie.
"Sure, so long as you work for Mr. and Mrs. Cake. But it's an easy job, all you have to do is bake cakes and stuff."
Bake cakes, sounds easy enough and hey, maybe I can get some cash.
"Yeah okay," I said, "I can use a place to stay."
"Alright!" Pinkie said.
"Okay, now since you're okay I guess we can get you out of this hospital, and show you around the town," Twilight said.
Twilight and her friends leave to check me out of the hospital and leave me on my own once more. I climb out of the bed and try walking again. It's not too easy but after falling over I manage to do a full lap around my room. I try and remain standing because I'm going to need to get used to this. The dust around the room starts to form a cloud in the corner which is strange because I didn't see any dust earlier. I sneeze and after looking back up, see Discord standing in the corner of the room.
"I should be disappointed in you, but I'm not after what I just saw," he said. It takes a lot of willpower to not rush him with scaple and try to gouge his eyes out.
"Might I ask why?" I say.
"Because you almost eliminated one of the holders of the Elements of Harmony," Discord said, "But now she made her your friend and they rest of the holders somewhat forgive and trust you."
"And that's a good thing?"
"Yes it is, you gain their trust, you might be able to get the Elements."
"Sounds like a plan," I say, "But can I ask that you give me some information about this place? I have no clue about this world's culture."
Discord gives me a disappointing look and snaps his fingers, the Element of Chaos glows red and I feel something shoot into my head. Almost instantly I know everything about the town I'm in and the ponies that populate it. I shake my head to ward off the pain and I turn back to Discord.
"Happy?" he asks irritably. I nod and grin.
"This'll help me complete my mission," I say. Discord sneers and vanishes just as the door opens. I spin around and see the six once more but with the doctor as well.
"Trying to walk?" The doctor asks, "Good thing your legs healed enough for use."
"You're good to leave now," Pinkie said, "Twilight got you all checked out."
"So is he okay to go?" Twilight asked the doctor.
"Yes he is, the brainscan said that he's okay now. No brain damage and the electric patterns are normal."
"Now let's see how long I can go without being knocked out," I say.
"Sorry about that," Applejack said.
"It's okay, if you didn't knock me out then I might have done something really bad."
"So are you coming or not? I need to see if you're good at baking," Pinkie said impatiently. There is something up with her, I don't know if I should figure out what it is or leave it because I won't like what will happen when I do find out. For now all I can do is follow the rest of them to the lobby. It sort of pleases me when I ask them why they wanted me to be safe and they replied with saying that they in a way wanted me safe so they could help me. It's touching when six ponies you don't even know help you out even after you try and murder one of them. Pinkie's get well cake is on her back and she's already eaten a piece of it. The fact that she brought a cake for me is the only thing that anyone has done for me when I was sick or injured. The best I had back on Earth was my school mates signing their names on my leg cast and hoping that I would recover. It felt good knowing that there were a few people who cared for me but that was overshadowed by the cake that Pinkie gave me.
Twilight leads us outside and the brightness of daylight almost blinds me. I stagger back and try to adjust to the light, eventually I'm able to see where I am.
"Welcome to Ponyville," Twilight said as she stood aside and revealed the town that I would now be calling home. The town looks like a old fashioned European town, it makes me think of the time I went to Holland that one summer before everything went downhill and I dropped out of high school. The only thing that this town is missing is a set of windmills but just from the look of the town's heritage there could be a few somewhere on the outskirts of the town.
"Looks nice," I say.
"Oh it's the best town ever," Pinkie said.
"So do you want to the see the rest of the town?" Applejack asked me.
"Alright then, I like seeing new places."
Twilight led the way and they showed me everything in town. We started at a farm named Sweet Apple Acres which is owned by Applejack. I had to complement the number of live apple trees at the farm, there were over a hundred and each one had at least fifty shiny red apples on it's branches. None of them seemed dead or slowly dying and that impressed me, the last farm I went to was so dry and dead that the next day the corn field had combusted. That was an interesting day. Applejack pulls me aside and shows me around her house.
"I must say Applejack this is very nice of you showing me around your place," I say.
"We don't get many guests here and I like to show everypony that I'm a good pony to know."
"So are you the only one living here because I'm assuming you're not."
"Nah, mah little sister, grandmother and older brother live here too, do you want to meet them?"
Sure," I say with a nod, "I might as well get to know, uh, everypony in town."
"Okay then," Applejack said cheerily, "Follow me and we might find my brother Big Macintosh."
Macintosh, I think that's a type of apple. I wonder if her grandmother is named Golden Delicious, that would be funny. We turn a corner and in the living room is an old pony.
"Who's this here Applejack?" she asks.
"Granny Smith I want you to meet Scott Websly."
Granny Smith? That wasn't something I was expecting, kind of kills my joke.
"Good day to you," I say then regret because it sounded really ridiculous in my accent.
"You're really polite aren't you?" Granny Smith says to me.
"I do my best," I reply.
"Say Granny Smith, have you seen Big Mac around?" Applejack cuts in.
"He's out in the orchard again. You going to introduce your new friend to him?"
Applejack nods and leads me outside, the others are there waiting for us. Pinkie looking the most impatient of them all.
"So are we going to show him around the rest of the town now?" Twilight asks.
"Lemme introduce him to my brother and sister and then we'll move on," Applejack replied.
"Okay but make it quick," Pinkie said, she seemed irritated.
Applejack and I wandered around the farm until we found her brother kicking apple trees, the conversation lasts only a few minutes and soon, we're back with the five others who are waiting for us at the farm gates.
"Ready to see the rest of the town?" Twilight asks.
I nod and let them lead me around the place. We stop off at several places around town. So far not many other townsfolk have said hi to me but I think they will eventually, I'm going to be here for a long time. We stop next to a massive tree which is actually a house. The first thing that enters my mind is Yoda's house in Star Wars but much bigger and with less swamplife. The house is actually Twilight's place and the entire thing once used to be a library, or rather that it still is but it's not used as much as it once was.
"How'd you get this place?" I ask Twilight.
"Princess Celestia gave it to me when I first arrived here," Twilight replied, "I'm kind of a bookworm."
"Well that's one way to say more intelligent than I seem," I reply. I always was good with compliments, only if people would notice them more often.
"Wow, thanks," Twilight said. Hey look at that, she noticed.
"If I can I want to show Scott my fashion store," Rarity said. A clothes shop? This should be interesting. Rarity takes point and leads me to her place, she wasn't kidding. The entire place is a literal upper class fashion designer store, I have a nasty feeling that I might end up in one of those frilly costumes. Luckily before Rarity decided to see if I'll look good in next year's gear, Pinkie grabs me by the tail and drags me outside. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would.
"Now to Sugarcube Corner," Pinkie said once she let go of me. I pick myself up and she's already pushing me from behind.
"Eager to see if I'm any good at this job you have planned for me?" I ask.
"Yep, Mr and Mrs Cake could always use another set of hooves."
By now we're about halfway to Sugarcube Corner and Pinkie has not stopped talking since I asked her what I'll be doing. I was praying for something to happen in order to shut her up, and something did happen.
"Look out!" I hear someone yell from behind me. I spin around and see a scooter with a wagon attached to it containing three fillies speed towards me and Pinkie. I shove Pinkie out of the way and dive in the opposite direction, I get up and see the scooter screech to a halt in front of me.
"Jeez, sorry mister," a little orange pegasus filly said.
"It's nothing," I say.
"You okay Pinkie?" Twilight asks her.
"Yep, thanks for saving me Scott."
"A new pony in town?" a light yellow pony filly asks.
"When did you get here?" a white unicorn filly asks me.
"About a week ago," I reply.
"Then how come we haven't met you yet?" the pegasus filly said.
"I've been in the hospital for the last week."
"Wow, what happened to you?"
I rack my brains and find the perfect alibi.
"I had a nasty accident," I say, "But I'm okay now."
"So what's your name mister?" the pony filly asks me.
"Scott Websly," I reply.
"I've never heard a name like that before," the unicorn filly said.
"He's not from around here," Applejack said.
"Oh okay," the pony filly said, "Mah name's Apple Bloom. You must have met mah older sister Applejack."
Applejack, Apple Bloom. I can see the resemblance between the two.
"My name's Scootaloo," the pegasus filly said. Interesting name, scooter matches it.
"My name is Sweetie Belle," the unicorn filly said. She backs up a little and rubs her foreleg, I can tell that she's a little shy but I don't really mind.
"So where are ya from Scott?" Apple Bloom asks.
"To be honest, I can't remember," I reply.
"Wow, what happened to you?" Scootaloo asks me.
"Huge unknown explosion."
"Why didn't you let me take some of Granny Smith's pie for him?" Apple Bloom says to Applejack. Applejack shifts uneasily.
"Because I was unconscious for that entire week," I reply. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle look at each other while Scootaloo does laps around me.
"Whoa, cool Cutie Mark," she said. I spin around and just manage to see something on my flank.
"What is that?" I say.
"Your Cutie Mark silly," Pinkie said.
"I know what it is, I mean what does it look like?"
"I dunno I've never seen a make like this before," Rainbow Dash said as she got a closer look at it.
"Maybe this'll help," Rarity said as she places me in front of a window. In the window I can now clearly see my Cutie Mark. It looks almost like a pentagram but with strange symbols in each of the empty spaces and that the outer circle has been replaced by a pentagon. I have no idea what this is or how it got on me.
"So what is it?" I ask.
"You're Cutie Mark is meant to represent your super special talent," Sweetie Belle said, "But I don't know what that might be for you."
"I feel as if I've seen this symbol somewhere," Twilight said as she leans closer to me.
"Why don't you look it up then?" I tell her.
"Good idea," Twilight said, "I'll be back once I learn what it is."
Each one of the ponies except for Pinkie makes an excuse and leaves, saying goodbye as they leave. I'm now alone with Pinkie who's giving me a creepy grin.
"So this is the place?" I ask Pinkie. For the past ten minutes we've been wandering around the town getting to know more of the locals and places in Ponyville, soon we arrived at what could only be described as a massive cake shaped store. It would make sense for your bakery to look like a cake or something, but really what's wrong with a sign or something?
"It sure is," Pinkie chimed. Before I could get a closer look at the outer walls to see if they were truly made of icing and batter, Pinkie grabs me by the neck and drags me inside. The interior of the store is, well, really rustic to say the least. Cakes are on display in windows and boxes, a few tables lie in the open and a counter with what looks like Henry VIII's mid-morning snack sits between the store and the kitchen. Pinkie goes into the kitchen and I follow, leaning against the wall to hide myself but still just see around the corner. Even though most of my view is obstructed by a wedding cake I see Pinkie walk over to another pony. The other pony must be the owner of the shop. The owner is currently trying to make something but I have no idea what it is.
"Hi Mrs. Cake," Pinkie said.
"Hello Pinkie," the other pony replies.
"Okay, so the other pony is Mrs. Cake," I think, "Right, try and look your best. She is in charge here."
I attempt to flatten my mane a little and straighten myself up, I even give the Element of Chaos a quick polish on a table cloth. The table cloth disintegrates and forms small piles of ashes on the floor and table. I blow them away before going back to eavesdropping. I've missed a bit of the conversation but I don't think it was important.
"So are you ready for today's order?" Mrs. Cake asks Pinkie.
"What order?"
"Didn't you remember the order we got from Canterlot?" Mrs.Cake said, "We have to make over a hundred cupcakes for Princess Luna's Birthday."
"Oh no I forgot all about that!" Pinkie exclaimed. I see her pace back and forth shaking her head. I then see Mrs. Cake put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder.
"Is there something wrong? You never forget a party."
"Me and my friends have been a little busy with something," Pinkie said.
"I hope you can forget about it for now," Mrs. Cake said. Pinkie looked at the pile of utensils and ingredients on the table and sighed.
"How long do we have until the deadline?"
"Only a few days, we need all the help we can get."
Pinkie went from looking disappointed to glad in an instant. She almost jumped and ran over to where I was hiding. I wasn't ready for her to take hold of me by the neck and drag me in the kitchen in front of a confused Mrs. Cake.
"You wanted help, well I have the perfect pony right here," Pinkie said.
"Uh, yes. Hi," I stop and clear my throat. Pinkie has a grip like a vice, which is weird because she has no fingers.
"Can I ask who this is, Pinkie?" Mrs. Cake says as she walks over to me.
"This is Scott Websly, he came to Ponyville only a week ago and he tells me that he's great at baking."
Baking? I never said such a thing but I keep quiet thinking that this could be my ticket to the Princess with the elements. Now all I have to figure out is how I'm going to be able to infiltrate the party when it happens. I'll make it up as I go along.
"When was the last time you make something?" Mrs. Cake asked me. She obviously is a little stressed with this upcoming party. I haven't made anything for at least three years and the very last thing I made was haggis. It did not end well afterwards. I just go with the best excuse I could think of.
"I don't know, I mean, I can't remember much after I was in the ER for the past week."
"That's what I was busy with, and why you have a missing cake," Pinkie said.
"She gave me a get well cake," I say, trying to back her up.
"That's very nice of you Pinkie but can you tell me when you need cakes for something like that?" Mrs. Cake said.
"Sure, I'll tell you from now on."
"Now onto the job at hand," I say, "What would you have me do?"
Pinkie directs me over to a table and shows me how to bake cupcakes. It's a simple and easy to understand task but I know how this will end: I'm going to be left alone and a bunch of cakes are going to be ruined as a result.
"So do you know what you are doing?" Pinkie asks me for the tenth time.
"Just let me try," I say but I'm thinking, "God help me."
"Okey Dokey," Pinkie chirps, "Remember how many you have to do and what I told you and everything will be easy."
"If only it was," I think.
By now any normal person would have set fire to the building or created mutant bread yeast that has a hunger for flesh but for some reason, none of this happens. I have successfully made at least twenty cupcakes in the course of an hour. This impresses Mrs. Cake but I get ready to run when she decides to eat one, first rule of baking: just because it looks good doesn't mean it is. Mrs. Cake selects one and chews on it happily.
"I'm amazed Scott," she said, "I've never had anything so scrumptious."
Oh my God she's been consumed by Mary Poppins. I look over at Pinkie and see her jaw has dropped.
"But you said my stuff was good."
"I don't mean any offence Pinkie but I've gotten used to your baking," Mrs. Cake said. She was trying to comfort Pinkie but I could see that it wasn't working, Pinkie sulks but once Mrs. Cake turns around she gives me a nasty looking glance. I might have just lost my new best friend. I back up and then walk into someone behind me.
"Sorry," I grunt.
"It's okay, you didn't see me," the pony replies. I know that it's a pony.
"Hi Mr. Cake," Pinkie says, she's perked up a little but I can still see the hatred in her eyes. I turn around and let Mr. Cake pass me, he's got two small foal on his back. I cock my head to one side when I see that one is a unicorn and the other is a pegasus. Mr. Cake doesn't look like either and I didn't see a horn or wings on his wife. The two kids jump off his back and slowly advance towards me, both of them examining me. I stand my ground and let them walk over to me. The pegasus flies up and hovers at my eye level.
"Hi," I said. The pegasus lands, goes over to his sibling and they both walk in opposite directions around me.
"Don't mind them, they're always like this with other ponies they don't know," Mr. Cake says.
"Hey Pound and Pumpkin," Pinkie says diving between the two.
"Which one is which?" I ask. Pinkie picks them up.
"This is Pound Cake," she says nodding to the pegasus, then she nods to the unicorn, "And this is Pumpkin Cake."
The tone of her voice is disturbing and the kids can sense it because they try and escape her grip.
"Honey, you have to come and try our first batch." Mrs. Cake says to Mr. Cake. Mr. Cake trots over to my cupcakes, plucks one out of the pile and eats it. His expression changes from indifferent to stunned to satisfaction.
"I'm amazed," Mr. Cake said, "Who made these?"
"I did," I say. Pinkie growls slightly. Pound and Pumpkin Cake escape Pinkie's grasp and go over to the table where they sit by their parents and wait to get one of my cakes.
"These are amazing," Mr. Cake said to me.
"I have no idea how I did it," I reply.
"Well I'll say that you have a talent with baking."
Pound and Pumpkin Cake each receive a cupcake and happily chow down on them.
"Is baking you're special talent?" Mrs. Cake asks me.
"No, if it was I'd have a different Mark."
I turn to the side and show them my pentagram Cutie Mark, they both look at it and shrug. Pound and Pumpkin finish their cakes and look to Pinkie, then me and back again. Mr. Cake leans down between the two foals.
"Scott there made them, go thank him."
Pound and Pumpkin jump up, run over to me and hug my forelegs. I stand there and look at them, they're both smiling and I'm not one for admitting that something was cute, but these two were probably the most adorable pair I have ever seen. I pick them up and hug them.
"You're welcome," I say. I see Pinkie out of the corner of my vision and notice that she's really annoyed, she grabs a sack of flour and holds it over her head.
"So if that's how you want to play it," she says, "Hey Pound and Pumpkin, watch this!"
Pinkie drops the entire bag of flour over herself and ends up coated in the stuff. The twins don't even acknowledge that Pinkie has dumped flour over herself, they're too distracted with trying to get another one of my cupcakes.
"No, no more, we have to save these for the party," Mr. Cake says to the twins. They huff and slump down on the floor.
"I'll try and sneak you a few when they aren't looking," I whisper to the kids. They giggle and trot over to their parents. I turn back to Pinkie who is still standing in the same flour covered pose.
"Why?" I ask. Pinkie snorts.
"Pinkie, would you mind clearing that up?" Mrs. Cake asks. Pinkie goes to find a broom, leaving a trail of white hoof prints on the floor. I watch her go and then I turn back to the Cakes.
"So what brought you to Ponyville?" Mr. Cake asks.
"I don't really remember," I say, "What I do know is that I was injured and I was revived at the hospital. I have no clue where I came from or what I was doing."
"Do you have a place to stay at least?" Mrs. Cake asks.
"No, Pinkie brought me here to see if I could stay and recover, on the ground that I'd work for you guys."
"Well I don't want to waste good talent," Mr. Cake said, "You can stay here until you can find a place to live."
"I don't think that I'll be here for long," I say.
"Which room can we give him?" Mrs. Cake said.
"We have the spare room down in the basement," Mr. Cake replies. A room in a basement, not the first time I've had to sleep underground.
"So where is my room?" I ask.
Mr. Cake shows me to a door which leads to a basement storeroom, I follow him through the maze of boxes and sacks of flour until we reach a door. He opens it and flicks on a light.
"I do apologize about the dust," Mr. Cake said, "We haven't used the basement room for a long time."
"No matter," I say, "I can clean this place up."
"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Mr Cake asks me.
"No, I work better alone anyway."
"Okay, see you later, Scott."
Mr. Cake shuts the door and leaves me alone. I look around my room, it's pretty basic. A bed, one table and a chair, a dusty mirror hangs on the wall. The room isn't in great condition but it'll do me for a while. I sit on the bed and try and work out a plan of how I'm going to be able to get to the Elements. So far all I know is that a Princess Luna is having a birthday party and that the cupcakes I made were for the party. Maybe if I make a bunch of cakes and if they're all really good, then I might be able to go to this party and work out where the Elements are. For now all I do is look through the Element of Chaos to see if there's anything hidden in it. I look over to the mirror and see a message written on it;
Meet me at the Monolith. I have a gift for you. Discord.
I take the Element out from my vision and rub my eyes before looking in the mirror again. There was nothing there but once I look through the Element again I see the same message. I read it a few times and try to figure out what Discord wants. I might as well go, not only will he eradicate me if I don't but he says that he has a gift for me. If there's one thing I like it's getting presents, unless it turns out to be either a lie or something disappointing. That has happened to me before, both last Christmas and my birthday. I got presents that I though would be my dream gift but they turned out to be useless trinkets. We've all had that happen to us and we can all agree that it's the most saddening thing in your life. Risking extreme disappointment or death I decide to go and meet Discord to see what he's going to give me, I head out of my room and back up into the shop where Mr. and Mrs. Cake are talking with each other as they look over stuff in a book of some sorts. I don't see the Cake twins but I do see Pinkie sweeping up her mess with the flour. I notice that her mane and tail have gone from the usual puffy look to a flat, dark, almost deflated appearance. I give her a wide berth and trot over to the door.
"Oh Scott," Mr. Cake said, "Would you mind coming over here a minute?"
I stop and back up to Mr. Cake, he looks slightly troubled which is a look I don't like.
"Do you request my assistance?" I ask.
"No, we were just hoping that you would be able to help us tomorrow with making a large birthday cake for Princess Luna. Do you have any ideas on what it should look like?"
I rub my chin as I think. When Discord zapped me back in the hospital, there was a sliver of information about Princess Luna. Ruler of the night and was once the infamous Nightmare Moon. Now she lives in a castle that now sits on the lunar surface, only coming to Equestria every Nightmare Night. This is too easy.
"Why not make a cake that looks like the moon?"
Mr. and Mrs. Cake look at each other and nod.
"Good idea, can you help us with it tomorrow?" Mrs.Cake asks.
"Yeah, I might come up with more when I get back from my walk."
"Stuffy down in the basement?" Mr. Cake said, "If it is I'll clean it up."
"No, no, I just need to get out for some air," I say.
"Be back soon," Mrs. Cakes says as I walk out of the door.
By now the day has turned to night and the temperature has dropped slightly but I barely notice it. I look around and see a few other townsfolk wandering the streets but not much else. Now all I have to do is find myself the monolith that I was first warped to when Discord sent me here. All I'm able to remember is that I was in a forest when I landed here. I see a forest over to my left and head in that direction, hoping that I'm right. If not, I'll use the Element of Chaos. I don't use it yet because I don't want to attract attention to myself, I'll wait until I'm outside of town. I reach a bridge and stand at the top of it to get a better look at my surroundings. The forest is too thick to see through so I go ahead and continue into the darkness. The forest is much darker once I enter it but I pass a thicket and check to see if I am visible from the town, once I can tell that I'm well and truly hidden I conjure up a headlamp and a glowstick to wear around my neck. With the help of the lights I am able to make it to a small clearing, but there's only one problem, I have no idea where I'm going.
"Where the bloody hell is that monolith?" I say. Almost instantly a wink of white light flashes out of the corner of my eye and catches my attention. I follow where it came from, I guess that it's Discord guiding me but it could be a trap. No matter, I have the Element of Chaos. The only unsettling thing is that I have no idea how to use it in combat. I'd better learn fast. The light flashes a few more times and I follow them, soon, I'm in the middle of a perfectly circular clearing with a large black monolith sitting in the center. Leaning against it is none other than the God of Chaos and my master.
"Get lost did we?" he asks as he picks at his claws.
"I was half dead when I landed here, I don't remember much from here," I reply.
Discord shakes his head and looks at me, I cringe when I see that he looks disappointed.
"I really am annoyed Mr. Websly, do you know why?"
"No," I said, "No I have no idea."
"What I'm annoyed about is that you were able to break the connection of one Element and it's holder. I'm sure that you know who I'm talking about."
I stand dumbfounded until I remember earlier today.
"Hang on, you mean Pinkie?"
Discord nods and grins.
"I had no clue that she took her work seriously," he said, "You were able to outdo her and make her hate everything, therefore breaking the connection."
"Why?" I ask, "What Element of Harmony was she?"
"The Element of Laughter, now with her out of the way the others will become miserable and be easier to break. And once that is done, you can get rid of the Elements themselves."
"But how am I going to get the Elements?" I ask.
Discord snaps his fingers and a box lands on the ground in front of me, I take it and open it up. In the light of my headlamp I see what looks like a black special forces suit and a smaller box of spy gear. I take the mask out of the box and look up at Discord.
"I can give you the equipment that will help you on your mission, but as for the mission itself, you are on your own."
He vanishes in a puff of smoke and I am left by myself in the forest with a box of spy gear. I pack everything away and pick the box up and set it on my back.
"Thank you Discord," I say, "I'll make sure I put this to good work."
Going back to Ponyville was slightly marred by the massive box on my back and that it had gotten much darker. Navigating the forest became much harder because the glowstick and my headlamp were slowly dying. I managed to make it out of the forest after about an hour of tripping over branches and roots. Making my way back to Sugarcube Corner was tricky as well because there were no streetlights anywhere to be seen but once I get back I see Pinkie standing in the doorway, looking quite angry.
"Hey Pinkie," I say.
She doesn't reply.
"If you're wondering what I have here it's just something I found."
Nothing.
"I'm just gonna go to sleep, I'll see you in the morning."
Pinkie still says nothing as I pass her and make my way into the basement and into my room. I shut and lock the door to my room before pushing a large box in the way of the door, something about Pinkie's look made me think that she might have a thirst of envy and revenge.
"Now, let's see what's in this box," I say as I pop the top off the box and arrange the items inside on my bed. Not only is there spy gear but also a set of motion activated alarms, a grappling hook and a launcher, something that looks like a dart gun and what is undoubtedly night vision goggles.
"My god," I think, "How well guarded are these things?"
"Too guarded if you want my opinion," Discord said as he materializes in front of me.
"You really have to stop doing that," I say.
Discord leans over the bed and examines everything that I have laid out on the bed. He nods and smiles.
"This is going to be the best plan I have ever cooked up," He said. I turn to him and hold up the Element of Chaos.
"I must ask you something, I've never baked before but only today I was able to cook up over twenty cupcakes without setting fire to anything. Does the Element have to do with this?"
"It's interesting isn't it?" Discord asks me, "When I made the Element of Chaos I gave it the power of deception and the power of adaptation. What you did back there was none other than an illusion that the Element conjured up in order to make things not what they seem."
"Did I poison them?" I ask fearfully.
"No no, more of gave them something better than they thought or were seeing."
"So what they actually ate was something that I failed to make properly?"
"Yes."
I look to the door then back to the spy gear on the bed, Discord has done a lot for me in order to do this mission for him. It would seem bad to cut and run, bad for me because he would probably track me down and kill me. The only reason I'm sticking with Discord is because I think that if I do help him he can make my life much better than I could ever imagine.
"So when do you think I'll be able to get to the Elements?" I ask as I put away everything except the motion alarms.
"If there was a more perfect day to get to the Elements, then Luna's birthday is it. All you have to do is find a way in and then once everypony is distracted then you get to the Elements and destroy them, once that is done, I'll appear and take down Celestia and Luna and then rule Equestria."
"Sound's simple enough," I say.
"It's going to be much easier than you think," Discord said as he backed away to the wall, he bows and before phasing through the wall says something that I would never expect, "A good night to you Scott Websly."
I am left in my room mouth agape at what I just heard. Did the God of Chaos just say what I heard? I shake my head in disbelief and set up the motion alarms outside my bedroom door and around the basement. If Pinkie does want revenge tonight, then I'll make sure I'm ready. I set up the trackers in a semi-circle around the door to my room leaving two to monitor the door in case it opens, I place the alarm unit next to my bed and just as I clamber in to sleep, I remember the dart gun and load a magazine of sleeper darts before stuffing the gun under my pillow. I'm hoping that I don't have to use it but then I remembered that I will eventually, I'll consider this it's test run if Pinkie does come at me from the darkness. I arm the trackers and turn off the lights, thinking about how I'm going to get into Luna's party. I know that it's going to be tricky but I know that there will be more than one way.
My morning in Equestria is shattered by the shrill screeching of the motion alarm, I sit bolt upright and pull the dart gun out from under my pillow and look around the dark room expecting something to jump out at me. I relax once I shut off the alarm and hear the concerned voice of Mr. Cake drift through the door.
"Are you okay in there?" he asks me.
"You need to get another alarm clock," I reply.
"I don't remember there being an alarm clock in that room," Mr. Cake said with confusion.
"I found one," I add.
There is a slight pause which is then broken by Mr. Cake.
"Anyway, we need you up here to help with the cake, Pinkie has gone off somewhere and we need her help now more than ever."
"Always when you need something, you don't get it," I say with a chuckle, "I'll be up with you in a minute."
I re-arm the motion traps and hide the gun under the mattress. I head upstairs and the smell of baked goods greets me, making me hungry. I remember that the last thing I ate was back in the hospital yesterday and that seems such a long time ago. Luckily Mrs. Cake had made scones for me and once I finish eating them, help out with the cake that is to be made for Luna. Mr. Cake gives me a few sketches of what ideas he was able to come up with. He stuck with the idea to make it look like the surface of the moon but they look slightly boring and bland, too much like the actual surface of the moon. After some thinking and a little modification of one of the sketches, I come up with the idea to write "Happy Birthday Luna" in the center of the cake and to add a few small decorations to the surface of the moon. All I needed to do was find something that would be found on the moon, slightly tricky if you've never been there before. As Mr and Mrs Cake set to making the first part of the cake I head for the basement to fetch something that would help with the writing on the cake. I jump at every shadow that occurs and end up kicking a flower sack thinking that it was Pinkie with a club. She has been slowly getting into my mind and I don't like one bit of it, only last night I had a nightmare that she was latched onto the ceiling with a knife, ready to pounce. It wasn't helped by the fact that she was wearing the Scream mask and giggling like the Joker, and that the knife was actually a machete once it was up next to my face. I shudder at the thought and grab a large box and run back upstairs with it.
I shut the basement door behind me and plonk the box on the counter. Whatever was in there must have weighted a ton because it feels as if my back might be out of line. I straighten myself out and see the twins sitting on a table staring out the window.
"What's with them?" I ask.
"They're a little upset that Pinkie left last night and didn't come back," Mrs. Cake said, "But knowing Pinkie she's probably in the building somewhere."
The twins sniff and press their noses to the glass.
"Binkie."
"Pie."
Now I'm not one for giving in to cuteness but...
"Aww, you sad that Pinkie left?" I ask as I trot over to the twins. Pound Cake just nods.
"She'll be back later, Pinkie probably had to do something important."
"Binkie," Pumpkin Cake says as she stands up and looks out the window, holding herself steady with the glass.
"This is the cutest thing I have ever seen," I think as I pick up the two and bring them over to Mr and Mrs Cake.
"Do you think I should put them upstairs?" Mr. Cake says to Mrs. Cake.
"Nah, let them stay here and watch us," I intervene.
"I don't know if that's a good idea, Scott," Mr. Cake said worryingly as I set the twins down on the table.
"Not to worry," I say as I give the Element of Chaos a tap, "After all, they won't want to miss anything."
"Miss what?" Mrs. Cake asks.
"This," I say as I kick the counter sending several eggs into the air. Without hesitation, I grab one of the several mixing bowls and catch each one in the bowl. The twins start laughing and clapping. Mr and Mrs Cake seem a little stunned.
"Wanna see more?" I say to the twins. They do.
For the next hour I'm pretty much letting the Element around my neck do all the work, creating the illusion that I'm preforming fancy tricks, most of which are really dangerous and very hard even for master jugglers to pull off. But I have an advantage, I have the Element of Chaos. Just as I catch a knife with my teeth the store bell jingles and I pull the knife from my teeth before Twilight and her friends enter.
"Hi Mr and Mrs Cake, Scott," she says.
"Morin'," I say as I go back to trying to make a small castle for the cake.
"Hello Twilight," Mrs. Cake says, "Are you here for your order?"
"Yes, we heard that Scott made it," Twilight said as she looks over at me.
"They had better be good," Rainbow Dash said.
"Believe me they are," I say as I go back to crafting the castle.
"Here ya go, Twilight," Mr. Cake says as he gives Twilight a box.
"Say Mr. Cake," Applejack said, "Have you seen Pinkie anywhere?"
"We have no idea where she is, she could be anywhere."
"Done!" I say. Everyone in the room looks over to me and sees the cake and what I managed to do to decorate it.
"It's amazing," Mr. Cake said.
"I do my best," I reply.
The cake is exactly as the sketch is right down to the accuracy and precision of the writing. What is more impressive is that I've added a few more decorations, one of which is a model of the Apollo 11 lunar module. I managed to make it when the others were distracted, none of these lot really know what its for but it'll really make the party go out with a bang.
"You've done such an amazing job, Scott," Mr. Cake said.
"I'll say that you have a great artistic talent there," Rarity said.
"It's nothing," I say.
"What's that thing there?" Rainbow Dash asks as she points to the lunar module.
"Just a little something that I thought would fit in," I say as I lean over it, "Watch this."
I press a small button on the top of the model and the voice of Neil Armstrong emanates from the model.
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
"Whoaaa," everyone in the room chorused.
"Neat innit?" I ask.
"Were did you get this?" Twilight asks.
"I just found it," I reply.
"I know one thing for sure, Luna is going to love this cake."
"I make some sample pieces," I say as I give each of them a small piece of the cake I helped make.
The group eat the cake I made and look at me in amazement.
"Scott, this is amazing!" Twilight exclaims.
"I've never had anything like this before," Rarity said.
"Ah wish I could make stuff like this," Applejack added.
"You've now earned my respect," Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.
"You are really good at making cakes," Fluttershy said.
I nod and shrug. Mr Cake walks closer to me.
"Scott, what you made was probably the greatest thing I have ever eaten. If I were Luna I would want to meet the pony that made this and thank them personally. Do you think that you will be able to come with us to Canterlot?"
This is exactly what I need to get the Elements.
"Sure, I'll go," I say, "I'd be more than honored to."
"I've never said this before but you're the best baker we've ever had," Mr. Cake said to me. No sooner had he finished, Pinkie burst forth from the closet and landed in front of me.
"Ah ha! I knew it!" she said.
"Knew what?" Twilight asked. Pinkie still keeps me in her sights.
"He's out to steal my job. I know what you're up to Scott!"
"Pinkie, calm down," I say, "I'm not out to steal your job."
"Yes you areeee."
Everyone in the room looks at Pinkie like she's lost her mind. Which is nothing closer to the truth, Pinkie is still giving me a death stare. Slowly I watch as everyone backs away. I follow their plan and try to escape to my room so I can grab my dart gun. Pinkie however still keeps pursuing me.
"Give me my life back," she says.
"You lot might want to run," I say to Twilight.
"Already on it," Twilight said as she let her friends bolt out of the store. Pinkie spins around and sees the lot run off leaving me an open gap to escape her. I run to the door, slam it shut and then sprint to my room, hoping that I can get the sleepers before Pinkie kills me. I get to my bedroom door, throw it open and flick on the lights.
"No no no!" I yell as Pinkie dives on me and tries to choke me. I manage to throw her off and roll out of the way but she's already in front of me.
"Give me my life back!" Pinkie yells.
"I don't want to steal your life!" I shout back as I try and reach for my dart gun. I manage to pull the pillow off the gun but Pinkie already has a hold of me and is dragging me backwards. Pinkie has a thirst for my blood and I had no idea how to fend her off, what I do know is that she has lost her mind.
"Get away!"
I kick her off me and run to the gun but she's once again right in front of me. How does she do that?
"You're mine now!" Pinkie says. She then lunges at me. I stand ready and wait until she's close enough.
"Come on lass, I'm ready for ya."
Pinkie dives at me, I wait until she's no more than a foot away. Then I deliver a crushing strike to her nose.
Pinkie stops dead and sinks down clutching her nose. I'm still standing in my attack stance and I watch as Pinkie looks up at me, tears forming in her eyes.
"Why did you do that?" she sniffles.
I don't say anything at first. I relax and walk over to her, she looks at me as I slowly hug her.
"I'm sorry," I say comfortingly, "I'm really sorry."
Pinkie still has hold of her nose and is sniffing as she tries to breath through her nose.
"My nose hurts," Pinkie whimpers.
"Hold still," I say as I try and help her. She shuffles back but I keep a hold of her and tell her that I'm going to try and help her. Pinkie let's me examine her nose. As she removes her hooves from her face I see the amount of blood that's gushing out of her nose. It's clear that I broke it and I feel more than guilty.
"I'm really, really sorry, Pinkie," I said, "I'm going to try and patch you up, okay?"
Pinkie nods and hugs me closer to her.
"Make the pain stop," she said softly. I lean over my bed and find a small unopened box of tissues on the floor, they might have just materialized but no matter, I take the box and open it up. Pinkie is still sitting in the same spot, keeping a tight grip on her broken nose. I take hold of her head and gently push it back so I can try and stop the bleeding, Pinkie doesn't object as I wipe off the blood. I give her another batch of tissues and tell her to hold them in place until the bleeding stops.
"Scott," Pinkie says, I look over at her.
"Yes Pinkie?"
"Can you forgive me for going crazy?"
"Only if you forgive me," I reply. Pinkie hugs me again, but this time she's smiling. She knows what she did and I do as well, I'm hoping that after this little incident we can once again be friends.
"You okay now?" I ask.
"Yep, all better now," Pinkie replies, a little chirpier than I thought but she seems better.
"I seriously didn't mean to break your nose like that," I say, "It was only instinct, I thought you were going to kill me."
"I sometimes overreact at stuff but once I'm over it I'm fine."
"So, can we be friends again?"
"Yeah, I like you in a way, Scott," Pinkie said, "But not that way, I just like you as a friend."
I feel somewhat relived that Pinkie has gotten over what I did. Maybe now we can work together instead of trying to kill each other, but as of now, Pinkie just wants to get back to her usual routine of being herself.
"So what do you wanna work on first?" she asks me as she bounds up the stairs.
"You mean for the party?" I ask, Pinkie nods.
"Do you think we should make more cakes? We should make more cakes."
"What we should do is work on a way to present the cake to Luna," I say.
"Princess Luna," Pinkie corrects, "But your idea sounds neat. Any ideas?"
"I dunno, but it might come to me soon."
We head upstairs into the bakery and I'm a little confused to see the Cakes and Twilight standing in the middle of the room. Everyone else is outside looking through the windows, the silence is slightly weird until Twilight breaks the ice.
"Pinkie, what happened to you?"
"We kind of got into a small scuffle and I sort of hit Pinkie on the nose," I say.
"Are you okay?" Twilight asks Pinkie.
"I'm fine Twilight," Pinkie said, "Scott managed to fix me up in no time."
"We've worked out everything and we're friends again," I add.
"That's nice," Mrs. Cake said, "Now, there's something that we want to tell you."
"What is it?" I ask.
"We've only just learned that there's a contest for who makes the best cake for the princess," Mr. Cake said, "We now know that were up against some of Equestria's best bakers."
"What's the big deal with that?" I ask.
"Our reputation is at stake!" Pinkie said.
"So this little contest is very important to you guys," I say.
"It's not just Sugarcube Corner," Mr. Cake said, "The entire town's reputation is at stake."
"How many times has this contest happened?" I ask.
"Only twice," Twilight said.
I tap my chin and think about what we could do, we have the cake but now we need something amazing to present it with. As I sit on a chair and try to think of a sort of Olympics style grand entrance, the rest of the ponies outside enter the bakery. Most of them wanted to know what had happened to Pinkie but Twilight was a little more interested in my Cutie Mark.
"Did you figure out what the symbol is?" I ask her.
"No, I've been through almost twelve books and still have found nothing."
"What can we do to present the cake?" Pinkie said loudly, changing the subject rather quickly.
"I've made some costumes for us," Rarity said.
"Ah made some apple treats for the guests," Applejack said.
"I'm gonna do a sonic rainboom for princess Luna," Rainbow Dash added.
"I have organized some animals for some of our best songs," Fluttershy said.
"And since I'm organizing the event for us and Pinkie has the cake, all we need to do now is make ourselves shine above the others," Twilight said.
I stand up and head out for the town again, hoping that a short walk will form some ideas. I tell everyone else that my ideas come when I'm alone. Pinkie, being a good sport and still being herself, gives me a quick hug and runs off to join her friends over at Rarity's shop to see what she made. Now for the grand entrance that we have to come up with. I feel as if I'm involved but this is good, if there is one thing that I know very well, it's how to make a memorable and stunning entrance.
I'm so glad that it's summer in Equestria. The night is only just beginning but it's still warm and pleasant. I have always liked the warm summer nights back on earth, peaceful and relaxing right up until my Mum or Dad ruin it. After I had a working car I would escape every Friday night to an open field and wait until it starts to get cold, it's rather relaxing and particularly nice especially if I have a telescope so I can try and study the stars and the moon. It's only then that I realize that I've got to come up with some way of presenting the cake for Princess Luna. Making a cake is easy, finding some way to present in a crowd pleasing manner it is much harder. I do know that the Element of Chaos would be useful but I don't want to blow my cover or kill myself with it. Now, for this presentation I have to promote both Ponyville and Sugarcube Corner, not as easy as it sounds. I have no idea what Ponyville's selling point is nor do I have anything that could help promote the bakery aside from my fabricated baking skills. I head once more in the direction of the forest and try to locate the Monolith with hopes that Discord could help me. Not that he will but it's worth a shot.
"Now which way was that rock?" I say as I almost trip over a tree stump. The forest had now increased in density and I'm slowly starting to realize that I'm getting lost. Eventually I do manage to make it to a clearing where the path splits up into three ways. Now I have seen movies where this kind of thing happens and I know for a fact that you never go down a path that is dark or looks like it's being eaten by trees, two of which fit the very descriptions. The only path left to choose is the middle path and like an idiot, I go down it, forgetting that you never take the middle path. Almost twenty minutes pass before I give up my search and start retracing my steps back to Sugarcube corner, the only problem is that darkness has really fallen now and I can't see anything in front of me. I use the Element of Chaos to create a headlamp and discover that It's about as useful as using a chisel to knock down a building. I don't know if the Element if failing on me or if there's something up with the forest, not caring which one it is I boost the light power on the headlamp and almost blind myself. Once I get used to the light I see something glimmering under some bushes and vines. I have no idea what it could be but it appears to be metallic, it could just be a rock that I've never seen before. But that theory changes once I approach the anomaly.
"No," I say in disbelief, "No it can't be."
I remove some of the brush and I'm looking at the hood of a car, but I know which car it is. It's mine.
"What the hell?" I say as I walk around the metal behemoth. It's mine alright, even if it is bashed up and coated with bushes and vines. I totally forget about my car after I got transported here and now, here it is. I don't know how this got here but I'm willing to find out.
"Where the bloody hell are you Discord?" I think as I try and open the door, which is caved in from the crash.
"What is it now, Scott?" I hear Discord from behind me. I turn around and point to the wreck of my interceptor.
"This, what is it doing here?"
"I have no idea why it's there," Discord said, "To be honest with you, I thought that it was destroyed. Ah well, it must of warped through with you and ended up here."
"I hope this will still work."
"Use the Element and maybe you can use it for your little presentation."
I look up at Discord and see him grinning at me.
"How did you know?" I ask.
"I have my ways Mr. Websly," Discord said slyly, he then added, "If you can cause a nice little bit of chaos with this then I'll see if I can give it a nice little improvement once you complete your job."
Discord vanishes and I am left on my own again in the forest. I once again try and open the door. I force the side door open and clamber over the seats until I'm sitting in the drivers seat, I look around and see that the windows have been smashed or are cracked. There is a small amount of dried blood on the side of the door. I try and scrape it off but give up once I see the damage that the front had suffered. The PIT bumper had done it's job but the hood was crumpled and the lights, even though I cannot see them, are smashed. I take the Element of Chaos in my hand and see if the keys are on the floor. I eventually hear something jingle on the floor and I take hold of the keys before they can escape under the seat.
"Please start," I whisper as I inset the keys into the ignition.
I turn the key and the car tries to start but dies after some spluttering from the engine.
"Work!" I yell as I hit the dashboard with the Element of Chaos. The car suddenly roars into life and the front lights flicker on. I stare at the Element in amazement and let it fall against my neck, slowly I take hold of the steering wheel and try to get a feel for it with no fingers. Once I get over the weird feeling I put the car in gear and sit up.
"Okay then," I say, "Let's see if you'll work."
The car slowly rolls forward and onto the path. I smile once it's proved that it still works and turn in the direction of Ponyville, I'm almost in the clear when I realize that I can't roll up in this. The car needs a repair and it needs to be hidden until the repairs are done but where can I hide it. Applejack's abandoned barn comes to me as I back into the forest and turn the front lights off, if I go around the town I can sneak up on the farm without attracting attention and hide in the barn. I work out a path to the barn and hope that nopony sees me. Did I just use the word "nopony"? I must be getting used to the culture of Equestria. The forest does a good job of insulating the sound of the engine, if the forest wasn't here then hiding the car would be a lot harder than it is now. I work my way through the knotted woods and bumpy paths until I come to the abandoned barn on Sweet Apple Acres, I hide the car behind a hill and check the surrounding area before I drive up to the barn and open up the doors. Backing into the barn was a little tricky because the back window was smashed and had been caved in. I did make it inside after almost backing into the wall and once I was parked up I shut the barn doors. With a wave of my hoof a large toolbox and a set of replacement parts materialize next to the front of the vehicle. I open up the toolbox and see that its packed to the brim with tools to repair the car with. As I tap the crumpled hood with a spanner an idea forms in my mind, all I can say is that it will be involved in the presentation of the cake, and I know that it will be a show stopper. All I needed to do now was make it look presentable, and it could take all night. I just hope that Pinkie isn't searching for me.
"Blood! That's my blood!" I yelp as I pull my hoof from the engine and find it to be coated in blood. I just sliced my arm on a sharp piece of metal while I was trying to fix the alternator. Being a pony mechanic is very hard mainly because of the lack of fingers and thumbs, and my mane keeps getting caught in the belt. If the engine was on I probably would be going to the party without a head. Not the way I want to arrive at the party, it might affect the town's reputation. I bandage myself up for the twelfth time and go back to repairing the car. I've been working for twelve hours, sleeping only for about four hours before I was woken up by some weird noise from outside the barn. So far the repair job has been very successful, the hood and lights have been replaced, the broken windows were fixed in less than an hour. Now all I had to do was try and see if the thing started. I clamber into the drivers seat and turn the key, the car starts and I give the engine a few revs before shutting it off. I get out of the car and see the barn door ajar, I didn't open it that's for sure. As I go to shut it I hear frantic screams coming from the bottom of the hill.
"Applejack!" I hear a small but terrified voice scream, "Applejackkkkkkkk!"
I look down the path and see who it was, it was Apple Bloom and her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.
"This isn't good," I say as I shut the barn door, and then lock it.
Roughly two hours passed after the fillies stumbled upon my cruiser, I was lucky that Applejack didn't decide to investigate right when I was trying to check the oil. I think that the reason that the kids were so scared was that they had never seen something like this before, I don't think that any of the townsfolk have ever seen a car before. As I tidy up the useless parts I hear commotion from outside the barn door. I press my ear to it, eager to hear what was going on.
"Ah'm not lying Applejack," Apple Bloom's voice said, "There's a monster in there."
"Now there's no monster in there, Apple Bloom," Applejack replied.
"But it was there," Scootaloo said, "We were just going inside the barn when it woke up and growled at us."
"I'm scared Rarity," Sweetie Belle whimpered, "What if it's still in there?"
"I don't think that it's still here." Rarity said softly.
"Come on, if there is something in here let's get it!" I here Rainbow Dash say.
"Okay, is everypony ready?" Twilight's voice drifts through the doors, "This thing might be dangerous so be careful."
"Half the town is here Twilight," Applejack said, "Ah think we can take it."
This is too perfect, Discord wanted me to cause a ruckus with the interceptor, and what better way than to surprise the onlookers with a huge, metal, V8 powered brute. I run to the car and quietly open the door and shut it, making very little noise. AlI I do now is wait for the doors to open. Now when I got this car it had only just been retired of service and not everything had been removed from the vehicle, the PIT bumper and the spotlight are great examples. But two more little attachments hadn't been removed when I got this car, I have never used them until now. This should be fun.
The doors slowly swing open and I put the lights on full beam and quickly turn the car on. I see Twilight and her friends trying to shake off the bright light, once they do they stare at me in amazement.
"What is that?" I hear Twilight say.
"It's really big," Pinkie said.
"That thing sounds mean," Fluttershy said.
I give the engine a few revs and it scares the fillies and some of the crowd.
"It's growling again!" Sweetie Belle screams. Rainbow Dash leaps in front of her and puts her hooves up.
"Come on, I'm not scared of you."
Now is the perfect time to activate the car's party pieces. First I flick on the pursuit lights, then I turn on the siren, which makes everypony jump back.
I stomp on the accelerator pedal and shoot out of the barn, I breath a sight of relief when the crowd dives out of the way. I scream towards the town, the siren still wailing and the lights flashing. I glance in my rear view mirror and see Rainbow Dash is right behind me, it kind of reminds me of the white light that chased me back on Earth but this time it was a pegasus with a rainbow trail. I fly over the bridge and skid into the street. Several ponies come out of their homes and watch as I careen down the streets and drift around corners. Rainbow Dash is still right behind me, she seems more curious than determined to catch me. I spin the car around and drive backwards until I almost back into Twilight's library, slamming on the brakes almost makes Dash crash into me but she avoids me and hovers above me. Just as she reaches out to touch the sunroof I gun it and head for Sugarcube corner. I drive there and luck have it when Mr. and Mrs. Cake have just come out to the front steps to see where the noise of my interceptor was coming from. I skid to a halt in front of them and give them a good fright with an engine roar. They dive back into the shop as the crowd from the barn approaches from behind me. Twilight is leading the pack and they seem a mix of terror and curiosity.
"What are you?!" Twilight yells.
I spin the car around to face them and then turn it off. As they look at my car in awe I open up the sunroof and pull myself out. I jump down and land next to Rainbow Dash.
"What is it?" Twilight asks me as she approaches the car.
"Dunno, but it's really neat," I reply.
"What's it made of?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"My guess, steel, or some sort of metallic compound."
"Where did you find this?" Applejack asks.
"In the forest."
The crowd of ponies talk among themselves until I stealthily lock the car with the key remote. The beeping shuts them up.
"What was that?" Sweetie Belle squeaks.
"I have no idea," I reply slyly.
"What do you think this is used for?" Pinkie asks.
"From what I can work out, it might be used for a whole multitude of things," I say.
"Like what?" Applejack said.
"Right now, one small idea is beginning to form in my brain," I say as I look back to Sugarcube corner. Pinkie picks up on what I'm thinking of.
"Oooh, I know what your idea is."
"Do you think it will work?"
"Oh I'll make it work." Pinkie said. I grin and let Pinkie go and tell the Cakes my idea.
"I am so glad that we're friends again," she says as she passes me. I sigh knowing that that statement isn't going to last long. Pinkie passes me and I go and show the ponies the Interceptor.
An hour later Pinkie comes out grinning widely. I can only guess what's she going to say.
"Did they say yes?" I ask.
"Yep, they think that we'll be the best presenters ever," Pinkie replies.
"Excellent," I say, "Now the question is this, how are we going to transport the the bloody cake?"
This makes Pinkie go from happy to worried.
"Oh no! I didn't think of that."
"It's okay Pinkie, I have faith in you and your buddies to come up some sort of plan," I say comfortingly. Pinkie smiles and walks over to my car. None of the ponies here have ever seen anything as powerful as a Police Interceptor and I'm pretty sure that they will never get the chance to see one after I'm gone.
"You want to see what it'll do?" I ask Pinkie.
"Sure!" Pinkie perks up.
I open up the car and several ponies jump in it the second it opens. I make them get out and tell the crowd that I can only take five at a time. Pinkie, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack hop in after the other ponies get out. I look towards the crowd and see Fluttershy standing with the three fillies from earlier.
"Is Fluttershy not coming?" I ask.
"No, the girls are still scared from when they found you with this metal thing," Twilight said.
"I'll talk to them later," I say, "I want to make sure that those fillies know that this isn't a monster."
"So what happens now?" Rarity said. I start up the the car and rev it a few times.
"Hold on," I reply.
I stomp on the accelerator and shoot between the crowd and down the dirt roads. I drive around the town and then skid to a halt in front of the bakery. Twilight and her friends get out and let five other ponies get in the car and I take them around the town the town at top speed as well. Eventually after an hour, the entire crowd has been for a ride in my car. Each time one group would get out another would enter. The crowd did disperse eventually and I am left with Pinkie.
"So did you work out something while I was driving the other ponies around?" I ask her.
"Yep, me and Mr. Cake figured out that we can put the cake on the top of the roof."
"Of the car?" I ask.
"Sure, it'll fit," Pinkie replied.
"But how are we going to transport the the car and the cake to Canterlot? The car doesn't have the fuel to last the trip up the mountain."
"We're not going to walk up there," Pinkie says with a chuckle, "We're using the train until we get outside the city."
"That's good," I say, "Now how are we going to put the cake on the car?"
"I was just going to ask Mr. Cake about that," Pinkie said as she goes into the shop. I follow and wonder when we're going to transport not just the massive birthday cake, but several bunches of smaller cakes as well. Maybe we could put them in the trunk. We enter the back of the shop and see Mr and Mrs. Cake running around, trying to get everything finished in time.
"Pressure of the upcoming deadline?" I ask.
"No time to talk," Mr. Cake said as he stacks boxes of smaller cakes on the table.
"I don't think that the party will be starting for the next few days," Pinkie said as she wanders around the boxes of cakes and other foods.
"We're still up against Equestria's best bakers and cooks," Mrs. Cake says frantically.
"So have you guys found a way to present the cake on the car?" I ask. Mr. Cake stops and looks at me.
"It's a simple task, what we're planning to do is to take both of them separate until we get to Canterlot and then we'll present the cake on top of the...car. Then we'll present it to Princess Luna."
"Sounds like a plan to me," I say in confidence.
In order to make up the quota that the Cakes have I help out too. Pinkie keeps the twins distracted while we work and eventually, everything pays off. We have all the cakes made and packaged, the birthday cake is sealed in a box and ready for transport, I cook up something that'll keep the cake in place as I'm driving up to Canterlot and soon we manage to modify the car so that it can carry and showcase everything that the Cakes made. As I'm testing the pursuit lights, Fluttershy walks up to me with her rabbit Angel, who still hasn't gotten over the mind control.
"Hi Fluttershy," I say as I switch the lights off.
"Hi Scott," she says in a voice I can barely hear.
"Like what me and Pinkie did?" I ask her as I step aside to show her the new modifications. Fluttershy examines the new pull-out tables that replaced the back seats and the trunk which has been chilled to keep ice-cream and drinks cool. Fluttershy walks around the Interceptor a few times before stopping next to me.
"It looks great," she says, "I wish that you would change the color of it."
"I like it black, plus Luna might like it too," I argue.
"I guess there's that," Fluttershy said.
"Any reason why you're here?" I ask her.
"Yes actually, remember the three fillies you scared with this."
I nod and say it wasn't intentional, Fluttershy agrees with that statement.
"Well I was wondering if you could look after them tomorrow."
"You mean Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?" I ask her suspiciously, "Why can't you do it?"
"I've got to get all of the animals together so we can choose the best bird song for the party."
"Why not just play that new song Gangnam Stlye? Do they even know what it'll be?" I ask myself.
"Do you think you can do it?" Fluttershy asks, breaking my concentration.
"What do I have to do?" I ask her.
"Nothing much, just keep them entertained at my cottage. Make sure that they don't break anything or go into the Everfree forest."
"Sounds easy enough," I say.
"It won't be, not for ponies who are doing this for the first time," Fluttershy said.
"Any advice on how to prepare for these kids?" I ask.
"Just tell them that you're taking over for me and they should be fine," Fluttershy says with a smile.
"When do you want me at your cottage?" I ask her.
"Tomorrow afternoon, about six. Bye Scott."
Fluttershy trots away, leaving me alone as day turns to dusk.
"It's only one night," I say, "How hard can three little fillies be?"
Darkness falls faster than expected as I sprint to Fluttershy's cottage. I have no idea how it's gotten so dark within just several minutes of leaving Sugarcube Corner. I'm hoping that one day of helping Pinkie take care of the Cake twins will be enough to help me look after these three fillies. I was grateful that my work in Sugarcube Corner was done for the day, Mr and Mrs Cake both heard about what I was doing the previous day and they allowed me to take the rest of the afternoon off so that I could learn about how to take care of young kids. But I highly doubt that these kids will require the amount of care that Pound and Pumpkin Cake need. As a small precaution I did ask Fluttershy about the girls and she told me everything about them. Apparently they call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their goal is to find their talents so that they can get Cutie Marks. It's a cute little idea for a club but from what I heard, they can make huge messes. Applejack told me about when Apple Bloom got the Cutie Pox and scared the entire town, not something that I have to deal with.
As I near the cottage I stop running and skid several feet until I come to a complete halt. I look at the windows of the small house and notice something, there's no-one there. The lights are off and there's no sign of life inside of the cottage and there's no sign of anyone outside. I walk over to the front door and knock on it, slightly puzzled because Fluttershy wanted me to be at her place at six and she's not here. Either that or she's out with the fillies. Should I call them Crusaders for short? What were their names again?
"Oh Scott, you're here," Fluttershy's voice says behind me. I spin around and see Fluttershy with the Crusaders standing by her side coming up the front path.
"You told me to be here at six," I say.
"Yes but I never expected you to be here so early."
"It is six isn't it?" I ask, "It's gotten darker and have no idea what time it is."
"How can you tell what time it is?" the pegasus filly asks me. What was her name again? Scooterlot?
"I can gauge the suns position and the shadows to see what hour it is," I say. No joke, I can do that.
"Is that by magic?" the unicorn filly asks. I have no clue what her name is.
"No, it's just through basic studying of astronomy."
"What's astonamininy?" the pony filly asks. I see that she has a massive dark red bow in her mane, I didn't see it earlier because she was wearing a helmet. Her name also escapes me.
"Astronomy is the scientific study of space, stars and planets."
The fillies "ooooh" after I say this, they seem interested, maybe I can teach them what I know. Who knows, it might stop them from trying to break stuff. Fluttershy opens up her cottage and lets us inside, there are several small woodland creatures that stare at us as we enter. I hope that they don't start to hate me as well like that rabbit which is here as well. The animals watch or retreat as shows the kids to the room that they'll be using for the night, she explains to me that they were meant to stay at Applejack's farm but Applejack has been too preoccupied with the upcoming party to be able to take care of the girls. I ask her for the names of the fillies and which one is which. Fluttershy goes on to tell me that the pony is Apple Bloom, the unicorn is Sweetie Belle and the pegasus is Scootaloo. I was half right with her name.
"Let me tell them what's going on," Fluttershy said.
"You haven't told them yet?" I ask.
"No, I wanted you to be here so they knew who you were."
"Good idea."
Fluttershy clears her throat and turns to the stairs.
"Girls," she says in a voice barely audible to my ears. Within seconds the fillies are standing in front of her, looking as innocent as possible.
"Yes Fluttershy?" they all say.
"You remember Scott Websly right?" Fluttershy says, the fillies nod, "He's going to be looking after you until I get back."
The fillies look at me nervously but they ease up as I lean down to their head level.
"How ya doing ya wee lasses?" I ask in a very thick Scottish accent. Sweetie Belle giggles a little.
"Why are you talking like that?" Scootaloo asks.
"Like what?" I reply, this time Apple Bloom giggles.
"That silly voice you have," Apple Bloom says, "What's wrong with it?"
"Ach, this is me normal voice," I say. Oh how I love being a stereotype.
"You sure?" Scootaloo asks, a small smile breaking out on her face.
"I don't see anything wrong with it," I say.
"Can you please talk like you were earlier?" Fluttershy asks, but I know that she's enjoying my little act.
"Thank goodness you asked," I say in my normal accent, "I thought I was going to end up as a haggis if I kept that up."
This make all the girls fall to the floor, laughing from what I said.
"That was the funniest thing I have ever heard," Scootaloo said.
"Say it again Mr! Pleaseeee?" Sweetie Belle pleads.
"What word?" I ask.
"That one word," Apple Bloom said, "Ah can't say it in case ah die from laughing."
"Was it 'haggis'?" I say. The girls are off giggling like maniacs again. They keep this up for a few minutes until they lay still on the floor panting for air.
"HAGGIS!" I shout in my deep Scottish accent. The girls, even though out of breath, start laughing again. I look over at Fluttershy and see her with her hoof over her mouth.
"Something wrong?"
"Is that an appropriate word to say around the girls?" she asks me.
"Oh yeah, it's just one of my country's traditional foods."
"What is it?"
I stop when I realize that I can't tell her that haggis is boiled sheep stomach that's been stuffed with vegetables.
"I can't remember," I say quickly. Fluttershy looks at me suspiciously until the fillies start coughing.
"Oh dear," Fluttershy said, "Are you girls alright?"
"Yeah," Scootaloo said between hacking coughs, "Just need water or something."
"Get some for all three of them," I say, Fluttershy doesn't hesitate. As she's getting water for the fillies I sit on the floor next to them and let them get their breaths back, for small kids they sure have big lungs.
"You okay now?" I ask them.
"I think we'll be okay," Apple Bloom said, her voice a little dry and scratchy sounding. Sweetie Belle lies on her back and sucks in as much air as she can.
"Mr. Websly?" she said.
"Call me Scott," I say. Sweetie Belle looks over at me.
"Scott, can you please not say that word again for a while?"
I nod and smile a little.
"Anything for you guys."
Fluttershy returns with three large glasses of water and gives them to the fillies, who gulp them down in seconds. After they finish drinking they sit up and let out deep a satisfied exhale.
"Are you girls alright now?" Fluttershy asks.
"Yep, much better," Sweetie Belle said.
"Now you girls behave for Scott," Fluttershy said.
"I think that we'll get long just fine," I say. The Crusaders are already back up and looking as angelic as they possibly can, I can just see the golden halos above their heads. I start to wonder if they might use them as Frisbees if they were real.
"Okay, I'll be back later," Fluttershy said as she left, "Bye girls."
"Bye!" the fillies say. Fluttershy shuts the door and the Crusaders run up to the window and watch the yellow pegasus fly away. They then turn their attention to me, the looks that they are giving me don't bode well in my mind.
"Don't even think that I'm going easy on you because you barely know me."
"We weren't planning to do anything," Apple Bloom said.
"We were just going to try and find our special talent," Scootaloo adds.
"Do you have any ideas on what it might be?" I ask.
"Last time we were here we tried to fix a table and catch a chicken," Sweetie Belle said. I scratch the side of my head as I remember the story that Twilight told me when Fluttershy took care of the Crusaders for the first time and how it almost ended with them becoming statues. Not the way I want to die.
"Maybe we should try and figure out what the Haggis might be," Scootaloo said. A few giggles from the other two follow.
"Yeah, what do you think it is though?" Sweetie Belle said.
"Maybe Scott knows," Apple Bloom said as she points toward me, "Scott, what's a Haggis?"
I know that I shouldn't be messing with the minds of these kids but if I don't tell them they might get bored and start to break stuff. I decide to go with the most ridiculous thought that pops into my head, it might keep the kids occupied until they fall asleep.
"The Haggis is a rare and very strange creature," I say, "It's one of the most interesting animals in the whole of Equestria. I've spent a few years of my life searching for it but I have never found anything."
"What's it look like?" Apple Bloom asks.
"Small, round. It's red with a plaid pattern so seeing it shouldn't be too hard."
"But you said that you've never seen it before," Scootaloo said.
"I know from what it looks like from books and sightings," I say, "But I've never seen one in real life before."
"Do you think there could be one in the forest?" Scootaloo said to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.
"There could be," Apple Bloom said. Sweetie Belle pipes up.
"Wait, didn't Fluttershy tell us to not go into the forest alone?"
"Did she say you could go if there was another pony with you?" I ask.
"Well, no," Apple Bloom said.
"Then you don't need to worry, I'll take you into the forest if you want to try and find the Haggis," I say.
"Really?" Sweetie Belle asked excitedly.
"Sure, what? Did you really think I was going to keep you here all night?"
"Cool! We can go into the forest again?" Scootaloo said.
"Just for an hour before it gets too dark to see," I say, but in my mind I know that I'll probably have to use the Element of Chaos if it gets dark.
"Can you give us a second?" Apple Bloom says as she runs upstairs with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They return a few minutes later with red capes around their necks, on the side of the capes is what looks like a yellow emblem of a small pony foal with a cape that's rearing on it's hind legs.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER HAGGIS CATCHERS!" they all yell in joy. The next words I say escape my lips before I can stop myself.
"Aww, that's dead cute."
"We're not cute!" Scootaloo said triumphantly, "We're fearless Crusaders!"
"Okay, okay," I say as I open up the front door, "Shall we be on our way?"
"Let's go!" the Crusaders all shout as they bolt out the front door. Once they're outside I shut the door and join them at the bottom of the front path.
"Is there anything in the forest at this time of night?" I ask.
"No," Apple Bloom said. Just then a distant howl catches my attention but the Crusaders dart off in the direction it came from, towards the thickest part of the forest.
"Come on, Scott!" I hear Sweetie Belle yell toward me. I look at the trees and an uneasy feeling washes over me. I have no clue what's in that part of the forest because I've never been there. I scan the trees and see a pair of large red eyes stare at the Crusaders as they run into the woods. A sudden feeling of panic hits me.
"Ah sod it." I say. I then take off, yelling their names as I pursue them, hoping to catch them before the owner of the red eyes does.
"GIRLS!" I yell as I crash through tree branches and bushes. I come to a clearing and frantically look around hoping to see or hear any trace of the fillies. I charge through down a pathway and catch a glimpse of a red around a corner. I bolt it the direction of the color flash and I find the Crusaders gathered around a tree trunk, looking inside of it.
"Come on out," Sweetie Belle said to whatever was in the tree trunk.
"What...are...you...doing?" I pant. The girls spin around and see me standing behind them. Their mood shifts from curious to guilty.
"We were-um," Apple Bloom stammers and looks down at the ground. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo follow suit, all three of them walk up in front of me still looking at the ground.
"Why did you run off?" I ask.
"We thought that we heard a Haggis so we tried to see where it was," Scootaloo said.
"That's no reason for you girls to run off like that," I say, "What if you ran into something that was going to kill you and I wasn't here?"
Sweetie Belle looks up at me, tears are forming in her eyes and she wipes them off but more follow.
"We're sorry, Scott. We didn't mean it." she says, her voice is slowly breaking and I can tell that she's about to cry. I sigh and sit down in front of her and try to cheer her up.
"I'm not mad Sweetie Belle, I was only concerned about your safety. I'm not mad or anything, just don't run off like that again, okay?"
Sweetie Belle nods but she still doesn't look at me. I hate seeing her upset and she's still making little choked sounds.
"Aw come on, don't be like that," I say as I lift her chin up, "Can I get a smile? You look cute when you smile."
Sweetie Belle gives me a small smile and then hugs me. I don't hesitate to return the hug, I look down and see her with a wide grin on her face.
"There you go, that's what I'm looking for."
"Thanks Scott," Sweetie Belle said as she lets go of me. I go over to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo and get their attention.
"You guys want to go haggis hunting?" I say. The fillies all perk up and gather up next to me. Scootaloo starts pulling at my foreleg.
"Come on Scott! We need to try and see if it went this way."
We continue to explore the forest for about an hour until the darkness became too risky to continue. I manage to coax the kids to give up searching and to get back to the cottage. The Crusaders moan but they follow me, knowing what happened last time they had been in the forest too long. I lead the way through the forest, keeping the girls close to my side. I hear several strange noises as we make our way back to the cottage but the fillies are yawning and trying to stay awake.
"Do you think that we'll be able to try and find the haggis later?" Apple Bloom asks.
"We will, once the party is over," Scootaloo said.
"When is that?" I ask, reason being is that no-one told me when the date was.
"I think that it's tomorrow night," Sweetie Belle said, "I wish we could go."
"It's best that you aren't," I think. Suddenly a faint growling noise to my left makes me stop dead. The Crusaders stop as well and look in the direction of the growl.
"What was that?" Scootaloo asks.
"Nothing good," I reply.
The growling has now gotten louder and whatever is in the undergrowth is now slowly advancing on us. I place myself in front of the fillies just in case the creature in the woods is hostile.
"You stay back from these kids, you hear?!" I yell towards the creature. The growling gets louder and I feel the Crusaders gather up around me.
"What is it?" Scootaloo asks.
"I have no idea but it probably might leave us alone if we back away slowly," I say. The Crusaders slowly start to back up and I follow them shortly afterwards, making sure that they can escape if we are attacked. I turn back to see if the girls are a safe distance away.
"You kids alright?"
They don't respond, and instead of backing away they cower and point shaking hooves over at something in front of me. I freeze and slowly turn to face my front, and no sooner did I see the thing in front of me I wished that I had just kept walking backwards. Standing in front of me is a monster that looks like a cross between a lion and a scorpion, it's face is right up to mine and it's massive eyes are almost burning holes in my head, but I'm more confused than frightened by the appearance of the creature.
"What the hell is this in front of me?" I ask.
"MANTICORE!" Apple Bloom yells in downright fear.
"What?" Is all I manage to say before I'm swatted aside by the Manticore's massive scorpion tail. I land in the dirt several feet away from where I was. I get back up and see that the Crusaders have taken off running and the Manticore cuts them off. They run past me and without hesitation, I dive at the monster and kick it square in the face, sending it tumbling to the ground.
"Leave those kids alone!" I bark as I jump on the Manticore and start hitting it in the eyes, trying to blind it. It manages to throw me off and let out a deafening roar before it changes it's attack to me. I stand ready and wait for it to charge me, once it does I side step and lunge at it. I get a grip on it's tail and I clamber up its back and begin to pull at its fur. I see the Crusaders all watching me as I fight the Manticore.
"RUN!" I yell at them, "RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!"
They don't move but stare at me in amazement. I get distracted for too long and the Manticore throws me off it's back again. I jump up and dodge the swiping paws but I fail to evade the massive stinger mounted tail as it smashes into the side of my head and sends me flying through the air and making me land on hard ground. The impact knocks the wind out of me and leaves me stunned. I lie on the ground, unable to do anything except trying to get air into my lungs. The Manticore has now thought me dead and is now advancing on the Crusaders, licking around its mouth as if it's going to have a nice little feast in a few seconds. I manage to shakily get up and see the Manticore grab Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle and they are being held by the Manticore, about to be eaten. A new feeling enters my body, a feeling of rage that I have never felt before. My vision goes from blurry and distorted to red and wavy in an instant and the Manticore is pulsating. An electric current runs through me and the inside of me feels like it is on fire. I stand up on my hind legs and stare at the Manticore.
"HEY!" I yell, the Manticore stops lowering the fillies towards its mouth and looks at me in confusion. I raise up my right hoof and point towards it, "I SAID LEAVE THEM ALONE!"
Suddenly a burst of energy shoots out of my hoof and hits the Manticore in the chest. The creature drops the girls and starts clawing at its heart but I can see that it's beginning to disintegrate. The Maticore lets out a ear splitting shriek of pain before the entire body turns to dust and is blown away. I don't realize that I'm on my back until the Maticore is gone. I sit up and rub the side of my head and feel blood trickle down from my ears, I then rub my right foreleg and let out a cry of pain. Looking at my arm I can see what has happened; My entire foreleg, from the hoof to the shoulder is covered with black, shiny burns that run through my veins. I sit there and stare at amazement as I look at the damage that I might have done to myself. I try to stand up but I fall over, weak, short of breath and with my heart racing I try to call for the girls.
"Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo," I say weakly, "Where are you?"
Three bruised and cut up fillies run over to me, crying and screaming. My ears start ringing from their screams but they stop once they reach me.
"Wh-wh-what just happened?" Apple Bloom said through raking sobs.
"It's okay, it's all over now," I say as I try and stand up but I almost fall over.
"I wanna go home," Scootaloo says as she keeps crying.
"Where's my sister? I want my sister!" Sweetie Belle says to me. I don't try and stand until my heart stops thumping in my chest so I take hold of the Crusaders and hug them until they calm down enough so I can talk to them.
"You okay now?" I ask them.
"No," Sweetie Belle said.
"Ah wanna go back to the cottage," Apple Bloom added.
"Me too, I don't wanna crusade anymore," Scootaloo says as she leans against me. I sigh and try to get myself steady.
"Let's go back," I say. The Crusaders gather around me and stick by my side until we get back to the cottage. Several times I stumble and collapse, each time I almost black out and I feel my heart almost stop. Whatever I did back there has truly almost killed me. Each beat of my already weakened heart sends thumping pain through my head, as for my foreleg, every time I step down on it a spear of pain shoots up it, which in turn makes me fall down again. Once we manage to get to the cottage I collapse and try to get up but my body refuses to move. This causes the Crusaders to cry again.
"Get up Scott!" Sweetie Belle said as she shakes me.
"I can't bloody move!" I yell back in frustration.
"Please don't do this to us," Scootaloo whimpers.
"Give me a second," I say as I try to stand up. As I do Apple Bloom takes my injured leg and sets it on her back.
"You're hurt," she said as we walk up to the front of the cottage.
"So are you," I reply. All three of them are bruised and have small scrapes and cuts covering them, I know that I'll be able to help them. After all, they're helping me out.
We get to the front door and I find that it's locked. I jiggle the door handle in irritation which makes the fillies panic.
"We're gonna be eaten!" Apple Bloom yells. I start banging on the door in hopes that Fluttershy has come home earlier.
"Calm down, Fluttershy might be able to help us. That is if she's in."
I hit the door particularly hard this time and the door unlocks and opens. I look down and see Angel looking up at me in what I can tell is amazement. I manage to stumble inside and the Crusaders slam the door shut and lock it. Angel watches as I start opening cabinets and pull out random items, the fillies dive under the couch and cover themselves in their damaged capes.
"Where the hell is the bloody first aid kit?!" I shout. I pull out several object and slam the cabinet door shut in anger, unfortunately I slam the door with my bad leg and pain shoots up my leg again. I sink down to the floor and feel something poke me in the side.
"What?" I say as I look down and see Angel standing by my side. Next to him is a large first aid kit, I take it and he also hands me something. I look at the item and can clearly see that it's a morphine sryette, Angel looks at me and then to my leg.
"Thanks," I say as I bandage up my leg and then insert the sryette into my shoulder. The effect of the morphine is almost instant as the pain slowly disperses and I can use it with no hindrance. Angel then points to the first aid kit and then the Crusaders and I immediately know what he wants me to do. I pick up the first aid kit and then bring it over to the couch where the Crusaders are hiding.
"Girls," I say softly, "Girls, are you going to come out from there and let me help you?"
The fillies slowly come out from under the couch and look around fearfully.
"Are-are we safe?" Sweetie Belle asks me.
"Yes, nothing is going to get you."
The Crusaders climb up onto the couch and allow me to clean off their wounds and then patch them up with bandages. Once I finish that I sit on the couch next to them and try to calm them down, they're still quaking with fear and tears are still streaming down their cheeks. I lean back and feel Scootaloo hug me around my chest, her tears drip onto me and I hold her in a tight hug.
"I'm never going into the forest again," she whispers.
"Don't you worry," I say, "I'll keep you safe."
The fillies start crying again and they huddle around me. Most of their sentences are incoherent and full of tears. I tighten my grip on Scootaloo as she hugs me and shakes. Just hearing the girls cry is beginning to upset me, now I know that there is a way to calm them down but it will question my dignity. I quickly glance around the room and after I see that there isn't another living soul in the room, and then, I try singing. I haven't sung in several years but I know that I'm good at it. This started when I was only four, my beloved Great Dane had died and I was devastated, I remember crying for an entire night and I refused to do anything. One day my uncle, whom I have never seen before, came to visit two days after my dog died and after seeing how upset I was he sang to me. I eventually did manage to recover from my loss and because I was so impressed by my uncle's singing voice that I took it up as well. After one of my cousins caught me singing they said that it was amazing and they wanted to hear more. This eventually led to me singing to my younger cousins whenever they were woken up in the night by bad dreams. But right here and right now, the fillies are slowly calming down and falling asleep. Perfect.
Eventually the fillies are fast asleep and I decide to run upstairs and grab some blankets and pillows for them so that they can sleep on the couch. If I took them upstairs then they might wake up and start crying again. As they pull the blankets over themselves and fall asleep I take hold of the Element of Chaos and materialize something that will make sure that I'll be ready in case the Manicore comes back.
"Okay, now I'm ready," I whisper as I pump a Spaz-12 shotgun. The Crusaders stir but they fall back into a deep slumber. It surprises me how little I know about weapons but how effective this gun will be if anything bursts through the window. What makes me question the day's events was what I managed to do in order to kill the Manticore. I know for a fact that what shot out of me was some sort of energy pulse that was capable of disintegrating the monster. How the hell did I do that and more importantly, what else is this Element capable of? There's something very peculiar about the Element and the lack of instruction that Discord gave me regarding it. All I can remember was that it was all of his powers copy-pasted, scaled down and capable of killing me if I used it too much. Now if that energy blast was the scaled down version of Discord's then what is his energy blast like? After what I just did his might be able to crack the planet in half. My thoughts are interrupted as the door unlocks and opens, I hop off the couch, barely disturbing the sleeping fillies, and go to the front door. Relief washes over me as a pink mane peeks around the door.
"Rarity, Applejack and Twilight," Fluttershy replies, I make the shotgun vanish before they enter. Fluttershy is the first through the door and once she sees me, she stops dead.
"Scott!" she yelped, "What happened to you?"
I bolt forward and cover her mouth and shut her up.
"Quiet, you'll wake the kids."
"What happened to your leg?" Twilight asks. I sigh and rub it, the pain slowly starts to return.
"You might want to come in, it's a long story."
I explain everything that happened in the past couple of hours, from the fillies running off into the forest to the fight with the Manticore. I leave out the part with the energy bolt and the morphine, I get the feeling that it might not go down well.
"So you think that your leg might have been damaged my the Manticore's tail?" Twilight asks me.
"I don't know, it happened all to fast. If I hadn't acted the girls might have been eaten."
Applejack gives me a dirty look as she rouses her little sister. Sweetie Belle had attached herself to Rarity's back and is now being carried out of the cottage. Rarity stops next to me and looks to her sister then to me.
"Thanks for saving her," she says. Rarity leaves and then Applejack walks up to me.
"Now ah don't know what the hay you thinking when you took the fillies out into the woods but ah can't stay mad at you. You saved Apple Bloom's life, ah don't know how else to thank you."
I place my injured hoof on her shoulder.
"Keep her safe," I reply, "And you let everypony else know that the Manticore won't be bothering any more travelers."
Applejack nods and heads back to her farm. Fluttershy gives me some sort of drink and it numbs the pain in my leg again. Twilight assists me in getting back to Sugarcube corner and explains to the Cakes why I'm covered in dirt, blood, bruises and why my leg is in bandages. As she's doing that I head to my room, worn out and tired I'm more than glad to get to some sleep for tomorrow. But tomorrow's the day when I have to get the Elements of Harmony and destroy them so Discord can take over and I can be his right hand man, or pony. I reach my bedroom door open it and flick on the lights. No sooner have I stepped inside the room, the door suddenly slams and a large hand grabs me by the neck and pins me against the wall. I claw at the hand and see that it's an eagle talon, fear slowly consumes me as I look up and see the looming face of Discord staring absolute death in my eyes.
"Do you know why I'm here Websly?" he says in a very dark and angry tone, "Because I know what you did, and I'm not happy about it."
You ever get that feeling when you're so scared you forget everything that's going on. Well that's happening to me right now as Discord strangles me and stares daggers into my very soul.
"L-l-look mate," I stutter, "I'm not r-r-really sure what you what."
"Oh but I think you do, Scott," Discord says as he gets closer to my face, "You know that I had a nice little idea that might have helped you, but unfortunately, you just had to get in the way and ruin it. And also, you manged to do something that I've been trying to do for the past one thousand years."
"What plan was that then?" I ask with the most sheepish grin on my face. This irritates Discord a lot.
"You killed that Manitcore that I sent after those girls, I was going to have them killed so that the Element Holders would become weakened. As for how you killed the Manticore, you used the Chaos Blast, a dormant power that I've been trying to release ever since I was brought down by Celestia."
"Hang on," I say, "You intended for the Crusaders to die?"
"It was all going so well until you went to look after them," Discord said. I shift my weight a little but I'm still pinned several feet off the ground so escape isn't an option. I stare at Discord into his burning yellow eyes and try to make myself look dignified.
"Those kids don't deserve that, you are a maniac. As for the Chaos Blast, if you want to see how I managed to pull it off you just keep trying to kill me and you'll get a little demonstration."
Discord slams me to the floor and stomps on my injured leg, making me scream out in pain.
"I've had enough of you and your attitude Websly," he said, "You remember who's in charge around here and who's under his control. Maybe a little reminder is in order."
"Do your worst!" I spit at him. Discord grins and leans down to me.
"Very well, since you asked."
Discord snaps his fingers and a pink light engulfs the room. All I can think of now is what Discord just did.
"I think I might have ballsed up my survival probabilities."
I wake up on the middle of a grassy field, I sit up and shiver as a cold wind hits me in the back. I try to stand up but when I do, something seems slightly off. I look down and see why I feel unusually taller. I'm standing on two legs.
"Legs!" I say in a sort of choked voice, "I've got proper bloody legs again!"
I look at what should be my front legs but instead I have arms, with hands and fingers. I test them out so I can get a feel of being human once more. After I get over the shock I look up into the sky and see that it's all discolored.
"What the he-" I say but get cut off by a massive object smashing into the Earth several miles away. I look up and see a smoldering lump of rock sitting in a crater. I look back up into the sky and see streaks of fire rain down from the skies and smash into the planet, taking out several tall buildings in the distance. After standing dumbfounded for a few seconds I know know what's going on, I look at a electronic billboard and see the date which confirms my suspicion.
It's December 21, 2012. Judgement day.
I rub my chin as I look at the sign. How long have I been gone for? I knew what day it was when Discord captured me and after I think it over I figure out that I've been gone for almost a month. Impossible because I was only in Ponyville for about a week, but then I remember that I was in the hospital and Fluttershy's cottage for some time. I didn't know how long because I kept getting knocked out by the doctor in the hospital. But being gone for a whole month? I forgot about my life on Earth but I never did care, now however since the planet is being destroyed, I gain a little bit of compassion.
"It's bad I know," a voice says from behind me. I stop looking towards the sky and see a young man standing next to me holding a six pack of beer.
"You what?" I ask.
"The world ending," the man replies, "It's actually happening. So much more was to be done for the human race but I guess that the universe has better plans for this lump of rock."
"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" I say.
"Armageddon. You might want to tie up any affairs you have, but since you've been gone for some time you might not have any."
"How do you know that?"
"Simple," the man said, "I know a lot about you, Scott. I know your life and how it was until you vanished from my view, all I can say is how? How did you?"
I sigh and watch as the city to my front crumbles under the fire of burning rock. I'm pretty sure who the man next to me is and I'm sure that he's not going to stop what is happening.
"I don't know how I did disappear but I'm hoping that I'll be able to get back where I was earlier before I end up dead."
"Well good luck with that," the man chuckles, "If you want my advice, run."
I look over to him and see a massive rock careening towards us. I take off running towards the road in hopes of finding something to use for my escape but I stop when I see that man standing in the field drinking his beer.
"Hey!" I yell at him, he turns around, "Want to try and see if you can come back to where I am trying to get?"
"Nah! I'm sure to survive this. As for you, it's going to fast and unexpected but it will take time for death to take over. Good luck getting back Scott Websly! I wish that you would have stayed, but I feel as if you will do something great somewhere else."
And with that the rock slams into the ground and shoots past the man, once it passes the man is gone and I am left on my own coated in dirt and burning embers. I turn and run towards the road, I manage to find a car with an open door and the keys in the ignition. I start up the car and skid onto the road. I speed down the road and occasionally look out the window, the meteor showers have gotten much heavier and the meteorites are gaining size. I push down hard on the accelerator and shoot past several wrecked cars. I clip one and skid off the road and hit a pole, shunting the engine and making it seize up.
"No no no!" I yell as I try and start the car again but to no avail. I get out and smash the window, shredding my hand in the process. I look at my right hand and see that it had black marks that ran in what looked like a lightning pattern. I pull up my sleeve and see that it goes all the way up my arm and ends at my shoulder.
"What the fu-" I get cut off again by a massive space boulder that smashes into the ground not twenty feet away. The blast sends me flying a great distance before I land on my back and then roll over and break my leg. I scream out in pain and try to sit up but my left arm refuses to move when I command it to. I look at it and see that the skin has burned away and my muscles are peeling off the bone. Just the sight of my arm makes me roll over and vomit but my gag reflexes are triggered again as I get a small smell of cooked flesh and methane. After the sickness passes I see that I have been gagging up blood and what could be parts of my internal organs. No point in slowly dying now, there is a way out of this.
"DISCORD!" I yell towards the sky, "I'm sorry! Take me back, please! I don't want to die like this! I'm sorry about what I did, just give me another chance! I had no idea about what you were planning I swear! Let me live and I'll serve you until I die, no more interfering!"
I watch as a huge meteorite falls towards me. I sit there and watch as it gets closer, only one word escapes me before the rock gets close and the fire engulfs me.
"Please."
"Ghaaaaa!" I scream as I fall out of my bed and crash to the ground. I roll over, hyperventilating and terrified at what I had just experienced. I back up to the wall and catch my breath. Taking a quick look around I see that I'm back in my basement bedroom of Sugarcube Corner. I relax and check if my arm has dissolved. Nope, it's still in one piece. As for my other arm, I can tell that fresh bandages were placed on my wounds. I hear knocking on my door and I shakily get up and go over to it.
"Who's there?" I ask. Even I can hear the fear in my voice.
"It's Pinkie, are you okay Scott?"
I open up the door and see a concerned Pinkie Pie standing on the other side. She looks at me and takes a step closer.
"Were you crying in your sleep?" she asks. I feel the tears drip down my face and I wipe them off.
"I really don't want to talk about it."
"You were screaming earlier you know, are you sure you're okay?"
I sigh and slump against the wall, hiding my face from Pinkie. I feel her place a hoof on my arm.
"I'm not okay, I had a really nasty dream last night and I thought it was actually happening."
I sniff and wipe another few tears off my cheeks. Pinkie sits next to me and hugs me, the cotton candy sent of her mane calms me down.
"You wanna talk about it?" Pinkie asks me. I shake my head and let go of her. I breath a sigh of relief and stand up.
"I feel a little better now," I say.
"Okay, you coming to the party?" Pinkie asks.
"How can I say no?"
Pinkie leads me upstairs and outside where the gang is waiting to get going. I'm sure that I might have slept a little later but Discord had me in some sort of illusion.
"Hi Scott," Twilight said as she walks up to me, she's in some sort of interesting dress. It almost looks as if stars were sown into the fabric.
"Hey Twilight. This party, I guess it's not very casual."
"No silly, it's a princesses birthday so everything has to be super special." Pinkie said. I get a bit of a shock when I turn around and see her in a dress that looks like it's coated in candy. Sort of ironic when you think about it. I look to each of the Element holders and see them in a dress that represents both their personality and their Element. I feel a bit of an outcast not wearing anything fancy like the others.
"So," I say, "Do I get to do anything special?"
"I think that since you made the cake you get to present it," Rarity said, "And since you're going to be using that strange contraption to carry the cake I made you a nice suit to match it."
Rarity then presents me with a suit that shines like black steel and is smooth to the touch. I take it and stare at it in awe.
"It's amazing," Is all I manage to say. I quickly run inside and put it on, I reveal myself to the others and the ponies all nod in approval. Pinkie, as usual, is the first to break the silence.
"So are we going now?"
"Lemme start up the car," I say with a hint of excitement. But deep down, I am absolutely terrified. Discord had me die a painful death and now I was going to crash the biggest party in all of Canterlot. Then after that, Discord will take over. As all this races through my mind I can only think of one thing: What if this plan doesn't work?
I wait until the others are distracted until I start the engine and stomp on the accelerator and make everypony jump. Twilight looks at me in annoyance.
"It works," I say as I stick my head out of the window.
"You didn't have to scare us," Twilight said.
"Couldn't resist," I retort.
"Never mind," Applejack said, "Let's get going."
"You lead, I'll follow," I say as I shut up the window in my car. I maintain a slow speed as I follow the six to what looks like a train station. I open up the window and call Pinkie over.
"Where's the cake?" I ask, "I thought it was going to be put on the roof of the car."
"We have to take it separate so that we can keep it safe until we arrive at Canterlot," Pinkie tells me.
"So where am I parking this?" I ask. Pinkie taps her chin as she looks down the empty tracks.
"I don't know, maybe Twilight will have thought of something."
I park up next to the platform and get out of the Interceptor, several ponies look towards me and point, speaking in hushed whispers. I order to try and avoid the staring eyes I walk up to Rarity.
"You did a nice job with this suit," I say as I pull on the sleeve covering my bandaged leg.
"I knew you would like it," Rarity said as she brushed some dirt off me, "I took the idea from your contraption and then sought if I could make your clothes shine like it did when in the sun."
"Nice touch," I say. Rainbow Dash feels a pert of the sleeve and nods.
"What did you make this out of?" she asks. Rarity shrugs as she walks around me, checking if there's anything up with my suit.
"I don't know, it was only delivered about a week ago and I didn't know what to use it for, until Scott came around that is."
"Thanks for doing this," I say. Rarity chuckles and goes back to staring down the tracks, waiting for the train. I can see that Pinkie is getting impatient, Fluttershy is fixing her mane, Twilight looks through a book that she then tucks into a saddle bag, and Applejack is eating none other than an apple. I lean against my Interceptor and tap on the hood, boredom is beginning to take over and the silence is killing me. If something doesn't happen then I'll end up going mad, I hate waiting more than anything in the world.
"Mind if I put some music on?" I ask Twilight.
"Go ahead, I'm starting to get bored."
Pinkie lets out an annoyed huff.
"How do you think I feel?"
I give a small laugh as I open up the car again and start to fiddle with the radio. I find one of my old customized CDs in the center console and plug it in. After a little bit of remembrance I find a nice little song.
"You might like the irony of this song," I say as I hit the play button.
"Where's the music coming from?" Rainbow Dash asks. Put all the windows down and tap the radio.
"In here."
A few seconds of nothing then the music starts up. The song of choice is 32 Leaves "Waiting". The other ponies look towards my and the Interceptor in amazement as the song blasts out.
"Ohh, I can see how this song is ironic," Pinkie said.
"Told you," I say.
"It's kind of loud," Fluttershy said.
"I know, it's supposed to be."
The song ends just as the train pulls up to the station. A few ponies get out but are replaced by several others getting in the train. One pony, who looks like he works on the train steps out onto the platform.
"All large or awkward loads are to go into the back car."
"Okay then, see you in a bit," I say to the six. I get back into the car, start it up and drive it over to the back cargo car. The ponies taking the luggage stare at me as I roll up and park in front of the opening. I get out of the car and walk over to the ponies.
"Will it fit?" I ask cheekily.
"M-maybe," one of the ponies say, I can tell he's a little nervous.
"Don't scratch it," I add as I walk away to join the six in one of the passenger cars. The conductor pony from earlier watches me as I follow Fluttershy into a car.
"Anypony figure out where the cake is?" I ask.
"Mr and Mrs. Cake sent it forwards to Canterlot before us so that we could make any last minute preparations," Twilight tells me. I nod and sit down on a seat next to the window.
"I wonder who else will have made a cake for the Princess," Fluttershy said.
"Maybe the others from last time," Applejack said.
"You mean the other cake makers who I accused of eating my cake?" Pinkie asks. Before any of us can reply to that question a stallion walks into our train car followed by a donkey mare and a, griffon? It can't be.
"Ah Twilight," the griffon said, "So glad to see you again along with your friends."
I cock my head to one side and rub my ear. Did the griffon just speak in a French accent? What else is there in this crazy world that I haven't seen or heard?
"Hi Gustav," Twilight said, "I see that Joe and Mulia have joined you for the trip."
"Yes, it's nice that we've all decided to get together again," the mare said, who's name I guess is Mulia. That leaves the stallion and it's a no-brainer that his name is Joe.
"Anypony see that metal thing being loaded into the back cargo car?" Joe asks.
"That's mine," I say. The three all look over at me.
"Who is this?" Gustav asks. Pinkie is already next to me.
"This is Scott, he's new to the town and he's been making a cake for the princess."
I shrug and nod.
"They helped me so I returned the favor."
Joe sniffs and takes a step towards the window.
"So that thing is yours?" he asks, "What is it."
"It's called an Interceptor," I say.
"That's an interesting name you gave it," Muila said, "So why are you bringing the Interceptor?"
"I'm going to present the cake on it."
Gustav lets out something that sounds like a very nasal guffaw.
"Do you think that you'll be able to outdo my creation?"
"No because I haven't seen it," I say. Even here anything with a French accent is arrogant and snotty, just great. Now I have to listen to this nutter's irritating ego the whole ride to Canterlot.
"Don't be like that to Scott," Rainbow Dash says in a defensive manner, "He's a good pony and an even better friend."
Those last few words make me shudder.
"Alas Dashie, if only that were true," I think. Luckily Joe changes the subject.
"So, what's the theme of your cake?" he asks me.
"Just you wait my friend, you'll get to see," I reply.
"All aboard!" the conductor shouted. The doors slide shut and we wait for the train to depart. A sudden lurch and a hissing sound announce that the train is now on it's way to Canterlot. I sit back on my chair and listen to the others talk and joke with one another, I can't bring myself to talk with them knowing that within several hours they could all be enslaved by the God Of Chaos.
About three hours into the trip and I realize how slow steam trains are, Twilight told me that the trip would be "Only a few hours" but she neglected to tell me that the train was carrying the cakes and therefore had to keep a slow speed in order for the goods to be in one piece. That and my Interceptor was in the back cargo car, I realize that my car weights more than two tons and the tiny steam engine that's pulling several train cars and more than fifty ponies wouldn't be able to cope or get a decent speed.
"Hey Scott," Pinkie said, breaking me out of my daze.
"Huh, what?"
"You okay? You looked a little bored."
"Oh yeah, I'm fine," I say as I stretch out the stiffness in my joints, I then remember the Crusaders and what happened last night. I hope that they've recovered from the attack but I haven't seen the fillies since last night, "Hey, Applejack."
"Yeah Scott?" she asks as she walks over to me.
"You know last night?" I ask. Applejack becomes a little stern looking.
"Go on," she says.
"I was just wondering if Apple Bloom is okay, you know why I'm asking."
Applejack sighs and places a hoof on my injured leg.
"She and the others are okay now. We checked up on them this morning," Applejack said, then then goes on to add, "Scootaloo's parents thank you for saving their daughter. They told me that Scoots hasn't stopped talking about you since last night. The same goes for Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. Ah think that they've become attached to you."
I feel touched at the last statement. I helped those fillies and they haven't forgotten about it. It does warm my heart but it's replaced by an icy feeling once I look out the window and see the capital city loom into view, after Discord takes over two of them are guaranteed to lose their sisters and it's a possibility that they might end up as slaves. I'll try and get Discord to agree that they become my servants, at least then I'll make sure that they're safe. I look back to the others and see that Joe, Mulia and Gustav have all joined my at my seat.
"You're not much of a talker are you?" Joe asks.
"I've been through a lot in the past several days," I reply.
"I do believe that you never gave us your name," Gustav said. I stand up and shake Gustav's outstretched arm.
"Scott Websly. Sorry that I didn't tell you guys earlier, I've been a little preoccupied."
"Interesting name you have there," Mulia said, "Where are you from?"
"If I had to guess he's probably from Trottingham," Joe said.
"I might be," I said, this earns me a few confused looks so I go on to explain, "I really can't remember much after the accident."
"You had an accident?" Mulia asks me.
"Yeah, but I have no idea what happened. It was all so fast."
"So is that why your leg is all bandaged?" Joe asks. I roll up the sleeve covering the bandages.
"No, this was something else," I say, "I fought a Manticore."
The three's jaws drop and after a few minutes Gustav is the first to speak.
"You fought a Manticore and lived?"
"I got lucky," I say with a grin as I drop the sleeve. I don't like how the three are staring at me so I tell them that I'm going to try and get some fresh air. I make my way through passenger cars until I come to an empty caboose and go to the back of it, locking the doors behind me. I shut my eyes and take a deep breath of the clean air, then I get the feeling that there is someone else standing by my side and I know who it is.
"If you're wondering why I'm here it's because of what you did last night," I say.
"I knew that you would like it," Discord said, "A little reminder of who's boss around here."
I look behind me and when I confirm that there isn't another soul in the caboose I go back to looking at the passing countryside.
"You pretty much scared me into submission with that little dream altering trick."
"Trick?" Discord said with confusion, "That was no trick. It was all real."
My eyes shoot open once Discord said that. I shoot him a look of shock.
"What?!"
"It was the real Apocalypse and the real Earth from where you came from," Discord said, "I showed you what would happen if you cross me and after you did, I let you experience your nightmare first hand."
I sink to the floor of the caboose and stare into the distance, tears form in my eyes and I am lost for words. My home, my entire life had just been decimated and I thought it was all a crazy dream. But now I know that it wasn't, and I now know that even if I was allowed to go back, I couldn't.
"Oh my God," I whisper.
"You did meet him when you were back there you know," Discord said, "Too bad he didn't come with you, now he has to clean up an entire planet."
I think of the meteorite that crashed next to me and makes my arm dissolve. Sickness takes over and I try to hold myself steady on the railing. Discord leans over me.
"Now now Scott, you take it easy. In the next several hours we are going to rule this land."
Trying to take the news of my home planet being blown up is much harder than it looks. I'm shaking and feeling more sick than ever and the shaking train doesn't help. Eventually my nausea takes over and I stumble inside the caboose hoping that I don't end up ruining my suit. Discord has vanished again but he did tell me that the train would arrive in Canterlot withing the next several minutes. Good, I've had enough of this Trans-Equestrian railroad. I go back to the car where Twilight, her friends and the others are waiting in the car for the train to finally arrive. I go over to the window and see a large crowd of ponies and unicorns standing on the platform waving. Several pegasi are hovering above the cars and trying to get pictures. I can see that everyone is excited and are anxiously awaiting to show themselves to the crowd. I however, am incredibly nervous and rather scared about what's going to be happening rather soon. Pinkie sees me back up and she walks over to us.
"Scared?" she asks.
"Terrified, I've never been in front of a crowd before."
Pinkie leans closer to me and whispers the greatest idea in my ear.
"Scare them with your Interceptor."
A wide grin spreads across my face and I nod. When the group leave the car and are greeted by cheers and shouts I sneak off and manage to get into the cargo car without being seen. As I clamber into the cargo car I notice the lack of cakes. Kind of weird that there's a birthday party going on and there's no cake. I forget about it as I open my car up and get in the driver's seat. Suddenly, the whole cargo case starts rotating. From how slow it's going I can guess that it's being moved off the train for unloading, I sit and wait for the doors to open up. Once I get a sliver of the setting sun I turn on the car and sit there as the doors then shoot open and a large crowd of ponies gather around. Waiting for the right moment to accelerate out of the box is chewing at my mind but as the crowd parts to let another pony, or something big looking, get a look at the car. Without warning I hit the lights, turn on the siren and gun it out of the box. The crowd dives out of the way and I pull a 180 turn to face those who weren't in the way of me, I slowly advance towards the crowds and shut off the siren. But then out of nowhere, a large pony lands right in my way and places a hoof on the pit bumper, as if to say "hold it right there" or something. I look up and see that the pony is actually an alicorn. I know what they are because of all the legends I read about and I know what they are capable of. I remain still, hoping that I don't startle it.
"CREATURE OF THE BOX!" it bellows in a voice that makes my ears ring, "WHAT ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU HERE? DO YOU INTEND TO CAUSE HARM?"
Okay, I have to stop the shouting before the windows break. I open up the sunroof and climb onto the roof of the car. The alicorn leers down at me and stares at me. I clear my throat and try to look like this is just an average day for me.
"Would you mind stepping off the car? You're going to scratch it."
"What? You dare try and order me around?" the Alicorn said, a little quieter but still loud enough to shake the car.
"No I'm asking politely," I say, "I am sorry that I scared you but I had to get this out of the cargo car as soon as possible."
The alicorn's posture relaxes and as she steps off the car I do so as well.
"What is your name?"
"Scott Websly," I say with the utmost respect, "May I ask what yours is."
The alicorn gives a small laugh and pulls me closer.
"I like you Scott, my name is Princess Luna."
"Princess?" I think, I manage to get away and bow but she makes me stop.
"I'm sorry, I've never met royalty before."
"That's quite alright, many ponies don't know how to react," Luna said, "Especially if my sister is around."
"Ah her majesty Princess Celestia," I say, "I'm guessing that she's at the castle getting everything set up for you."
"That she is, that she is."
Twilight and her friends trot over to us, I was expecting them to bow for Luna but they seem to be such good friends that they don't.
"Princess Luna, it's really great to see you again," Twilight said.
"Happy birthday!" Pinkie yells. Out of nowhere several streamers and confetti blasts shoot out of Pinkie's dress. Luna gives a small chuckle.
"You six never fail to amaze me."
Without warning I speak, but it's not my voice.
"They will be overshadowed by me of course."
I double over, coughing and spluttering. Fluttershy places a hoof on my back and helps me up.
"Are you okay?" she asks.
"Yeah I think so," I reply.
"What was that?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I don't know what happened to my voice but I'm fine now."
"I feel as if I've heard that voice before," Twilight said.
"Could just be Deja-vu," I say quickly. Luna steps forward.
"Let us forget this and let us get to the castle, make sure you bring your cake."
And with that she took off and flew to the castle, leaving us at the train station. I break the silence.
"So then, shall we get the cake on the car?"
"Yeah!" Pinkie quipped, "We've got a party to go to!"
I nod and get back in the car.
"Shame that Discord didn't plan this during a wedding," I think, "But never mind, this is going to be the biggest party crash in history."
"Is the cake secure?" I ask a pony who's strapping the birthday cake to the roof of my car.
"Yep, shouldn't bounce around or fall off," he replied.
"Excellent," I say. Twilight then walks over to my window.
"Scott, can I tell you something?" she says in a worried tone.
"What is it?" I ask.
"It's-it's about your Cutie Mark. I think I might have figured out what it is."
"Can it wait until we get to the party?" I ask.
"But-" Twilight begins but I cut her off.
"Look I really want to give Princess Luna her cake and I want to meet the rest of her family. Once all that is done you can take me aside and we can talk, but for now can you walk on the left side of the car with Applejack while Pinkie and Rarity are on the right side?"
"Sure, what are you planning?" Twilight asks.
"I just want you guys in a sort of escort formation in case the cake decides to take an unexpected leap of faith."
Twilight nods and stands in front of Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy fly above my Interceptor and get ready in case the cake falls off the roof. I start up the car and immediately give thanks for the box that holds the cake, if it wasn't there then the thing would be ruined by the exhaust fumes. Petroleum vapors and baked goods don't bode well when combined. I start rolling forwards and follow the carriages that are making their way up to the castle. I try and take a few deep breaths to calm myself down but I then realize how I'm going to actually present this thing for the Princesses. I can't just take the cake and leave the Interceptor behind, the upper crust looking ponies will have never seen such an amazing sight before and I wanted to make sure that it would be the last happy memory that they will have. Oh God, it's almost time. Why? Why does this have to happen, and more importantly, what did I do to deserve this? Sweat runs down my face so I turn on the air-con to cool myself down. As I calm down I know how I'm going to make this a party to remember. We reach the road that is next to the front door of the castle and I put my plan into motion.
"You guys go to those steps and I'll meet you there," I say.
"But Scott, you'll never be able to carry that cake by yourself," Applejack said.
"Just go, you'll see the genius of my plan," I say with a grin. Twilight and her friends all set off and head up to the castle.
"Kill them, kill them now." Discord's voice comes from the radio.
"Not yet my lord," I say in a hushed whisper. I look to my left and right and see several ponies stare at me in my car. I look ahead and focus on the front door.
"Here we go."
I flick on the lights and accelerate to the front gate of the castle, ignoring the several guards that jump out of the way. The staircase to the door is all that stands in my way and I know that the carpet will prevent me from getting up it.
"Come on, give me some grip."
The car hits the bottom of the steps and climbs the carpet covered stairs with almost no effort. I look out the front of the car and see the grand entrance hall that stands before me, my red and blue pursuit lights illuminate the entire room with quick flashes and just for effect I give the engine a quick burst and the sound of the V8 echos around the room.
"Oh yeah," I say, "This is going to be fun."
A massive crowd of ponies have gathered up on the floor below me and are staring in awe as I slowly descend the second staircase into the castle. A load of guards have taken up position in front of the crowd and are aiming spears at me. I rev the engine and even though I can see them back away, they tense up and get ready to attack but Twilight has teleported in front of the Interceptor.
"Wait! It's okay, this thing is only some sort of machine."
The guards back down a little then part as another, and much larger, unicorn approaches. He looks down at me and then to Twilight.
"Hey Twily, what took you so long to get here?"
"Well, it has to do with this," Twilight replied as she holds a hoof out to my car. I give the engine another burst of power and turn off the lights. The unicorn watches as I step out and stretch out the stiffness in my back.
"I really hate sitting in one place for a long time," I say.
"Who's this?" the unicorn asked Twilight.
"Oh this is Scott Websly. Scott, meet my older brother Shining Armor."
Sodding hell the job just get much harder to deal with. I'll try and see if I can persuade Discord to leave him alone for Twilight's sake, I may be working for the God of Chaos but unlike him, I have a bit of sympathy for the ponies who are going to be living in a hell for the rest of their lives.
"Nice to meet you," I say as I check to see if the Element of Chaos is tucked away under my shirt. Once I find out that it is I relax.
"Have you been scaring my little sister?" Shining Armor asks me. His tone is a little bit frightening but the look on his face makes me see that he's only messing with me.
"Only when she doesn't expect it," I retort. Shining armor laughs and slaps me on the back.
"You're really funny you know, I guess Luna was right about you. So what's this thingamajig you have?"
"I'll show you when the cake contest comes around. When is it?"
"In a few minutes," Shining Armor said, "Come and follow me, I'll show you where it's being held."
Shining Armor leads us through the castle and we end up in a massive courtyard that oversees the whole of Equestria. I almost stop dead from the amazing sight but a few spear toting guards behind me make me continue. The rumble of the car's engine is enough to attract the attention of everypony at the party, I look to my left and sitting behind a large table is none other than Princess Luna but sitting next to her is a pure white alicorn with a mane that flows like water. Just from looking at her I can tell that she is Princess Celestia, sworn enemy of Discord.
"Do not mess this up," Discord's voice comes through the radio, "I will wait until the Elements are destroyed but getting to them is all up to you. Make sure you don't get caught."
"As you wish my lord," I say quietly.
As I inch my way to the spot where Ponyville's cake will be placed I see Celestia lean a little closer to me and stare not in amazement or awe, but in confusion as if she's seen the Interceptor before. I reverse the car into our spot, get out and stand next to Pinkie Pie. She smiles and waves to some of our competitors. I look at them as well and see what I'm up against. Some cake makers are in groups like me and Pinkie but most are alone or with another pony. I see Gustav, Joe and Mulia in the contenders, the cakes are all covered by cloth or in boxes. Some of the groups have contrived ways to present their cakes, one group of pegasi have theirs up on some sort of Egyptian sofa that would carry a pharaoh. Another group have their cake on a jewel studded cart, Rarity looks to the cart and then my car.
"I really wish we did the same."
"Not to worry," I say, "It's all a matter of perception."
"I don't know if we can win this," Rainbow Dash said. I pretend to get annoyed.
"That's a very defeatist attitude. We haven't even started yet."
Rainbow Dash cringes and backs up to hide her shame. I look back up to the table that contains the royalty, I see another alicorn up there with Shining armor. This alicorn is much smaller than Celestia and Luna and is a tinged pink, I ask Twilight and find out that the name of the alicorn is Princess Cadence. Turns out she looks over the Crystal Empire, whatever that is. I go back to standing and waiting for Princess Celestia to call us up to present our cake. The contenders are called in order and I can see that we're fifth to present. The first one up is Gustav, typical French personality, always wanting to be first. But being French, Gustav will have created something amazing. Or something very embarrassing. Gustav wheels out a tiny tray and presents a silver dome on a dish to Luna. I look closer and as he lifts off the cover I fail to see a cake. what was there appeared to be a tiny pastry. Oh dear, he's buggered that up. Luna picks up the cake with her magic and eats it in one bite.
"Do you approve of it?" Gustav asks. Luna swallows the cake and gives a look of disappointment.
"It was a nice little cake but that was what it's problem was, to small to fully enjoy."
Hah! Take that you French showoff! Gustav goes back to his spot, looking rather upset, I can't help but feel slightly sorry for him. Maybe next year, once you learn to make bigger cakes. The next pony up is Joe and he's made a huge cake entirely out of...donuts? The cake is in the shape of Luna standing tall. It impresses me but as The royal family plucks bits of the cake off and eat it, I can see Joe cringe. He must have worked hard on that cake and it was now missing it's head. I sense a metaphor in the headless cake statue but I hold it in rather than tell anypony around me. Third one up Is Mulia and my word, she's made a chocolate moose. It literary is a moose made of chocolate. The Princesses eat some and I can see that they are enjoying it. After Muila is dismissed the pegasi are up and they bring the cake right to Luna. I have no idea what it looks like but then the four pegasi that aren't holding the cake all take off and start preforming tricks in the sky. I watch and then realize that they are trying to get extra recognition for putting on a show. I see and hear ponies cheer and clap and the royal family is nodding and cheering as well. Two can play at this game. The pegasi bow and leave and we are called up.
"Ponyville, present you cake to the Princess!" some random pony in front of the royal table says.
"Same as before," I say as I get back into the car and start it. The six take up the previous positions from earlier and with me and my Interceptor in the middle of them we slowly approach the royal table. The royal family looks down at me and I feel relaxed when I see that they're more curious than suspicious. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie unhook the cake from my car while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy take the top of the box off the cake. I get out just in time to see Luna gasp in amazement.
"This is amazing."
I reach up and hit the button on the model Lunar Lander and the famous Neil Armstrong quote emits from it.
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
"Happy Birthday Princess Luna," I say as I lean against the car. Luna looks down at me, tears of joy forming in her eyes. Princess Cadence chirps up.
"What is that contraption you have there?"
"A police Interceptor," I reply, "I thought that you would want to see a technological marvel yourself."
"It's a strange sight if you don't mind my saying," Princess Celestia said. I nod in agreement as Luna and Celestia lift the cake off the car and onto the table. They go to cut it but I stop them because I've just thought of an idea that is a win-win situation.
"Before you sample my cake, would you like to go for a ride in my Interceptor?"
Luna and Celestia exchange looks before looking down at my Interceptor. They both nod and descend their stand to join me by the side of my car. Shining Armor and Princess Cadence join me as well, both seem eager to join me and the Princess sisters.
"Can we all fit inside?" Celestia asks me.
"Oh yeah, five seats. Also, since Luna is our birthday Princess she gets to go in the front seat."
I open up the car doors and allow Luna to clamber in the front seat and for Celestia, Cadence and Shining to get in the back. I shut the doors before entering the drivers seat and starting the car and looking over to Luna, she looks a little afraid along with the other royals in the back. I pull on my seat belt and tell the others to do what I did. Luna looks over to me again as she pulls the seat belt across herself.
"Why are we wearing these?" she asks.
"It's for your safety," I reply, "You guys might want to hold on."
"Why? What are you planning?" Cadence asks.
As I steer the car to the entrance of the castle and aim the front of the car into the castle.
"Just hold on."
I stomp on the accelerator pedal and the car screams into life as the back wheels spin and make smoke that trails out of the back. I turn on the lights, release the handbrake and the car shoots down the hallway at speeds that would be illegal on normal roads. Lucky for me there are no ponies in the hallways that I choose to drive through. I look to my right and see Luna is leaning back in her seat, looking terrified. I switch my view to the rear view mirror and see that Celestia looks just as scared as Luna but Cadence and Shining both look extremely excited. Cadence is letting out a few happy yells as I drift around corners and speed down empty halls, Shining keeps urging me to go faster. I push the engine to go as fast as it possibly can until I glance at the fuel gauge and see that the engine is now running on fumes. I skid into the hallway that leads to the courtyard and spear down it until we reach the courtyard where I pull and handbrake turn and stop dead in the middle of the courtyard. The kinetic energy from the stop almost makes us smash our heads against the windows. I unbuckle myself and jump out so I can open up the car doors for the royal family. Cadence and Shining get out first, Shining shakes my hoof and Cadence gives me a quick hug as thanks. Celestia gets out next and she nods in approval.
"You have an amazing machine, I wish that we were able to continue."
"It's out of fuel, once I find more we can have more fun" I say, but in the back of my mind I know that this will never happen. Luna eventually gets out and walks over to me. Her expression was hard to read but I can tell that she wants to tell me something.
"Did you like the ride?" I ask her. Luna doesn't respond, instead she leans closer to my ear, I expect her to whisper a thanks or something secret in my ear but she does something that I never would have expected. She kisses me right on the side of my head.
I freeze in place as Luna steps back and thanks me.
"That was the best birthday present I have ever received, I really knew that there was something great about you."
I'm still frozen in place but I've regained my ability to speak.
"Y-y-y-you're welcome Princess Luna." I stutter.
"Shall we try you're cake now?" Celestia said. I take a deep breath and slowly lean against the side of the car.
"Go right ahead, there's plenty for everypony."
As the royal family and several ponies go over to try the cake Twilight and her friends come over to me.
"Did Luna just kiss you?" Pinkie asks.
"No denying it, Pinkie," I say, "You guys go and get some cake."
Pinkie almost pushes the others to the cake but a very disturbing noise makes the stop and me freeze once again in fear. The royal family and several ponies along with Mulia, Joe and Gustav are coughing and spitting out bits of cake, my cake.
"What is this sorcery?" Celestia says with anger.
"Did he just try to kill us?" Shining asks.
"This cake is awful!" Cadence says before tossing her slice to the ground. Luna looks at me with a burning fury in her eyes.
"GUARDS!" she bellows, "SEIZE THAT PONY! HE HAS TRIED TO KILL US WITH A POISONED CAKE!"
As the guards look to me and draw their weapons I now know that this is the perfect time to set my plan into motion. But the only thing that is stopping me are several very powerful ponies who think that I just tried to poison them. The warmth from earlier has now vanished and I know that if I'm caught, I'll probably be executed.
Well here it is, my cover has been blown and the entirety of the royal family is now accusing me of poisoning them with the cake that I made. I cower by the the side of my Interceptor and watch as the guards and Shining converge on me.
"Don't even think about running." Shining said. He's right, I'm surrounded on all sides and I have no way to escape. But I did plan for a situation like this.
"Nine banger activate!" I yell. A pop and a fizz follow as the model lunar lander shoots up twenty feet into the air and hovers for a second. As the ponies watch it the lander explodes in a series of bright flashes and loud bangs. I shield my eyes and cover my ears but there's still a ringing in my ears after the explosion takes place. I look and see the entire crowd has been disorientated and stunned along with the guards, this is the opening I need. I bolt out of the courtyard and run down the hallway, looking to see if there are any signs that will lead me to the Elements Of Harmony. My search begins to frustrate me and the staring ponies and groups of guards watch as I run through the halls and try to weave my way through the crowds. I stop and try to choose which hallway would lead me to the Elements.
"GUARDS!" Luna's booming voice rings through the castle, "SEIZE THE PONY KNOWN AS SCOTT WEBSLY! HE HAS ATTEMPTED TO KILL THE ROYAL FAMILY!"
Her voice makes everypony and guard look at me with either confusion or anger. I smile sheepishly and back away into another room.
"He went this way!" I hear Shining yell. Some of the guards in the room I just left now are advancing on me. I bolt from that room and run up a winding staircase to my left. I look around and see that there's only three doors at the end of the hall and a few guards are coming out of the door on the left. I hide behind a statue but the guards are running towards me. I panic knowing that they might know who I am but they might be running to help the Princess's and to quell the ruckus that has just started downstairs. As they close in I manage to hear them.
"Come on! He's around here somewhere!" one guard yells.
"Oh no, he's referring to me," I think as I try to sink against the wall. Then I try to think of something to make so I can hide in it. One idea springs to mind but it might not work. As the guards near I tell myself that it's now or never and I create a cardboard box and dive under it.
"Down here!" a guard yells. I try to stay as still as I possibly can but the guards are now right next to me.
"Where did this come from?" on guard asks.
"It's just a box, leave it," another said.
"He could be under it."
"Come on, what idiot would hide under a box?"
"An idiot trying to hide."
Were they calling me an idiot? Hypocrites, if I'm such an idiot then why don't they find out if I am one and life up the box? A small argument breaks out and I hear three guards run off leaving the two arguing with me.
"Should we lift it?" the first guard asks.
"On three," the other replies. I get ready knowing that I have one chance to overpower these two headcases and get the Elements.
"One..." I adjust my stance to strike.
"Two..." I wonder if these two know where the Elements are, probably not since they were bickering about whether to look under the box or not.
"Three!" light takes over darkness as the box is lifted off of me. The two stare at me in amazement as I lay there like a tiger.
"Gotya!" the first guard says. I jump up and grab the both of them and knock them out as I slam them on the floor. After the two are out cold I stuff them under the box and run through the middle door.
The middle door leads to another massive hallway that ends in a strange looking door. On both sides of the hall, there are stained windows each one depicts some sort of story that I don't think twice about until I come across one window that shows what looks like Discord being zapped by six ponies, around them are none other than the Elements of Harmony. Not the real ones but I know what they look like now. As I walk down the hall two heavily armed guards stand by the door, spears crossed and looking stern.
"Halt, who dares enter the Hall of the Elements?" one of the guards ask.
"I just wanted to see the Elements of Harmony," I say as casually as I possibly can.
"Nopony is allowed to enter the Holding Room, Celestia has called for a lockdown of the castle," The other guard said.
The two are holding me up and the sounds of running hooves grow closer. This is a long shot but it might allow me to pass. The Element of Chaos glows red and I hold up one hoof.
"I am not the pony they are looking for," I say. The guard's eyes become purple and glassy.
"You are not the pony they are looking for," they repeat in a hollow voice.
"I was never here," I say.
"You were never here," the guards repeat. Now to get in the holding room.
"You may pass."
"You may pass Mr. Websly."
I nod and enter the room that contain the Elements. I shut the door and press my ear next to it. Outside I hear Shining Armor and what sounds like twenty guards run down the hall way and end at the door.
"Did anypony come down here?" Shining asks the guards.
"I didn't see anything," one guard said.
"Who are you looking for?" the other asks.
"A stallion known as Scott Websly," Shining said, "He's gray and wearing a steel colored suit."
"I haven't seen anything sir," the guard said. Shining huffs and runs away with the rest of the guards. I breath a sigh of relief and turn around. Behind me is a large glass box and inside are the real Elements Of Harmony.
I slowly approach the glass box and the Element Of Chaos starts to glow and levitate off my chest. The light from the moon illuminates the box and the Elements Of Harmony, but as I get closer the Elements Of Harmony glow red and levitate off their pedestals and float towards me. The glass melts and now the Elements are in my reach. I stop and stare at them for a few seconds before I pluck the Element of Magic out of the air, the fact that it's a tiara makes me chuckle and then without another second of delay, the Element Of Chaos touches the Element of Magic and the purple star shaped stone shatters to a million pieces. The pieces land on the floor along with the stoneless tiara, I stare in amazement as the shattered remains turn to dust and are absorbed by the Element Of Chaos, a rush of power surges through me and I feel much stronger. After I get over the strange feeling I start destroying each and every one of the Elements until all that remains are the necklaces. Just like before, each and every Element is absorbed by the Element Of Chaos leaving me feeling rather peculiar but incredibly powerful at the same time.
"Yes! Yes! Excellent work Scott!" a voice says from behind me. I turn around and see Discord smiling and clapping as I take each of the broken trinkets that once held the Elements.
"All in a days work," I say as I toss them at him. Discord catches them and looks at me in confusion.
"Did you disintegrate the Elements?"
"Yes, they are all destroyed," I say, clearly Discord hasn't seen what happened to the Elements after they were all shattered. I keep quiet in case I need to use that to my advantage. The sound of running hooves and shouts makes us both face the door, Discord tells me to stand in front of the broken Elements as he makes the room darker. The door suddenly busts open and the entire Royal Family is standing in the doorway along with Twilight and her friends. After a minute of silence Celestia is the first to speak.
"Scott Websly! What is the meaning of this?"
"He told me to," I say, "If I didn't do what he said then I was going to die."
"Who are you talking about?" Luna asks me.
"He's behind me," I say. Suddenly, the Element Of Chaos glows red and I see the group in front of me back away slowly in surprise. I know who they've seen.
"Hello Celestia."
"Discord."
Before anypony reacts a bright red light shoots out from above me and strikes each of the ponies. I watch as they drop to the floor and Discord walks over to them. He smiles as he observes the bodies of the group, then he faces me.
I stare as Discord give a wave of his hand and the ten bodies vanish in a cloud of blue smoke. He chuckles and walks past me twirling the chain that held the Element of Loyalty, I still stare in amazement at what just happened.
"What did you just do?" I ask.
"What?" Discord asks, "I merely used the Chaos Blast to bring them down."
"You killed them?"
"No, I just stunned them and placed them somewhere where they can't do much," Discord said as he walks out of the Element's Holding Room and goes into the hallway and walks onto a balcony that leads into the Grand Hall. I follow him and stand back as he presents himself to a hall full of terrified ponies and confused guards. Discord leans over the railing and sneers down at the masses. I step back and let him give his speech.
"Attention inhabitants of Equestria! Your rulers have been overthrown and now I rule. For those of you who don't know who I am, I am Discord, lord of chaos and now, the ruler of Equestria. You will bow to me or suffer my wrath. If you resist you will suffer. If you try to restore the previous rulers then you shall fail for I have taken care of that. I have made a demonstration of the Royal Canterlot family so that you don't get any ideas of trying to resist my rule."
I slink back as several ponies call out for how this happened and Discord makes several explosions to shut up the outburst. He looks down to me and shakes his head.
"You shall see," He said, "You shall all see."
Discord walks away and motions for me to follow. As I do several guards jump out of the tapestries on the wall and attempt to attack Discord but Discord waves his hand and the guards stop dead and their eyes change to red and their armor turns from gold to a metallic black that shimmers in the moonlight. The guards wait until Discord and I walk by and then they follow us in an escort formation. As we pass more guards they also change into the new look and start herding the civilian ponies and tearing down tapestries, banners and flags, I stick by Discord's side and avoid the ponies who stare at me and either throw guilty accusations at me or try to help me but are beaten with spears by the new corrupted guards.
"Pay no attention to them," Discord said as we pass them.
"It's kind of hard to ignore them," I reply, "I know that they now hate me now."
"They hate or try to help you, Scott," Discord said as a pair of guards tackle a stallion who tries to grab hold of me. I think that he was trying to either get me away from Discord or kill me. Whatever it was, he's failed.
Me and Discord wander into a large room and he shuts to door behind me and the guards hold off a mass of angry ponies. Discord takes me aside and leads me to a balcony that overlooks Equestria, I look down to the darkened landscape and see that Discord has now lived up to his Chaos reputation. The entire land has been changed drastically, building are floating in the air, pink clouds zoom across the sky, chocolate milk falls from the clouds and night changes to day in seconds.
"Do you like what I can do?" Discord asks me.
"It's...different, very different."
"I know that it's a bit of a change but I like everything like this, it reminds everypony who's in charge."
I rub the side of my face where Luna kissed me and I shudder. Discord senses this and fabricates a glass to catch chocolate milk but he doesn't give it to me, instead he drinks it and tosses the glass which explodes behind me in a flurry of streamers that then turn to snakes.
"Do you want to know how they found out that the cake was really a failure?" he asks.
"Go on," I say.
"It all started when Luna kissed you, it managed to cancel out the Element's power and then the illusion was unrelieved and all that was there was the ruins of the cake that you made. If Luna hadn't kissed you then you would've been able to stalk around without any hindrance for a shot time."
"A short time?" I ask.
"The Element has a limited range," Discord said. I sit down and rub both sides of my head, confused and tired. I then look up remembering that my room in Ponyville is miles away and Discord will want me in the castle at all times.
"So Discord, since I'm going to be staying in the Castle Of Chaos with you I'm wondering if there's a room that I have."
Discord nods and smiles down at me.
"You're allowed to choose whatever room you want. Also that name you made up is quite nice, Castle Of Chaos. I like it."
"Okay then," I say as I walk out of the the room.
"By the way Scott," Discord says, "I have a little something to give you tomorrow."
I turn and say thanks before I walk into the abandoned and ruined hallways. Newly corrupted Chaos Guardians walk the halls or stand by the doors. Chaos Guardians, Castle Of Chaos, the names I can make up are both impressive and unoriginal. I walk the halls until I come across what looks like a bedroom door. I open it up and see that it's almost unused, I enter and take a good look around so I can see where I am in the castle. There's a door that leads out to yet another balcony but the room is pretty nice in terms of being a castle bedroom, there's a large bed in the corner and a large mirror is sitting by a large closet which is empty and slightly dusty. I open up the door to the balcony and look out once more over the land. I can tell that I'm pretty high up but instead of fear I feel like someone who had power over his subjects, I feel like a king of sorts. But then I remember that Discord is really in charge and the feeling fades. I leave the balcony and open up the door to the hallway and see two Chaos Guardians standing on either side of the door. They stand motionless and don't even acknowledge me when I ask for their names, something I don't like but I'm sure that by tomorrow everything will be in place and I'll become Discord's personal bodyguard.
The next morning I wake up to the sound of what sounds like a rooster being shoved into a blender. Heh, a rooster. Will it blend? That is the question. Joking aside, I have no idea how Discord is able to create so much insanity in one night but I choose not to question it. After all, Discord says he's got something for me. I have no idea what it is nor do I know where he wants to meet me, but then I remember when I looked through the Element Of Chaos into a mirror there was a message, I look through the Element into the mirror and sure enough there's a message for me:
I have your gift for helping me, come down to the Element's holding room for it. Discord. P.S. There's a little something I want to show you. I think you'll like it.
I go into the bathroom and wash sweat off my face, as I am I see the bandage on my front leg and I take it off. All that remains of the night when the Manticore attacked are black streaks that follow my veins. It still runs from my hoof all the way up my shoulder but this time the pain is gone. I toss my suit from last night on my bed and make my way to the room where the Elements of Harmony used to be, now all that's there when I arrive is Discord and four objects covered by sheets. Discord is looking out of the window and looking rather pleased with himself. I clear my throat to let him know I'm here.
"Good morning Scott," Discord said, something about his tone makes me uneasy.
"Hi Discord," I say shakily. But I manage to get a grip of myself before he notices.
"I'm sure you're here for the gift I promised you," Discord said.
"Sure, what is it?" I ask. Discord waves his hand and an armor vest and a helmet appear in front of me. I look at the levitating armor and touch it.
"What is this?" I ask Discord.
"The Helm Of Chaos."
Helm Of Chaos? Surely he's got that wrong. I don't argue as I examine the armor and helmet, there's nothing interesting about the armor except for the pentagram on the front of the armor with a small, black, transparent stone in the middle of it. The helmet is relativity plain looking aside from the nose guard that is shaped like an arrowhead, on the helmet is what looks like a smaller version of the stone on my chest armor. I put on the helmet and the armor and notice that Discord's coat of arms appears on the side of the armor as I slip it over my head. No sooner has the helmet touched my head the armor and helmet tighten, I panic and try to pull the helmet off but it's stuck to my head, the same goes for my armor. Discord shakes his head and walks over to the covered objects.
"Don't bother Scott," he says as he strokes the sheets, "Only I or the Elements of Harmony can undo the Helm Of Chaos. But you won't want to take it off once I tell you that the armor makes you immortal. Yes, it does."
I stop tugging on the helmet and watch as Discord walks around the covered objects.
"What's under there?" I ask him.
"Something that I think is the best thing I have ever done. It's also what I like to call 'ironic revenge'."
Discord takes hold of the sheets and in one swift move, pulls the covers off the objects. I have to clasp my hoof over my mouth to stop myself from screaming. The objects were statues, statues of the Royal Canterlot family. All of them look both surprised and shocked. Shining armor and Princess Cadence are both trying to reach each other but the spell had taken effect before their hooves touched. Princess Luna looks as if she's recoiling in pain, her face frozen in a silent scream. But the most disturbing by far is Princess Celestia, her stance is firm and her face is hardened and unforgiving as if she was staring down Discord as her body was turned to stone.
"You like it?" Discord asks as he holds his arms out in a presenting manner. I swallow and take a step forwards.
"It's...very nice. Um, why did you do this?"
"Simple, they turned me to stone so I thought it would be funny if they ended up the same way I did."
Now that Discord did this to the Royal Family, I now grow worried for the former six holders of the Elements. What has Discord done to them? I have to find out.
"So Discord?" I say. Discord stops walking around the statues and looks at me questioningly.
"Yes, Scott?"
"You know Twilight and her friends? Where are they?"
"I put them in a place where they can't do much harm to our new rule," Discord said with a nasty grin, "They're in the dungeon. If you want to see them they are in cell one."
"Might as well see them," I say, "I just want to set something straight with them."
"Go right ahead," Discord said. I nod and then head towards the place which I never expected to be in such a peaceful place. The only thing that gnaws at my mind is how they will react when I tell them what I truly am.
"What have I done? What have I done?" I ask myself as I walk down the hallways to the dungeon where my former friends are being held. It's the fact that they saw me with Discord is what makes me think that they will hate me forever. I pass a few Chaos Guardians who salute me and shout "Hail Discord!". I respond with the same chant and go back to figuring out how I'm going to explain my past life and what I once was. I walk down a hallway and end up at a very sinister looking wooden door being guarded by two Chaos Guardians.
"Is this the dungeon?" I ask.
"Yes sir," one Guardian said.
"Open the door, I want to see the six prisoners in cell one."
"At once, sir," the other Guardian said. The door, instead of swinging open, dissolves and as I step through, rematerializes. I shake my head and follow the jailer Guardian who tells me that he's going to lead me to the cell. I follow and try to make myself as hardened as I possibly can, but what troubles me is if the six have been treated well or not.
"So then," I say to the Jailer, "How have you been keeping these six?"
"Meh, it wasn't too easy. The pink one was a little tricky to keep in the cell so we've chained her to the wall. The blue pegasus wouldn't shut up until we beat her into silent submission, that white unicorn is obsessed with dirt so we've gave her something to try and keep the cell clean but Discord enchanted it so it'll never be clean. The orange pony is trying to stop the yellow one from crying, which is starting to get on the other Guardian's nerves. If she doesn't stop then we're going to throw her into the hole. As for the one know as Twilight, she's actually been wanting to see you ever since she woke up."
"Why does she want to see me?"
"No idea, just assume that it won't be good."
We reach the cell and I can see six shadows sitting in the back of the cell. The jailer bangs his club on the bars and one of the shadows move.
"Hey, you got yourselves a visitor. Don't bother trying to escape by the way."
"Can I get some light in there?" I ask.
"Just go on in," the Jailer said, he then leans closer to me and whispers, "If they annoy you let me know and I'll make them shut up."
He tightens his grip on the club as he finishes the sentence. I ignore it and dismiss him, as I step into the cell the jailer shuts the cell door and locks it, saying that Discord doesn't want to risk an escape. As I step closer to the six several torches light up and I am horrified at what I see: The six are all chained up to the wall. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash are pretty much immobilized because they are coated in chains. Rarity is hunched over a spot on the floor and is scrubbing it with a brush, she stops every few seconds and then goes back to cleaning the same spot. Applejack is trying to comfort Fluttershy but once she sees me, her expression changes to utter hate and she faces the wall and tries to stop Fluttershy from crying. The only pony who's maintaining eye contact with me is Twilight and she doesn't look too happy. No, that would be an understatement, she's furious with me. She knows what I did, she knows that I've assisted Discord and that I'm a traitor to them all. I was once their friends, now I'm their enemy.
"You wanted to see me?" I ask Twilight. Fluttershy looks up for a second but goes back to crying once she sees me.
"Yes," Twilight says flatly. I feel a little hurt but I know that it's something I deserve.
"Why did you want to see me?
"Because I wanted to talk to you face to face. I want to know this, why do you have an alliance with Discord?"
"It's complicated to explain," I say with as much heart as I possibly can, "I really didn't want to suffer, you know?"
"You think you're suffering?" Rainbow Dash yells at me.
"Shut it before I come in there and beat you senseless again!" The Jailer yells. Rainbow Dash cringes and shuts up. I sigh and continue.
"Look, Discord yanked me from my world and told me what he wanted me to do. He also said that if I didn't do as he wanted I was going to die a very slow and very painful death."
"I bet it isn't as bad as this," Twilight said as she pulled on a chain that was clamped to her foreleg.
"Yeah," Applejack adds, "What did Discord plan for you? Was he gonna turn you into a haggis?"
"I was going to dissolve to death," I say with no emotion, "I was not going to die like that, no way no how. All I wanted was to live a nice life and now I can't, ever since I ended up here it's been one crazy incident after another."
"But, what about all the good times we had?" Pinkie asks.
"They're still with me," I say.
"I've decided to forget about them," Twilight said. Applejack and Rainbow Dash agree but Pinkie still looks at me with her massive and sad eyes. After several minutes of hearing nothing but Fluttershy's sobs and Rarity's frantic brushing I say something.
"You don't know what I am."
"Yeah we do," Twilight said, "You're a traitor and the worst pony who we've ever met."
"No, no you don't understand," I say, "I'm not even what I look like."
"What are you talking about?" Applejack asks. I cringe and look at the floor.
"Just shut your eyes until I tell you to open them," I say. The six look at me and then shut their eyes. Okay, here goes. I use the new power of the assimilated Elements of Harmony and manage to make myself human once more. I look at myself and see that I'm still wearing the same stuff from the day I was taken but I now wear the Helm Of Chaos over my old clothes.
"Okay, I'm ready."
The six open their eyes and stare at me in amazement. I hold up my arms and give a small smile.
"Ta-daa," I say in a quiet voice.
"What are you?" Twilight asks in a hushed voice.
"Human," I say, "I always have been and always will be."
"You're really weird looking," Rainbow Dash said.
"It's how I'm biologically set up," I reply. Twilight gets up and walks closer to me, I kneel so I can look her in the eye.
"Why didn't you tell us anything?" she asks me.
"I was told not to, if I did then Discord would've had me killed," I sigh and then continue, "I'm really, really, really sorry that this had to happen. But I promise that I'll try to keep you as safe as I possibly can."
"What do you mean by that?" Fluttershy asks.
"Discord has some sort of burning vengeance against you," I say, "He's already turned the Royal Family into statues and-"
"Wait!" Twilight said suddenly, "What about my brother? Is he okay?"
I take hold of Twilight's hooves in my hands and look at her in the eyes. Just by doing this I feel some sort of strong connection between two species that have never encountered one another until now.
"Is he okay? Scott, tell me!"
"No," I said, "He's-he's nothing more than rock now. I'm really sorry."
Twilight tears up and her head sinks down to the floor, tears drop from her face to the floor. All I do next is hug her and I'm surprised that she doesn't push me away, instead she hugs me as well and starts to cry softly.
"I'll try to get Discord to bring him and Cadence back so you can see him," I say.
"You-you will?" Twilight asks.
"I'm not your enemy, even if I work with one I will never try to hurt you. Don't denounce me for what I did."
"I won't," Pinkie said.
"Ah still don't trust you," Applejack said.
"I'm going to have to think about this," Rainbow Dash said.
"Can you keep the torches lit?" Fluttershy said.
"Clean, must clean everything," Rarity said as she scrubbed the same spot with the brush.
"Just try and keep your promise," Twilight said, "Do that and I'll forgive you."
Wait, what? No escape plan? No requests? Maybe they know that trying to overthrow Discord is futile and pointless so they're accepting what's happened to them. Doesn't seen like it would apply to this situation. Nevertheless, I let go of Twilight and change myself back to a pony. I back away and the cell door opens and I step into the hallway. The Jailer lets two Guardians into the cell and I think nothing of it until I see that both of them have studded clubs.
"Whoa, hang on a second," I say.
"Daily beatings," the Jailer said, "Makes my job that much more enjoyable."
I watch in horror as the six are smacked with clubs. I can't take the sight or their screams of pain anymore, I try to stop the Guardians but an unseen force closes around my head and chest and I am forced to watch the savage sight. The entire show lasts for five minutes but it felt like an age. Once the two Guardians are done they fly out of the cell and the force leaves me. I run into the cell and take Twilight's head in my forelegs, her face is bloody and bruised and I can't help shedding tears.
"Scott," she says weakly. I lean closer to her.
"Yes?"
"I know about you're Cutie Mark. It's not a Cutie Mark, it's a brand."
A brand? Doesn't look like one. I let Twilight explain.
"You're a servant to Discord," Twilight said, "The mark is only seen on ponies who have fallen under the power of Discord. You were unfortunate to have such a thing happen to you."
I start to get a very strong feeling of anger and rage. Twilight reaches up and touches my face and I take hold of her hoof.
"What happened to me was something that I couldn't stop," I say, "This is something that will."
And with that I let go of Twilight and leave the cell. The Jailer locks the cell behind me and starts laughing, I wait until his back is turned, once it is I proceed to break his neck so that I can get the keys but the same force from earlier prevents me from moving again, this time however a massive painful shock runs through me and I collapse to the floor. I lie there for a minute before I gain my motor abilities again. After I rub my eyes to get the blurs out of my vision I find myself in my room with Discord standing over and smiling at me.
"You never fail to entertain me, Scott," he said.
"What the hell was that back there?!" I yell at him, "What in the name of God did I just witness?"
"Something that those six have deserved since they turned me to stone."
"You ordered the Guards to beat them?" I ask, fury burning throughout my body.
"Yes," Discord said, he then leans down at me and gives me a very sinister look, "Is there a problem with that? Because if you do have a problem then I'll have no problem replacing you."
I sigh heavily and look away from Discord. If I say yes then he will kill me, no more faking, it'll be real and it'll be painful. I have no other choice but to follow the orders of my master and to deal with whatever he does.
"No, no I have no problem."
Discord then smiles and pats me on the head, as if he's taunting me for being powerless to stop him.
"Good boy," he said, "Now get yourself ready, I'm going to Ponyville and I want you to look after the Castle of Chaos until I get back."
"How long are you going to be gone for?" I ask.
"About two days," Discord said, "Maybe more depending if there's a riot or not."
Discord vanishes and I'm left on my own again. For a few minutes I'm left staring at my reflection but then out of nowhere I sink down and start crying. What I saw in the dungeon was pure brutality, what did those six do to deserve such a fate? I feel awful for allowing it to continue, for not speaking up to try and stop it, for not being able to do anything to help my friends. I look up and see my reflection again, I can't see myself like this. I try to telepathically spin the mirror around but instead it goes crashing to the floor, something inside of me wants to get out, something very powerful and very, very angry.
Whatever is inside of my subconscious is trying to get out and it's showing that by making all of the powers I have go insane. I try to pull something over from a distance, the object rockets out of the window. I try and get rid of a pink cloud with a gust of fabricated wind and the thing blows up. My suit from the party is now nothing more than ashes after I try and straighten it out. This funny buildup is beginning to frustrate me.
"Not yet," I say to myself, "You'll get your chance."
I walk outside to the balcony and see Ponyville, fires rage on several buildings and Guardians fly around and block off the bridges that enter the town. I can just see Discord in the town center sitting on some sort of throne, I fabricate a telescope and see him batting something that's attached to a stick, I look closer and see it's the mayor of the town. Discord stops batting the mayor, looks towards me and waves. The smile on his face generates more rage but I hold it back. Discord may be mean, but he can't be that bad. Can he?
"No, I think he'll be over it by tomorrow." I think.
But the thought doesn't bring me comfort. Nothing does. It's eating at me, the guilt that I betrayed an entire nation for my life. I mean it's great to not be dead but at what cost was it? Was this all worth it? During that party some ponies tried to help me but they all failed. More horrible thoughts enter my mind: The six ponies who were once my friends...being tortured, innocent and peaceful ponies beaten and attacked, who knows what it's going to be like for the young colts and fillies who'll have to grow up in such a cruel and unforgiving world. How are the Cakes getting on now that Discord is in town? Hopefully Discord won't touch them but there isn't a guarantee of it happening. I can't get anything out of my head, even as I bash my head against the wall the screams of the six haunt me. But as the horrible memory sticks with me, something else clicks in my mind something that almost brings me comfort: A song. I look up to the sky and remember it entirely, I heard it once when we first moved and it stuck with me. It was an epic piece and as I remember the lyrics, rather fitting to what's going on. I remember the night where I sung for the Crusaders and managed to get them asleep. Right now in the state my mind is in I don't feel like singing to myself but I'll end up jumping off this balcony if I don't. It'll probably be futile and I'll end up next to a very angry Discord. After all, singing might make me feel a little better.
"Okay," I say between deep breaths, "Here goes. Come on Scott, you can do this."
I start off weak, but as I get into the song I start to feel much better and much mentally stronger. I have no idea how but I can tell that the six are looking out of their cell window and listening to me. Same goes for the citizens of Canterlot, I feel them in a way, I can tell that they are listening. So much energy, so much power... It's like I'm being taken away to a place where I can escape this terrible, terrible place. I know what I did and I'm going to resolve this, whatever it takes. Just as I finish singing my bedroom door opens and a Guardian enters, I turn around and see the Guardian looking at me in a questioning way.
"You're here for a reason, spit it out," I say.
"Uh yeahhhhh," the Guardian said, he then straitens himself out, "We found a few intruders in the courtyard, thought you might want to see them so you can decide on what to do with them."
"Lead the way."
The Guardian leads me through hallways and doors until we come to a room next to the dungeons, a few screams escape the wooden door but I shut them out and follow the Guardian. What I see I cannot believe, the intruders are the Cutie Mark Crusaders. All three of them have chains around their necks and forelegs which is being held by a buff Guardian, they keep their heads down until I approach them.
"Scott!" Apple Bloom yells in what I can tell is happiness. She tries to grab hold of me but the Guardian holding her chain yanks back and she ends up next to the other two.
"Hey!" Scootaloo yells at the Guardian, "Leave her alone."
The Guardian lift the chain up and the three are dangling off the floor and being choked by the chains. I'm not putting up with this.
"Put them down, now!" I say sternly. The Guardian drops the Crusaders and goes back to holding the chain, the Crusaders are on the ground coughing and gasping for breath. I sit down in front of them and help them up.
"You girls okay?" I ask.
"No," Apple Bloom said.
"My neck hurts," Sweetie Belle moans.
"What are you doing here?"
"We were trying to see what was going on, Scott," Scootaloo said, "We didn't know that Discord had taken over."
"How did he?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Why are you wearing that armor?" Sweetie Belle asked me. Before I can reply a Guardian smacks Sweetie Belle.
"Don't speak unless you're told to!" he bellows at her, Sweetie cowers next to Apple Bloom and starts crying.
"That's enough out of you," I say to the Guardian, something has made them aggressive. The Guardian backs away and another speaks up.
"What do you want done with them, sir?"
"I say we toss them in the Hole," another Guardian said. A few nod their heads and agree.
"No, they are intruders." another pipes up, "We should give them the same treatment as that Blueblood. See how they like it."
Some stomping and evil sounding chants burst out from the Guardians. I don't want to know what they are thinking of but I have to get the girls away from them, I can see that they are terrified.
"I'll take care of them, make them my slaves."
"Nice idea, sir," one Guardian said.
"Gah! Why didn't I think of that?" another asks.
"Probably because you're thinking of sick ideas on how to torture these kids," I think as I take the chain leash from the Guardian.
The Crusaders still lie frozen in the same spot on the floor and even though I have them, the girls refuse to move.
"I don't wanna be a slave," Scootaloo whines.
"Let us go, Scott," Apple Bloom begs me.
"This is for the best," I say. I give them a "I'm going to help you" look and the three shakily get up and follow me. a few of the Guardians give them a kick and walk off laughing. The fact that I didn't do anything makes my blood boil but I keep a grip on the chain and give it a tight pull whenever I pass a few Guardians just to make it look like I'm in charge of them. We reach my room and the Crusaders, clearly afraid, dig their hooves in the floor and stop dead. I can't tell them that I'm going to find a way to help them or the Guardians might suspect something and tell Discord.
"Need help?" one of my room guards ask.
"Give them a bit of a nudge," I say. The two Guardians go behind the Crusaders and point their spears at them, the girls then dive into my room and hide under the bed, the end of the chain being the only evidence of them being there. I shut the bedroom door and then enchant the walls and door so that no sound can escape.
"Girls?" I say softly, "Girls, are you coming out from under there?"
"No!" a frightened Sweetie Belle answers. This discourages me a little but I brought them here to keep them safe.
"Come on, I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you."
"Prove it," Scootaloo says.
"If I wasn't going to help you then I wouldn't have brought here," I say. Apple Bloom's face is the first to peek out from under the bed.
"Why did you bring us here?" she asks.
"I want to keep you safe," I reply. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle then follow.
"You-you sure?" Sweetie Belle asks me.
"I saved you kids once, pays to do it again."
"You really care about us that much?" Apple Bloom asks.
"I cannot leave you to the wrath of the Guardians," I reply.
"I'm still scared," Scootaloo said.
I sigh and usher the girls out from under my bed and I hold them in a tight hug. The chains on their necks and forelegs are cold against me. The only thing I can do for them is to take the neck chains off, which is exactly what I do. As the shackles fall to the floor the Crusaders rub their necks and hug me harder.
"Thanks, Scott," Apple Bloom said. I smile and make them look at me.
"You said that you were trying to figure out what was going on, correct?"
The girls nod but look nervous.
"I can tell that you're lying, there's something else behind it."
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both look at Apple Bloom, who blushes and rubs the back of her head.
"We were kinda lookin' for you, Scott," she said, "We had heard that you and Pinkie made a huge cake and we wanted some. Ah came up with the idea to hide in the back of the machine until the coast was clear and then we would try and take some. We knew that we weren't allowed in the party but we really wanted some of the cake."
"So you sneak into a party that was turned into Discord's takeover?" I ask, then a tear drops from my cheek, "You really shouldn't have come. It's all my fault."
"What do you mean?" Sweetie Belle asks. Oh God, why didn't I keep my mouth shut? I huff and decide to tell the Crusaders what I told the six down in the dungeon.
"There's something about me that you don't know. Something that might scare you."
The Crusaders eye's widen in curiosity.
"What do you mean, Scott?" Scootaloo asks.
"I'm not what I look," I say, "I'm something completely different."
"You mean you're not a pony?" Apple Bloom asks. Good, she's figured it out. Now all I have to do is show them.
"Do you want to see something?" I ask them, "See a secret that I've been keeping ever since I arrived?"
The girls sit up and inch closer to me, I back away thinking that there might be some sort of energy field that could hurt the girls if they got too close.
"You might want to shield you eyes," I say. The Crusaders look away as I change my form once more for them. I check to see if there was a glitch in the changing process and once I confirm that I'm okay, I tell the Crusaders it's okay to look. They instantly dive back under the bed, I'm sure that the sudden sight of me scared them but I coax them out from under the bed and sooth their fears.
"So, you're not gonna hurt us?" Apple Bloom asks fearfully.
"No, I could never do such a thing."
"So is this want you used to look like?" Scootaloo asks.
"Yes, until Discord ripped me from my homeworld and dumped me here," I say with irritation but then hide, "Good thing he did otherwise I'd be dead."
"Dead?" Sweetie Belle asks, "How?"
"My world has been destroyed. I can no longer go back to it, everything that I ever cared about is now nothing but ashes and bones."
"Everypony you knew is now dead?" Scootaloo asks. I kneel in front of them and nod, Sweetie Belle nuzzles my arm and I slowly pull her closer to me, she feels bad for me and it brings me comfort. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo then end up hugging me and the connection that I had with Twilight flares up inside of me again and I hold the Crusaders closer to me. It does feel weird, being a human and interacting with the fillies. I hold them for another few minutes until some banging comes from my door.
"Oh Scoooott," Discord's voice sings through the door, "I've got another surprise for you."
Jesus, another one? Well I did help him take over the place, makes sense that he rewards me. Wonder what it is this time? I switch my form back to pony and leave the room, telling the Crusaders to stay put. Discord however tells me that they have to come because he wants them in a separate room. The fillies follow close behind me, their chains rattling as they run to keep up. We eventually reach the courtyard where the plan to overthrow the Royal Canterlot Family took place. The courtyard still looks the same even after two days after it all happened, crushed cups, bits of stale food, the tables, even entire cakes sit where they were on that fateful night. What is different is the Interceptor, actually more like what has been done to it. Now instead of it just being black with all the lights hidden, Discord has added more on the roof and given it a nice new paint job. On the side of it reads, "Chaos Enforcer". Discord also goes on to tell me that the engine has been improved and that the fuel supply is now infinite.
"Well, what do you think?" Discord asks me.
"You've really fixed it up," I say, "You've outdone it this time."
"Excellent," Discord says with a sinister grin, he then leans down over me and points to the Crusaders, "Now, about them."
"Leave them. I've got them as my own personal slaves, if that's okay with you."
"It's fine, Scott. I just want you to put them in another room so that they don't try anything." Discord said. I have no choice but to agree and find another room for the three, it's for their safety. I don't want them getting hurt.
"Come on, girls. Let's see if there's a nice bedroom for you to stay in."
Finding a new room for the Crusaders wasn't easy, most of the bedrooms had either been defiled or taken over by Guardians. Eventually after some searching I find an untouched bedroom at the top of a tower and I check it over. One bed, one bathroom, a view of Canterlot and it's not too far from my room. Discord would like it because of the height of the tower and the impossibility of escape.
"So here you go," I say to the Crusaders. The look around the room and then come back to me, all of them have tears in their eyes. When did they start crying?
"Scott," Sweetie Belle says, "Are we gonna be okay?"
"Are you gonna hurt us like those mean ponies?" Scootaloo asks.
"I'd never lay a harming hoof on you, and if I did I'd cut it off."
The three hug me and then say that they trust me. I tell them that I'm going to keep them here and try to make sure that they get the food they need to stay healthy. Just so that they don't get bored while I'm gone I fabricate some toys for them to play with and they instantly get over their situation and start playing with them. I chuckle as I shut the door, lock it, then cast an enchantment over it so that it'll only open when I want it to. I then remember the six that are still in the prison cell being beaten and who knows what else. I run down to the dungeon and as I come up to the door the screams become louder and louder with each step. As I near the door I can tell why the screams seem louder than last time I passed by here, there are more. Has Discord been putting dissidents in the Canterlot Dungeons? If so then how long until there's overcrowding and the construction of more prisons? I approach the Guardians and shout "Hail Discord!", they then repeat the chant and allow me to enter. The same jailer is there and in a sort of way, I am glad that he's still here even though I want his head on a spike.
"Ah, Scott, ready to see the six in cell one again?" The Jailer asks.
"Just open the bloody door," I say dryly. The jailer opens us the cell and I enter, just like last time the torches light up. This time when they do illuminate the room I instantly wish that they would go out. Sitting in front of me are the bloody and beaten ponies who were once the holders of the Elements of Harmony. Each one of them have had more chains fitted to them and they don't look up when I address their names. I run over to Twilight and get her to look up at me, her eye is swollen shut, her bottom lip is bleeding and her face is covered in bruises. She looks me dead in the eye and says something that shatters my heart.
"Scott, why are you allowing this?"
"I-I-I'm sorry," I say, I can feel myself tear up.
"You promised to help us," Twilight said. I wipe my face off and take hold of Twilight, she slowly hugs me and starts crying softly.
"I'm so sorry, Twilight. I'm gonna make sure that this'll never happen again."
"Don't apologize to just me, make sure everypony else knows that this isn't your fault."
I go around and as I'm making sure that my friends know I'm going to help them I check to see how badly hurt they are in case I need to come back with medical supplies. The worst sight by far is Fluttershy, her coat and mane are stained in dry blood, bruises cover her and when I approached her, she backed away into a corner and covered her face. I managed to comfort her and she allows me to talk to her so I can find out what's been happening while I was gone. Fluttershy curls up into a ball and starts crying, which in turn sets off Rarity and Applejack. I go over to them and ask them what's got them both upset.
"Mah family, what's happened to mah family?" Applejack said through tears.
"Have you seen my sister?" Rarity says, "Is she okay?"
"Listen," I say as I put a hoof on each of them, "Applejack, I have no clue if your family is okay but I can assure you that both of your sisters are okay, I've got them up in a room nice and safe behind a few small enchantments."
"Can you promise me that?" Applejack says, "Can you promise that Discord won't touch those girls?"
"He won't get anywhere near them," I say. The sound of the cell door opening attracts our attention, I have my back to the cell door so I don't see who enters, the six try and back away fearful of whoever the newcomer is, I think I know who it is.
"You paying a visit to the prisoners?" Discord asks.
"I was just checking up on them," I reply. I hear Discord snort in amusement.
"Come, come Mr. Websly. I need your help."
I follow Discord to another cell, this one is much bigger and several club toting Guardians are standing outside the cell, waiting to enter. There's some groaning and weeps that are drifting between the bars and out into the hallway. As I near the cell a Guardian hands me a club, I look at it and see that it's been studded with metal bolts a nasty looking weapon if I've ever seen one. The Jailer opens up the cell and three Guardians enter, followed by Discord and then me. The torches light up and huddled in the back of the cell are more than twenty ponies, all of them different ages.
"Where did you get this lot?" I ask Discord.
"These ponies are nothing more than leverage for keeping order in Ponyville. I take away some loved ones from the town and tell the town that if they try and rebel they won't see the ones they love ever again."
I sigh and slide the club into a sheath. Discord knows how to maintain order, I'll give him that. But taking away family members and lovers from one another and threatening to execute them if they revolt is a little extreme. Discord pulls me to his side and gets the attention of the prisoners.
"Attention everypony. You know why we are here but first I want you to meet Scott Websly, he's the pony who helped me take over this place."
"Traitor!" a stallion yells. The sound of a wood club connecting with a skull and cries of pain follow.
"Now now, no need for such harsh words," Discord says, "But from what I have heard, some of you are planning to escape and I want to know who. Guardians!"
The Guardians step forwards, clutching their clubs and sneering at the prisoners. Discord pushes me forward to join the Guardians.
"Go on," he said, "No point in letting them have all the fun."
This is considered fun to you? What the hell is wrong with this sick bastard? I watch as some of the older ponies take up position in front of the younger ones, the Guardians don't bother with trying to move them they just pick a target and start clubbing. Seeing the sight first hand is more than horrifying, it also makes me sick to my stomach watching one poor mare who's protecting a pair of foals being beaten to the floor. Some of the Guardians are laughing as they hit each and every pony that comes into their clubbing range. As I stand petrified in the vast melee, Discord leaves, smiling and with a look of satisfaction.
"This won't stop until somepony comes forward," he said as he tapped on the bars. He leaves and I am left alone, not wanting to partake in the horror fest. One young filly manages to escape the Guardians and is up against a corner of the room, scared about what is going on. She has no idea why this is happening, she's probably wondering what she did to deserve this. While the others are distracted I go over to the filly, she sees me and tries to back her way further up the wall.
"D-d-d-don't hurt me," she whimpers.
"I'm not going to," I say softly.
"I didn't do anything wrong mister, why are these ponies hurting me?"
"I know you didn't do anything wrong," I say to her, "You're here against your will, if I could I'd get you back home."
"You will?" the filly asks me.
"I'll try to," I say. A voice behind me startles the young filly.
"Hey! Scott caught a straggler!"
"And it's a young un. He must be sizing it up."
"Go on, hit her!"
"What?" I ask, "You want me to hit her?"
"Do it!" a Guardian yells.
"Firelight! No!" a pony yells but is beaten down by a pair of Guardians.
"Mom!" the filly shouts back.
"Hit her!" the Jailer yells at me.
"No! No I refuse."
No sooner had I said that a current takes over my body and my movements are no longer my own. I feel myself reach and take hold of my club, resisting against the control over me gets harder as I see my foreleg hold the club over the filly in a motion to strike.
"No no no," I say as the filly tries to shield herself. The Guardians all stop to watch me, each of them chanting and yelling.
"No. Don't. Please," the filly pleads.
"I-can't-stop," I say as I try to stop the club. Without any intention or control the club swings down and strikes the filly square on the side of her head. The cry she emits pierces my ears and I feel something tighten around my chest. The Guardian's yells, whoops and chants almost seem to slow down and become garbled. The feeling of rage that had built up inside of me finally enters my mind and takes over. The Guardians still keep cheering for me even after that one hit, I can't stand it anymore.
"STOP CHEERING AT ME!" I bellow to the Guardians in an almost demonic voice. They look at me in terror as I spin around to face them. Suddenly the amulets in my chest armor and helmet light up in a dark red color, then all the Guardians float up a few feet into the air, and then instantly disintegrate. I relax once all that is left of them is dust, I then turn to the ponies who are staring at me in amazement. I take a deep breath and utter one word.
The crowd of ponies look at me as I help the filly up and bring her over to he mother. The two embrace each other then look up at me, the little filly has a large bruise on the side of her face which makes me feel guilty but I couldn't prevent myself from hitting her. What I can do is heal her. The mother of the filly hands her over to me and even though I did involuntarily attack the filly, she trusts me and doesn't move as I lightly touch her bruise. Within seconds I can see the swelling lessen and the bump vanish. The filly touches the side of her face and then looks back at me.
"Better?" I ask.
The filly doesn't reply, instead she hugs me and runs back to her mother. As I look around the room I can see that a large number of other ponies who are injured, no longer caring about what Discord will think, I go around and start healing the injured. I didn't know I had the power to heal, then I remember that the Element of Chaos assimilated the Elements of Harmony. If the Elements of Harmony had any sort of powers then I'm sure to have them. After the ponies are all healed up I go to leave the cell.
"Wait," one pony says, "Aren't you going to free us?"
I turn back to the prisoners, all of them look eager to go but getting them back is going to be a nightmare. I instead fabricate some supplies for them in the corners of the cell and tell them what's going on.
"Look I know that you really want to get out of here but if Discord sees you then he'll kill all of us, me included. This way is better and you're bound to live through the next several days. I'm going to keep you here until I work out a way to get you guys back home, the supplies I gave you should make this cell a little more comfortable. I've given you food and collapsible beds to sleep on, if this continues then I'll come down every week to restock your inventory but realistically, I don't think that this'll last long."
One pony, an old stallion steps forwards and shakes my hoof.
"We all thank you, Scott," he says, "Be sure not to forget about us when the time comes."
I nod and open up the cell door. As I shut it I cast a spell on it so that the lock won't open unless I'm nearby. Some of the little fillies and colts walk up to the cell door and stare up at me with the most saddening eyes ever. I lean down to them and whisper something that cheers them up.
"I made sure that there's a few things for you guys to play with, make sure you share."
The foals perk up and start rummaging through the piles of supplies to get to them. Some of the older ponies stop them and start distributing the supplies to the other prisoners. It makes me feel good when I realize that I'm almost like the Red Cross giving much needed supplies to POWs in times of war. This is pretty much a war, but it's not a war where blood is spilled for a bit of land and an acre of trees, this is a war where I have to resist the power of Discord so that I don't wind up hurting anypony else. I then run to the cell of the six and I open it up, eager to see the looks on their faces once I heal them of their wounds. I first go to Twilight, she's trying to nurse a few of her wounds but to no success.
"You okay Twilight?" I ask. She looks up at me, her eye still hasn't healed. Not a problem.
"What happened in the other cell?" Twilight asks, "We heard screaming, yelling then some sort of shout. Then nothing."
"I was just a little stressed is all," I say, "But you won't need to worry about the Guardians beating you anymore, they've been downsized."
Twilight smiles but then cringes as she reaches up for her split lip.
"Can I see that?" I ask her. Twilight lowers her hoof and allows me to heal it, she has no idea what's going on but she picks up on it once I fix her eye up.
"How did you-?"
"I have no idea," I say as I move on to Applejack.
Eventually all the six are healed. I step back to admire my work, Fluttershy is rubbing the spot on her head where she had a massive gash, Rainbow Dash rubs her legs and wings after I managed to heal the bruises. Rarity is super pleased that I cleaned the blood from her coat, Applejack took only a second because all she had was a few cuts. Pinkie Pie however, still sits in the same place staring at her hoof which was gushing blood only minutes ago.
"You okay there?" I ask her.
"How did this happen?" Pinkie mutters, "We were only going to a party, how did that turn into the takeover of Discord?"
"Like I've said a million times, I'm sorry that it happened," I say. Pinkie looks up at me, completely emotionless.
"I know you're sorry, Scott. But I want physical proof."
I think I know what that is. But Pinkie's ahead of me, as I step closer she hugs me. I can feel her tears running down my back.
"I'm gonna put a stop to this," I say, "I'll see if I can make you my servants then we can work something out."
"You Pinkie Promise?" Pinkie asks me.
"Sure, I Pinkie Promise."
Why does it feel like that if I fail then Pinkie will kill me along with Discord?
The walk to the room where the Crusaders are being kept seems much longer that it used to. Discord might b messing with the laws of perception again, and speaking of which.
"So is that what happened?" Discord's cold voice drifts through a door. I hide behind the half closed door and eavesdrop on the conversation.
"Yes my lord," the unmistakable voice of the Jailer replies, "It was over in less than a second, several of my Guardians are dead because of him."
"I knew that there was a problem when he told me that the Elements were destroyed. He must have found a way to harness them from Twilight and her friends."
"Wouldn't they be dead, my lord?"
"No, no I think that Scott's been helping them. I knew that he would turn out to betray me like the others, he did get me this far so I'll congratulate him on that."
"What about the fillies who are his slaves?"
"I haven't seen them do anything since Scott took them from you, I think that he's hiding something that those brats know."
"What do you recommend we do?"
Discord gives a heavy sigh and taps on the table.
"Kill Websly while he sleeps, as for those so-called 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' torture them to see what they are hiding. Once you deal with them we'll publicly execute Twilight and her friends. Make sure that their corpses are hung over the castle gates after they are paraded through the towns."
"Yes my lord, it shall be done."
What the hell? Did Discord just order me to be killed and Twilight to be publicly executed? What in the name of God is wrong with that freak? I now know that this is more than just a little bit of revenge, this is pure insanity. Discord's a proper psychopath and I curse myself for not seeing it earlier. If I had seen it coming I would've warned Celestia about it, now the way I see it, Discord has to go, no matter what.
I hide in the shadows as the Jailer and Discord leave the room.
"One more thing," Discord says to the Jailer, "Once Scott is dead you will become the Military commander of my new empire. Don't go disappointing me."
"I shall not my lord!"
The two wander off and I run, no, sprint to the room where the Crusaders are being held. I have to warn them about what's coming their way and if there's anyway I can delay it. The door to their room has about five Guardians with nasty looking torture devices sitting in the hallway, I'm so glad my enchantment worked.
"Open the door!" one of the Guardians say. I trot over and try to remain casual.
"What are you up to?" I ask.
"Sorry sir, not allowed to tell you under order of Discord."
"I can easily figure this out," I say, "You're standing in front of the door that leads to the room of the fillies who I'm keeping as my servants, what's more is that you've got torture devices so I'm guessing you don't want to join in on their tea parties."
The Guardians look at me, then to each other, nod and then draw their weapons.
"Whoa, easy fellas," I say.
"Sorry sir, you must die. Discord wants us to kill you," a Guardian says. I sigh deeply and hold up one hoof, within an instant all of the guardians and their weapons are floating in a red mist. They look fearfully towards me.
"I'm sorry, but it is you who must die. For Celestia."
The Guardians then turn to ash like the ones in the prison cell. I then unlock the door and enter the room, shutting and then locking it behind me. As I look around the room I notice that the Crusaders are hidden, they must have heard what went on outside. I have to see if they're still here.
"Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo. Where are you three?"
"O-over here," Sweetie Belle's voice comes from behind the bed.
"Is it safe?" Scootaloo asks.
"Those ponies won't be coming back anytime soon," I say. Deep down I know that each Guardian I've killed used to be one of the Royal Guards but I can't let them live like monsters, better they die. The Crusaders eventually come out of their hiding place and huddle up next to me, their chains rattling as they quake in fear.
"You're safe now, nopony's getting to you," I say.
"Ah'm not scared because of those ponies, ah'm scared about mah sister," Apple Bloom says.
"Scott, do you know what's happened to Rarity," Sweetie Belle asks me. Oh dear, this won't end well. I tell Scootaloo to take Sweetie Belle aside as I tell Apple Bloom the fate of her beloved sister and Rarity, I know that Sweetie won't be able to take the news.
"Scott, what's happened to Applejack?"
"It pains me every time I think about it, I don't know if you really want to know."
"Tell me! Is she okay? She'd do the same for you, ah want the truth!"
I grimace and look Apple Bloom dead center in her eye and tell her the truth.
"No, she isn't okay," I said, Apple Bloom's eyes start to water, making me shed a tear as well, "She's been kept in the dungeon, she's been beaten and Discord plans to kill her along with the others. But I made her a promise to keep you safe, which is exactly what I'm doing."
Apple Bloom pushes me away and sinks to the floor but I pick her up and hold her close to my chest, she then embraces me and pulls my head closer to hers.
"You have to stop Discord," she whispers.
"I'm going to now," I say, "Just wait for the sound of the pipes and you'll know when the time will be."
Apple Bloom nods and as I set her down I tell her to let Sweetie Belle know about her sister and to comfort her. I also tell Apple Bloom that some more Guardians might be on their way.
"Listen, those ponies are going to hurt you if they get in here. If they do make sure you either hide or jump out of the window. You do not want them to get you, understand?"
"Ah understand but why do you want us to jump out of the window?"
"Because if you don't then you'll die a much slower and painful death."
Apple Bloom cowers but I manage to get her to go over to Sweetie Belle and tell her the future of Rarity. Even from here I can see Sweetie Belle start crying, Scootaloo places a comforting hoof on her back and looks at me.
"I'll put a stop to this, I swear it," I say as I leave the room. Once more I enchant the door just to make sure that the spell wasn't breached. I clean up the ash and toss the torture devices out of the window, hoping that Discord won't suspect anything until later when I can put my plan into action. All that remains in my mind is how I'm going to stop Discord, I have the Element of Chaos and technically the Elements of Harmony as well. If I can charge up the Elements of Harmony then I might just stand a chance against Discord. I have one plan in mind that just might work, hopefully my ability to play the bagpipes is rooted in my blood otherwise I'm dead.
"Good thing I remembered this," I say as I tuck the dart gun that Discord gave me into my sheath. I managed to teleport it into my belt and draw it when a pair of Guardians jumped me. Luckily it was loaded with sleeper darts, so now I don't have to bear the guilt of killing anymore of them. I hide the bodies behind a statue and run to my room, on the way there several more Guardians try and jump me but each of them are thrown aside as I run past. I'm so glad I've still got the Element of Chaos, I'm even more glad that I've learned to use it properly. Running into my room I dive under the bed and pull out the box that contained the motion alarms and the trip mines that Discord gave me when I was in Ponyville. This time as I disassemble the mines I take out the chaff charge and replace it with a box of steel ball bearings, I'm not taking any chances with anyone sneaking up on me, last thing I need is to get this far only to have a sword in my back. Now then, all I have to do is send out the signal that Discord's overpowering rule of terror is over.
"Where are them bagpipes?" I think as I rummage through my cabinet for what I call the most noisy and amazing instrument ever made. I find one in the back, toss it over my back and run over to the balcony. I leave the pipes there so I can set the traps, once I plant and arm the mines I go back to the balcony and pick up the bagpipes, now I've never played the bagpipes before but because I'm Scottish it must be in my blood. After all, I am a decedent of a famous Scottish clan. Now I think if there's a song that I know to play on the bagpipes and it'll be something that everypony will remember if I fail, hopefully they'll still chant it long after I'm gone. That song was none other than Amazing Grace.
I get myself as close to the edge of the balcony as I can and once I get a hold of my nerves and check if Discord is nearby, I start to play. Now I don't know if the Element Of Chaos has given me the ability to play Amazing Grace so well on the bagpipes but I what I do know is that a large crowd of ponies have gathered up somewhere down in Canterlot and are all looking up at me, I give a quick glance down and see a mass of ponies all standing in the town and on roofs of houses. Then out of nowhere, they start singing the song. Do they know the lyrics of the song? I don't think that they do but I guess that the Elements must have something to do with it. Listening to the crowd chant the lyrics of the song as I play the bagpipes give me an overwhelming feeling that I can beat Discord at his own game. I look over to a tower and I see Discord standing on the balcony looking down at the ponies and then over to the source of the music, me. I throw Discord a smug look and a wink and then go back to the sky. Something tells me that Discord has picked up on what has been going on with the missing Guardians and the abundance of supplies in the cells. I give Discord another look and this time I can see what looks like fire coming out of his eyes, he then goes into the tower and I finish the song. Then a massive explosion of cheers follows, I give the crowd a wave and then go back into my bedroom where six well armed Guardians are waiting for me.
"Come on now, Scott," one Guardian says, "You've played your last song. Time for you to go."
The six slowly advance on me. Not smart.
"I'd stay back if I were you," I say.
"Oh yeah? Why?"
Suddenly a massive explosion shakes the room and sends shards of metal and wood in all directions, I fabricated a shield just before the mines go off. In order to avoid any more pursuing Guardians I run over to the door next to my room and open it up, inside is my Interceptor.
"Oh yeah, this'll work."
I jump into the drivers seat and start the car just as another group of Guardians jump out of the shadows and try to pry the door open.
"Get out of there!" a Guardian yells.
I shake my head and slam on the accelerator pedal. The Guardians that were in front of me ended up as crumpled heaps behind me after I run over them. The car, now dented and slightly coated with blood screams down the hallways and skids around in larger rooms and halls. What I'm trying to do is attract attention so that Discord will lower his sense of security and then I can ambush him. Hopefully he'll be distracted in trying to organize panicking Guardians to kill me while I'm tearing around the castle, ripping rugs and smoking out any Guardians unfortunate enough to get anywhere near me. While I'm at it I flick on the new lights and push the car to go much faster. Flying down the halls I come to the hall to the dungeon I pull on the hand brake and face towards the door. Ten Guardians stood in front of the door, weapons ready and all of them looking uneasy. I give the engine a burst of power and some of the Guardians run away. The remainder however, weren't going to last much longer. Without another moment's hesitation I release the brakes, stomp on the accelerator, and shoot down the long hallway to the massive wooden door. Hoping that the door won't kill me when I hit it at eighty miles an hour I keep the pedal down and keep a tight grip on the wheel. The Guardians who fail to avoid me end up getting crushed underneath my Interceptor, a few sickening crunches and horrified screams follow and I manage to blast through the door as if it was nothing more then plywood. I screech to a halt in front of Twilight's cell and I can see them all gathered up by the cell door, I step out of the Interceptor and their moods brighten.
"Scott! You made it!" Twilight exclaims.
"Takes a little more than a spear welding pony to stop me," I say as I approach the cell door. With one small touch the entire door melts and the six finally get a chance to taste freedom, I touch each of their chains and those too melt away.
"Guess you finally saw where your true loyalties lie," Rainbow Dash said.
"Too right, I'm not going to be commanded by a insane god."
"Discord's insane?" Rarity asks. I nod.
"Ah knew that there was always something wrong with him," Applejack said.
"He's tried to get to your sisters but I've made sure that the room that they're in is secure."
"I hope that the girls are okay," Fluttershy said.
"They are for now," I say, "But unless we take down Discord harmony will forever be overshadowed by chaos."
"Do you have a plan?" Twilight asks me.
"I do, but I'm not sure I'll survive."
"We can only hope that you at least succeed," Pinkie said. Kind of morbid thing you said there Pinkie but I don't care, so long as Discord is gone I'll be satisfied enough.
We all pile into the car and after I check to see that the others are getting on well, we head of in the direction of the throne room. Where Discord will make his land stand to remain in control. Passing by Guardians scares the six, running over them makes them stare at me in shock.
"Dunno, just that I felt like I've heard this song before."
"I get that feeling sometimes," I say.
We shoot past more Guardians and skid into a large room where almost a hundred Guardians are waiting for us.
"Surrender now!" a Guardian yells at us. I clap my hooves together and the car teleports into an empty hallway.
"There's the door to the throne room," Twilight says.
"You guys get out and wait," I say, "I have to do this alone."
"You don't stand a chance by yourself," Rainbow Dash said.
"I know that I will, the stress of everything going on will have worn down Discord's powers."
"Did you know that this would happen?" Twilight asks.
"Discord said that the Element was his powers all compacted into one small stone, if I try something too overzealous then I'll probably die. This is what led me to believe that if it can happen to me, then it can happen to Discord."
The six all look at me as I open up the door to my car and climb into it. Twilight puts her hoof on the side of the window and I look towards her.
"Good luck Scott."
"Just make sure that you come once Discord's out of the way," I say.
"What are you going to do?" Pinkie asks.
"I have to catch Discord off guard so I can surprise him," I say as I tap the side of my car, "And what better way than to send a massive steel monster flying at him."
"You're going to launch the contraption at him?" Rarity asks. Why can't they call it by what it is?
"It's going to be a worthy sacrifice, but if I can do it then so be it," I say.
"It was fun while it lasted," Rainbow Dash said.
"Ah'm gonna miss this thing in a way," Applejack adds.
"Me too," I say under my breath.
I start up the Interceptor for the last time and switch on the pursuit lights. I'm going to wait until I'm a little closer before I turn on the siren and jump out of the car. Hang on, why don't I just teleport out of the car? Oh yeah, because it won't look as cool when I do. Never mind that, I stomp once more on the accelerator pedal which jams it into the floor, I also lock the steering and wait until the door is close enough before I switch on the siren. As the car spears down the hallway I can see that the doors are open slightly, luckily there are no Guardians standing by the doors, they must be out trying to catch me. I can just see Discord facing the window behind the throne, he hasn't heard me, perfect. Although I don't know how you wouldn't hear a huge V8 engine bearing down at you. Anyway, I flick on the siren and dive out of the car. I watch in amazement as the vehicle shoots towards Discord, he doesn't even notice it until it is at the foot of his throne. The car flies up the steps and then hits a bump and is airborne. Discord panics an ducks just in time as the car soars over his head and crashes though the window, Discord watches as the car drops like a stone and crashes down the jagged rocks that line the castle.
"Nice try, Scott," Discord says with a chuckle, "Did you think that you could kill me? I think not now that you are nothing more than dust and bones. Did you really think that you're little plan would work, pah! Now that you decided to rid yourself for me I can now focus on killing the former Element holders. Then once they are out of the way, chaos shall rule!"
"I beg to differ!" I say as I come out of the shadows and into the moonlight. Discord turns and faces me.
"Well well, looks like you aren't as stupid as you look."
"I never was."
"Shame that you've wasted such a nice present, now however, you've wasted your life."
I don't reply to that with words, instead I shoot a ball of energy at Discord. He doges it and looks down at me, fury burning in his eyes. Discord then fires bolt of fire at me and I jump backwards to avoid it.
"Noo. I'm over here, lad," I say in a very thick Scottish accent.
"You will regret that," Discord said.
Discord sends wave after wave of energy bolts at me but I manage to deflect or dodge most of them. One however hits me in the side of my helmet and it feels as if a superheated bullet has bounced off it. I can feel the heat sear off some of my mane. In retaliation I give Discord a full powered Chaos Blast which hits him in the chest, sending him flying across the room and smashing into the wall, mere feet from the open window. I curse under my breath as Discord picks himself up, his antler has broken off and there's a small plume of smoke drifts from his chest.
"You little-" he has no time to finish because I shoot a bolt of electric energy at him and with it I pick him up and smash him into walls, the ceiling and the floor several times before I toss him at the broken window. Amazingly I miss again. Discord this time jumps back up and casts a massive ball of energy at me, none of my abilities block it and I fail to avoid it as it flies towards me and finally engulfs me in an all over burning sensation. The pain is excruciating and I have no idea how long it's going to last, but just as I feel as if I'm going to black out from the pain, it suddenly stops and I open my eyes. I'm floating in some sort of purple sphere, in front of me the Element of Chaos s levitating off my chest and is sending out pulses of what I can guess is some sort of shield energy. I check myself and see that there's no physical damage, until I touch my right cheek , just like my arm it too has some very weird ridged feeling like the scars follow my blood vessels. The energy blast that Discord shot at me dissipates along with my shield, I land right in the middle of the room with a confused Discord looking at me from the throne.
"You-You're supposed to be dead."
"I don't feel dead," I cheekily reply. Discord stands up and points at me.
"How?"
Again I don't respond. This time I stand up on my hid legs and hold my front legs out like I'm expecting a hug from Discord, but instead a sort of phantom mist materializes in front of me and it takes the form of my cutie mark. Discord backs away as the Elements of Harmony also end up in between each gap of the star in the pentagram.
"Impossible," Discord said, "You absorbed the Elements of Harmony?"
"Assimilated is a better word," I reply.
"You lied to me!"
"I know, but I knew that this day might come and I wanted an advantage."
"Scotttt!"
"Goodnight Discord!"
And with that a huge multicolored bolt of energy blasts out of the misty pentagram and consumes Discord. His scream pierces the air for what seems like an hour before it finally stops. I collapse to the floor, through my blurred vision I see six small smoking rocks fall to the floor. I know that each one is an Element of Harmony. Shakily, I get up and stagger over to the remains of Discord, nothing more than a charred skull sitting atop an ash pile, and take the necklaces and tiara that held the stones. In just a few seconds I manage to place each Element in its respective holder, just as the Element of Magic is fixed Twilight and her friends burst through the doors. They see me over Discord's remains and look in awe.
"Quick," I say in a wheeze, "Take the Elements, fix everything."
"Are you okay?" Fluttershy asks. I toss them the Elements.
"Discord's chaos still has power over the land," I say, "Use the Elements and stop it for good."
Twilight grabs the Elements out of the air with her magic and distributes them to her friends. I watch as each of them dons their Element and takes up position next to Twilight. I almost fall over but I keep myself steady, fearing that if I fall now I won't get back up again. Twilight stands in front of the group and faces towards the ash pile of Discord.
"You girls ready?" she says to the others.
"Do it!" I yell.
Each of them suddenly start levitating. I stay standing as some sort of pulse emits from them, then Twilight's eyes light up in a light purple and then what can only be described as a rainbow bursts from them and engulfs everything. Just as the Elements power suddenly starts, it stops. I open my eyes and see the six standing in front of me, nothing happened.
"Did it work?" Twilight asks.
"I don't know," I say as I look to the floor. I have to push my helmet back up my head because it slid down and covered my vision. Wait a second, my helmet moved. I pull it off my head and toss it to the floor followed by the armor, I even take the Element of Chaos off from around my neck. A feeling of joy takes over my mind, numbing the pain I was feeling. I hold my forelegs in the air and look to the sky.
Blackness, blackness is all I'm able to see. I've never been in this state of unconsciousness before. I can't feel anything, I can't move, I can't even feel myself breath. That's when it hits me, what if I'm dead? No, it can't be. Is this what death feels like? If so then it's bloody boring. No sound, no movement, no anything. I should be going mad but strangely, I'm feeling calm and content, either that or death works in funny ways. Hold on, what if everything that happened to me was just some sort of weird dream and I'm lying in a hospital bed back on Earth? It makes sense considering the light that chased me before I got transported to Equestria. That light might have been crazy teenagers in a godawful car after all and what must have happened is we crashed into each other which caused me to end up in this situation. So this is a coma. Cool, cool. Oh listen to me I sound like an idiot, I hope I'm not muttering all this while I'm in this stupid coma. I then remember that my dad will be waiting for me once I wake up, oh God. How badly damaged is the car because if it's totaled then my dad will kill me for good. I hope I never wake up from this, heh, maybe I can make entire worlds since my mind is in a dormant state. TAKE ME TO HOGWARTS! I wanna fight Voldemort next, he should be a pushover since I killed a GOD in my last dream world. But I have to ask why of all things I made a cartoon world of talking ponies? It seemed like a cartoon but I've never seen anything like that before, maybe I was a horse in a past life. NO! BAD WEBSLY, BAD! You know damn well that something like that won't generate a cartoon world of talking ponies...maybe I am going mad.
"Is he okay?" a distant and feminine sounding voice asks. Mum? I'll talk to her first before dad, she won't kill me yet.
"Give him a few more minutes, he should wake up soon," another voice said. Must be the doctor.
"I can't believe he beat him," another voice said. Are they talking about the person in the other car I hit? I don't know what they mean by me 'beating him' but I'm guessing that the twat who hit me is in a worse state. YEEESSSSS! Score one for the Scots!
"He looks so peaceful," a familiarly soothing voice said. Hold on...
"Hey, he moved a little," a hyperactive voice said that sends spears of pain through my skull. No...it can't be...
"Pinkie?" I ask.
"He said something."
"Okay good, back up, give him some room."
Slowly, my vision starts to return along with my ability to feel and move. I manage to turn my head towards the objects in the corner of my vision, standing there is Twilight and her friends.
"You were in a coma," Applejack said, "You were saying some weird stuff."
"What's Hogwarts?" Pinkie asks me. God I feel like an idiot.
I try and sit up but the doctor pushes me back down, saying that I shouldn't move because I'm in a weakened state. I tell him that I'm capable of sitting up so I can at least talk to the six, what I want to know is what happened after I knocked myself out.
"So then," I say as I rub the side of my face that was burnt by Discord's energy blast. Oh good, there's a bandage on it.
"You wanna know what happened while you were out," Rainbow Dash said. I nod and Twilight clears her throat.
"Okay Scott. This is going to be tricky to explain and some of it might be a little hard for you to bear."
"Go on."
"After you collapsed we thought that you had died so we did try and revive you. Luckily Fluttershy managed to hear you breath and your heartbeat and so we brought you to a doctor, after we gathered that you were going to be okay we managed to free the Royal family and tell them what had happened. We asked Princess Celestia to turn you back into your original form and to take you back to your home, but we came across a couple of problems."
"Like what?" I ask her.
"Well the first was the world where you came from, it's, well, no longer there. Or to put it another way it's-"
"Ash, bones and fire?" I ask.
"How did you know?" Twilight asks. I lean back and stare at the ceiling.
"Discord placed me on my world on the day it was being destroyed as punishment for disobeying him. I thought it was all a manipulated dream until Discord told me otherwise."
"So everypony you know back home is dead?" Pinkie asks me. All I do is nod and Pinkie hugs me around my head, Fluttershy follows suit.
"What is the other problem?" I ask Twilight. She rubs the back of her head and starts to look very nervous.
"Well, it's to do with Princess Celestia. She's not too pleased with what you did, and she's on her way here now."
The door to the room suddenly bursts open and none other that Princess Celestia enters followed by several Royal Guards, all of them look as if they've just come back from being under Discord's power. But it's not the guards that scare me, it's the look on Celestia's face, angry and disappointed. She then presents me with a small box, opens it and holds a small red stone on the end of a black chain in front of me.
"Do you know what this is?" Celestia asks me.
"The Element of Chaos," I reply, trying to hide the fear in my voice.
"Good," Celestia said, "Now, do you know why I'm showing this to you?"
Oh no, this won't be good.
"No your majesty, I'm not sure why."
"Do you know who gave this to you?"
"Discord," I say. This won't end well, I can feel it.
"Do you know that it's a great offence to assist an enemy of the kingdom?" Celestia asked. I sigh and lower my head in shame.
"Yes," I say miserably.
"But," Celestia said, I look up at her, "You did destroy Discord and bring Harmony back to Equestia and I in a way thank you."
"Oh, okay," I said but before I can say anything else Celestia cuts me off.
"But that does not mean that you are getting away with what you've done. Once you are allowed to leave the medical room you will be brought to the Royal Canterlot Court Hall for sentencing. Do you understand?"
I nod and say yes. Celestia keeps the Element of Chaos hovering near my head and I reach out and try to take the Element but Celestia takes it away and locks it in the box. I'm guessing that I'll probably need the Element of Chaos at some point in the near future but from how things are looking for me I don't think I'll be getting it back. As Celestia leaves with the guards I look towards the six, all of them look rather nervous and worried.
"Should I be scared?" I ask.
"You're the first pony to do this," Twilight said, "You will be scared."
"What do you think'll happen to me?" I ask Twilight.
Two days, two days I've been in this cell with chains around each of legs and one around my neck. Celestia stuck me in here once I was able to walk on my own, at least she didn't get the guards to throw me in here. Some of the guards were really pleasant and rather talkative, not what I had expected considering that I disintegrated their friends only, only. Wait, how long was I out for? Twilight neglected to tell me how long I was out for after I took down Discord. But as I was trying to mull over that thought Twilight turns up with Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.
"Hey Scott," Twilight said. I wave back and walk over to the bars that separate us.
"Where's Applejack and Rarity?" I ask her.
"They're taking care of their sisters. The Crusaders are all okay just so you know."
"Good."
"How are you holding up?" Rainbow Dash asks me.
"I'm okay, the guards are treating me nicely. One of them put padding on my cuffs so I wouldn't get any bruises."
"Oh, that is nice of them," Fluttershy said. I lean up against the bars and motion Twilight closer.
"Twilight? When I was in the hospital, how long was I unconscious for?"
"Well if you want the full amount of time you were unconscious."
"How long?"
"Thirty days," Twilight says. Thirty days? I've been out for a month, but it only felt like just a few minutes passed. Pinkie then pokes the side of my head and hands me a box. Inside is a cake, typical Pinkie Pie. Makes me laugh.
"Thanks Pinkie."
"I'll try to defend you at your trial," Pinkie said.
An hour later after Twilight and her friends left four guards armed with spears but instead of dragging me out they kindly ask me to follow them and out of respect I join them. The guards then lead me through hallways and corridors until we enter a large room. Around me are about a hundred ponies and sitting on a set of massive thrones is the Royal Family, only Celestia is looking down at me with a rather angry look. Luna looks disappointed, and as for Cadence and Shining they kind of look upset, like that I'm a long lost friend that they'll never see again. There's another unicorn over in the corner of the room, gibbering something about large studded sticks as he rubs his rear flank. Ew, I can only guess what happened to him. I as I led between the crowds of ponies I keep my head down expecting to be bombarded in a hail of angry shouts, curses and great globs of phlegm, but nothing comes my way. Ponies just stand and stare as I pass them, completely silent, the only sound coming from the crowds are just short whispers. If only I could hear what they are saying about me. I look to my right and I see the filly that I hit with the club and then healed with her family, the little filly watches me with large eyes as I pass her. As we near the Royal Family I'm instructed to stand on a pedestal in front of the thrones. I step up and try to make myself look as physically tall as I can in order to give the impression that I'm not afraid of what's happening, to my right stand Twilight and her friends along with the Crusaders. Good, I know they'll help me. In order to quiet the whispering which has now dominated the silence from before, Celestia takes hold of a large staff and slams the end against the floor, making the whole room shake. Bloody hell she's really pissed, either that or she's on her "monthly trip" as I like to call it. Monthly trip, you know...
"Now we start with the trial of Scott Websly," Celestia said in a calm sounding but rather powerful voice, "Scott MacDuff Websly, you are charged with assisting Discord which is high treason. How do you plead?"
"Don't-plead-the-fifth," I say inside my head. They probably don't have the same laws and rights here. All I do is swallow and remain still. Celestia continues anyway regardless.
"We all know that you're guilty Websly. Do you have anypony who'll stay by your side even during such a time like this?"
"I'll represent him!" Pinkie pipes up, thanks Pinkie, "Scott is the best pony who I've ever met. He's kind, funny and best of all, very forgiving. Even on the day I attacked him he got over it afterwards and helped me out even after he hit me on my nose."
"Didn't he attack you first?" Celestia asked Pinkie.
"He said that he was going mad when that happened, now that we know he was Discord's servant Twilight believes that he was under a spell. He meant me no harm in the end."
Celestia nods and dismisses Pinkie. A compelling argument, that should help me.
"Anypony else?"
This time the Crusaders step up, those are some brave kids.
"We'll defend him too!" Sweetie Belle says. A look compassion crosses Celestia's face which she then hides.
"Scott's the coolest and bravest pony ever!" Scootaloo said.
"He's helped us so many times and we can't just stand back and let him go without us saying something," Apple Bloom adds.
"Not only did he look after us for a night, he protected us from a Manticore," Scootaloo said.
"Yeah! A Manitcore sent by Discord to kill us!" Sweetie Belle exclaims.
"And he kept us safe from those mean ponies when Discord was in control," Apple Bloom said.
"How did he keep you safe?" Celestia said.
"He said that we were going to be his slaves but he actually hid us in a large room," Sweetie Belle said, "He also gave us toys and made the door only open for him so that nopony could get us."
The Crusaders then gather up around me looking their cutest and smile sweetly up towards the Royal Family.
"He didn't hurt us, so why should you hurt him?" Scootaloo asks. Cadence gives a small "dwaaa" but Celestia shushes her. The Crusaders then go back to the six each of them give me a sneaky wink. Celestia opens her mouth to say something but a small voice beats her to it.
"Can I say something?"
Everypony in the room looks towards something behind me and I turn around to see it. It's the filly from the jail cell, she has her hoof raised and a small look of embarrassment. She slowly sinks down and lowers her hoof but Luna speaks up.
"If you have to say something, then go ahead."
A nudge from her mother later and the filly stands in her seat. She clears her throat and speaks.
"This pony who you're accusing of assisting Discord is not a bad pony. He was just doing what Discord wanted him to in order to survive, he didn't want to suffer any kind of punishment from Discord. But once Discord left he didn't assist the Guardians in the beatings, instead he just stood frozen as it happened. Until I escaped. Once he saw me I didn't know that he was going to help me but then something happened. He raised his club, and then hit me. But I knew that it wasn't him who hit me, it was Discord's power. Scott Websly isn't a bad pony, he's not a good pony either. He's a great pony."
The filly sits down and then out of no-where, the stallion who shook my hoof starts clapping followed by the other ponies who were in the same cell as him and the filly. The room erupts into applause and I stand amazed, Celestia quells the clapping and I face her.
"An impressive little speech you have," she said, "But he's still committed an act of high treason. A crime punishable by death."
DEATH?!
"But," Celestia said which calms my shredded nerves, "Since these ponies provided very good and compelling defensive arguments and you single hoofedly destroyed Discord and repaired the Elements of Harmony I'm going to lessen your sentence to banishment."
Banishment. Okay, I can live with that.
"Banishment, to the moon."
My jaw drops to the floor after Celestia states where I'll be banished. The moon. The-bloody-moon! What the hell?! Twilight runs in front of my pedestal and almost shields me.
"Princess Celestia, you can't."
"It's her say Twily," Shining said, "What Scott did was wrong and he must suffer the punishment that Celestia chooses. He should consider himself lucky that Celestia chose to have him banished."
"I'm going to be banished to the bloody moon!" I say finally, "I'm not biologically capable of living on the lunar surface."
"He's not even a pony!" Pinkie yells just as Applejack shoves her hoof in Pinkie's mouth to shut her up but it's too late, the Royal family look down at me in confusion and curiosity.
"What do you mean by that?" Cadence asks. I sigh and lean against the railing on the pedestal.
"I'm not really a pony, I was changed into one by Discord. He wanted me to blend in so he changed my entire psychical anatomy against my will. My real form is a little more unusual for this place."
"Show us," Celestia said.
"I'll need the Element Of Chaos," I say, "Just for a few minutes."
Luna brings forth the box that contains the Element of Chaos and floats it down to me. The lid pops open and I take hold of the Element, I tighten my grip around the stone, close my eyes and try to shift forms. The sound of gasps and screams let me know that I was successful. I look down and see myself wearing a gray shirt, gray jeans and gray sneakers. That might be because of the fact that I'm going to the moon, all my clothes are gray. Irony. The chains are still around my wrists and ankles but I don't let that stop me as I look around the room at the ponies.
"Gaze upon my true form!" I say to the crowd, "I am a human! Resident of planet Earth!"
"Enough!" Celestia said, I turn to face her, "This form is the one you had when you were from you home world?"
"Yep, but now since Earth is dead, I'm the last of my kind. There's no way anyone else survived."
I change myself back into a pony again and place the Element of Chaos back into the box which Luna then takes and places beside her throne. Celestia then sighs and looks down at me.
"Are you ready for you banishment?" she asks. I turn to face Twilight who looks as if she's going to try and defend me again.
"Don't," I say, "I know what I did, I have to abide to the laws."
"But Scott-" Twilight starts to say but I cut her off.
"I know that you want to help me since I rescued you guys from the cell but I don't think that it'll be enough to guarantee my freedom. I'm just going to repeat what you're brother said, it's the rule of the princess and I have to go by it. No matter what."
The Crusaders run up and hug me. I pick them up and hug them as well.
"We're gonna miss you Scott," Apple Bloom said.
"Do you think that we'll see you again?" Sweetie Belle asks.
"No, it's not going to happen," I say, "Promise that you'll get your Cutie Marks for me."
"We Pinkie Promise," Scootaloo said. They then step backwards and I feel something hug me around the middle, it's the filly.
"Thanks for helping me," she says.
"You're welcome," I reply. The four step back and watch as Celestia flies down and lads in front of me.
"Are you ready now?" Celestia asks, her harsh tone has been replaced by a much calmer tone. I look over to the six and the fillies, all of them have tears in their eyes. I lower my head, not able to take the sight of them.
"Do it."
Celestia's horn glows and a small pinprick of green light forms on the end of her horn. I give the ponies one last look and see that they are waving.
"Bye Scott," Twilight says.
"We'll all miss you," Pinkie adds.
I face Celestia just as a small ball of light floats closer to me. I watch as it expands and then takes over engulfing my entire body and making me see nothing but a light green color.
"Is that it? Is it over?" I think as I keep my eyes shut. I know that the spell that Celestia did was the spell that would forever strand me on the moon. Slowly, I open one eye followed by the other. I look around and see nothing but gray rocks, then I look up into the sky and see nothing but black and stars. I am, well and truly, on the moon. I stand up and examine my surroundings. From what I can tell, I'm in a large crater of sorts. There's a funny sort of room or something that looks like it's been cut into the side of the crater and has been fitted with furniture, I walk around in a circle before stopping to see something rise over the lip of the crater, it's the planet where Equestria lies. I watch as it slowly rises over the edge of the crater and ends up in the black sky above me. I sit and watch, completely dumbstruck by the sight.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" a voice says behind me. I turn around and see Luna, smiling down at me.
"Is that what the planet looks like?" I ask her as she comes and sits next to me.
"Yes, it's amazing isn't it?"
"It almost looks like Earth," I say, I really want to reach out and touch the planet, make it ripple like water.
"I know how you feel Scott," Luna said, "I was banished to the moon after what I did many years ago."
"What did you do?" I ask.
"I became corrupted with power from being the Princess of the Night. But soon after I was freed Twilight and her friends used the Elements to free me from my curse."
"It's funny really, I'm knowing more about you than I could ever wish for."
"I'm guessing that you like to get to know others before you become their friends," Luna said, I nod and then remember what day it was when I helped Discord take over. Luna sees this too.
"I'm really sorry for ruining you birthday party," I say dismally. Luna puts her hood on my head.
"I know you are and I forgive you. I too am sorry about what's happened to you."
I realize what Luna has said and I start to tear up, I'm going to be stuck on the moon for God knows how long and I'll end up dying a very slow death. For the first time in almost twelve years, I start crying, hard style.
"I don't wanna die here!" I yell, Luna sits by my side as I slowly start to lose my mind.
"Scott," she says softly but I don't hear her.
"Why? I know what I did. I said I was sorry! Get me out of here!"
Each and every breath sends a compressing pain through my lungs. It's kind of strange considering that I was very accepting with my fate not only a half hour ago. How on earth did my personalty shift from calm and level headed to a blubbering wuss in less than a few minutes, it might have to do with the fact that I'm going to end up living as a prisoner on the surface of the moon for life. Luna pulls me closer and holds me in a hug, I wipe off the tears and look up at her.
"Thanks," I say, "I've never had anyone comfort me like this for a long time."
"I know that there are many things that are troubling you Scott," Luna said.
"I don't want to talk about it," I say. Luna gives me a small shake and makes me look up at her.
"You'll feel better if you talk about it."
I sigh and lean against Luna.
"What's to tell? I don't know where to start."
"Tell me when everything started," Luna said, I know what she means. I start off by telling her about my life in Scotland when I was young, I tell her about my family and my heritage. Then I move on to the big move and how everything slowly started to downgrade to a boring and rather repetitive lifestyle. Luna listens intently as I talk about the day I dropped out of high school and when I found my easy job, I also tell her the story of how I bought my Interceptor and how my dad reacted afterwards. Then I move on to the night where I was chased and captured by Discord and what he offered me in exchange for my life. Luna gives a disappointed look and loosens her grip around me but I hug her, trying to keep myself calm. I've never experienced having someone close to me and I'm sure that Luna has the same feeling as well because she pulls me closer.
"Luna," I say, she looks at me, "How long am I going to be here?"
Luna gives a small sigh and looks to the planet.
"When I was banished here I was stuck in my prison for a thousand years. As for you, I'm not sure. Very few ponies have been banished but they were allowed to return after some time."
"Did they ever assist an enemy of Equestria and help them take over?" I ask. Luna shakes her head.
"I know your future seem bleak Scott, but I can assure you that Celestia will allow you to return. She can be a bit stubborn and strict at times but she'll see the error of her ways and allow you back."
"I guess there's that," I say, "But why am I in a crater?"
"The reason being is because I wanted to put you here," Luna said, "This crater is enchanted so that you cannot leave and nopony aside from me and Celestia can enter."
"But why make the crater like that?" I ask, Luna then places a familiar box in front of me. I open it up and inside is the Element of Chaos. I pick it up and look bewildered at Luna.
"Scott, I want you to keep the last known source of Discord's power safe. Reason why is because no pony knows the Element better than you."
I put the stone around my neck and try to see if I can teleport out of the crater cell but I remain in the same spot.
"Celestia enchanted the barrier so that you cannot do certain powers. It's not that we don't trust you it's that we don't want the Element to fall into possession of an enemy."
What enemy would go to the moon to find this? A desperate one if that.
"What can I do now Luna?" I ask.
"You must wait until the time is right, Scott. You will know when Celestia needs your help once more, but for now I must bid you farewell."
"You're not leaving forever are you?" I ask.
"I was not meant to come here," Luna said, "Celestia is not permitting any visitors until you are needed."
"What do you mean by 'needed'? Am I some sort of hero in waiting?"
"You will know eventually Scott, I can feel it."
Luna starts to fly upwards to leave but she stops when she sees me sink down to the crater floor.
"I don't want to be alone forever," I say. Luna lands in front of me and had me stand up, she then takes my head in her front hooves and kisses me on the forehead. She then looks me in the eyes and says something that makes my spirits rise.
"You never will be when you dream."
Luna then opens up her wings and she takes off. As she nears the top of the crater the sky seems to ripple and then distort as she passes through something, then the sky goes smooth and I watch as Luna flies off and disappears. I wander back to the furnished hole that's been carved in the side of the rock, it seems pretty well set up for a hole. A bed, a table and chair and a separate room where I find a functional bathroom. There's also a small pantry that's stock with food and drink so I'll be okay for some time. I at least have the Element of Chaos now so I'll never be bored, but as of now I'm worn out and I want to sleep. I lie down on the bed and watch the small sliver of planet pass over to lunar horizon, wondering how Ponyville is getting on I place the Element of Chaos to my ear and listen. Sure enough I can hear the sounds of voices, laughter and...singing. I listen closer and then the song comes into focus, the citizens of Ponyville are singing Amazing Grace. I lie still as the ponies sing, I can hear Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy all singing. I even hear the small voices of the Cutie Mark Crusaders sing. Once the singing stops they all start cheering and I can distinctively hear them through the cheers.
"We love you, Scott!"
I take the Element away from my ear and let it fall on my chest. Those four words stir something inside of me, but it isn't rage, it isn't anger, it's love. I feel great from hearing that but the fact of the matter is that I'm never going to be able to say the same thing back to them. I roll on my side and then remember what Luna said after I told her I didn't want to be alone: "You never will be when you dream". I shut my eyes and try to drift off, excited now that I'll never be truly alone so long as I sleep.
Firelight looked back at her pursuers, twenty Chaos Guardians were slowly closing in on her. She had been running through the dilapidated woods for what seemed like hours and every time she would get close to the exit of the woods, the opening would retreat further away. Slowly fatigue took over and her sprint slowed to a run. She looked back at the twenty gray and red armor clad stallions that were bearing down on her. It had been two weeks since Discord had been killed by a stallion named Scott Websly, she remembered Websly well; when she was captured she was thrown into a cell and was forced to watch as Discord and several Guardians converged on them, as the beating started she noticed one Guardian standing back from the rest watching in horror. A window of opportunity to escape opened up and she managed to dive away from the Guardians but she was cornered by the stallion. After the stallion told her that he wasn't going to hurt her his body was taken over and he involuntarily hit her with his club, she felt as if her scream of pain broke whatever was controlling him and he killed the Guardians in blind rage. After he did that he healed her and helped the rest of the prisoners. Firelight was graceful for what Scott did and when he was to be executed she stood up for him, even though it ended in his banishment, she only wished to thank him one more time.
"So close yet so far!" a yell from behind her came. Firelight could now see the Guardians, every few nights she would go through the same nightmare, she would be chased through the forest and beaten until she woke up screaming and her parents would rush in, calm her down and try to get her back to sleep. She tripped up on a root and landed painfully on the ground. Firelight rolled over and saw the club wielding Guardians converge on her, she tried to escape but a tree blocked her.
"No more, please," she begged.
"You're going to suffer Firelight," one Guardian said as he raised his club. Firelight covered her face over and braced herself. But a strange noise made the Guardians stop.
"What the?"
A loud, almost alien roar took over the forest. It repeated and the Guardians all took up attack stances.
"What is that thing?"
"Get ready."
"It's huge!"
"Shut up and be ready to fight it."
An even louder and continuous roar took over and the sound of what sounded like the dirt being thrown against something slowly grew louder. There were also blue, red and white flashes that flickered against the ground and trees, Firelight couldn't see what was coming but it didn't seem to scare the Guardians. Suddenly a massive black beast launched over the Guardians and landed on a few that were trying to back up, the monster then span around and face the rest. It seemed to be flashing lights from its face and its mouth. Firelight watched as it shot forward and hit Guardians, sending them flying, some were crushed underneath it. Firelight watched as the monster span around again to face the remaining Guardians only this time the side of it opened up and a black shadow exited from the car. Firelight watched as the figure reach behind it's back and pull out a silver and orange object, the figure pointed the object at the Guardians and flashes of light and loud booms echoed through the forest. The Guardians fell and disappeared, the figure pocketed the object and then turned to face Firelight. She could tell that the creature might be a pony but she was too bright to see what it really was.
"You okay there?" a voice with a familiar accent asked.
"Who-who are you?" Firelight asked.
"You don't remember me do you?" the creature said with a hint of sadness. Firelight grew afraid.
"Don't hurt me."
"I'm not going to."
Firelight looked up and then realized who the creature was.
"Is it you?"
"Who are you referring to?" the creature asked.
"Are you Scott Websly?"
The lights from the monster darkened and the beast melted into the ground, leaving Scott Websly standing in front of her, a calming smile on his face.
"You remember my name," he said. Firelight jumps up and runs over to him, glad that her hero had arrived.
"I'm so happy that you are here," she said, then she realized something, "How did you get here?"
"I'd rather answer why," Scott said.
"Okay then, why are you here?"
"To purge your nightmare."
Firelight stared at him in confusion, purge her nightmare? Is that what he did just now?
"I know that you are confused but I know that you are scared as well," Scott said as he sat down in front of her, "I'm here to help you recover from what happened on that day. I came into your dream to help you escape the horrors of what happened."
"But why and how?" Firelight asked.
"Because of guilt, I'm helping you because I feel guilty for what happened to you. Even if I wasn't in control of what I did and I healed you afterwards the mere thought of your scream makes me get upset, if I help you then I can rest easily knowing that I've helped you one last time."
"But how are you able to do this?" Firelight asked. Scott tapped the small stone around his neck.
"Luna secretly gave me this power after she met me in my prison, she couldn't bear to see me alone and upset. I added some of the Element of Chaos's powers so I can manipulate the dreams I enter. Now you can sleep easy once more."
Firelight walked up to Scott and hugged him, in return he put his burnt foreleg around her.
"I never did learn your name," he said.
"My name is Firelight."
"Matches your look."
Firelight gave a heavy sigh and let go of Scott.
"Will you be back?" she asked.
"Alas my dear Firelight, I don't know if I'll ever return but know this; As long as I'm breathing you'll never have another nightmare, if you feel as if you're lost or lonely just look to the night sky. I'll always be watching over you."
Scott then started to fade away with the wind, Firelight tried to reach out but he just turned to vapor and vanished.
"Wait!" she called out to the air, "What were those things you had?"
"If I get back to Equestria I'll tell you but for now, fare thee well Firelight. I've got other ponies to see."
Firelight jolted awake. Her head was sweaty and the room slowly started to feel stuffy. She opened up her window and sucked in a deep breath of fresh air, all that was heard was a little nighttime commotion from nocturnal animals. Firelight wiped her head off and looked up towards the moon, it looked bigger than last night but she thought that is was a beautiful sight. She then saw something on the surface of the moon, wondering what it was she sneaked into her brother's room and took his telescope and brought it back to her room. She looked up and managed to focus on what she saw. Sitting in the center of a large crater was the very pony who she just saw in her dream. Scott looked as if he knew that she would be looking up at him, a wry and pleased smile on his face. He then said something and Firelight heard every word as if he was sitting next to her.