> From man to mare: Time to tell
>  by The Psychopath
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> You will do it
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow. It was incredibly bright this morning. It was blinding me! The power of light that the sun was giving off was tremendous. It was so bright that I could only see a blinding white outside. I assumed that it was Celestia playing a prank on me, but something was weird. 

After letting my eyes adjust to this light, I slid out of the bed and stretched a bit, moaning strenuously. I had slept poorly last night as I was still getting over Twilight becoming an alicorn. Who knew that a spell meant to pass as a simple final test could have been so dangerous? I knew Celestia was a bitch. 'Starswirl made this spell but couldn't finish it' my ass. Today, however, I had the house all to myself. Cyclon was working, and Jewel was at school. I'm still adjusting to what she was capable of doing those days past, but I'm proud of her...I think. A trip to the bathroom to freshen up was required due to my extreme drowziness. 

This place was just as bright as before. The wooden planks on the wall accompanied by those on the floor gave this place a bizarre appearance of sea mixed with forest. The only window was above the shower, but it was just as strong as the others. I moved up to the sink to turn the faucet and let the water flow. I was adjusting the temperature for a perfect face splash. While I waited, I had started to think aloud.

"This still doesn't add up. How could a cliché bullshit story with 'astral alignment' affect any kind of being? I mean, if the Giga Sparkle truly was affected by these positionings, and they existed long before on Equestria, they would have died out sooner. Something isn't right, especially if it only alters their minds. Generally, books said that these things changed more than one's mind. Then there's that 'Click Clock'. That was a dream, and her 'deus ex machina' didn't do anything. I wonder...Is Silver trying to teach me something?"

While think these questions, I didn't notice that the sink drain was plugged and the water had overflowed, freezing my hooves. Oh. How I loathe to say that word. 

"Ah crap! Well, better get a towel and wipe this up. Ugh. I hate cleaning."

Doing this this was still hard as a pony, and I felt like my back was about to give out in the angle I was in. Scrubbing out the water with a towel prevented me from seeing that I was approaching Cyclon's stupid giant mirror, so I hit it with a thud.

"OW!" I yelled as I grabbed my head, letting the towel go in the process. "Stupid mirror."

I cringed a bit as I saw how filthy I looked. My heads was all ruffled up with spots of dry mud everywhere, and my mane and tail were a mess. My eyes looked like they were watering with tears because of this pain.

"Perhaps a bath would be a good idea. Maybe I can scrape this crap out of my hair. Yeah. That's right, brain. I said HAIR, not mane."

And I should care?

"...That sounded a little too realistic for me."

"That's because it is realistic."

I started to look around frantically in a bid to try and corner whatever was talking. I couldn't find the source!

"Where are you?! Show yourself! Is it Discord again?"

"No. I'm so close yet you can't see me? You've gone through so much yet you still aren't enlightened? How disheartening."

"Wh-wh-who's there?"

"You should know."

I backed up slowly as I looked around the ceiling for something. I was scared. Was I going to die? Was it already over? It couldn't be! Of course, as I backed up, I stopped in front of the mirror, my body trembling to a proper halt. I didn't see that my reflection, soo after, had suddenly stopped moving. It adjusted itself then turned around and walked really close to the edge of the reflective material.

"I can't see you. Mmmm...!"

Nothing came out of my mouth, but my heart skipped a beat the second I turned to see myself in the mirror. That wasn't me moving in there. It just stood there. Staring at me. My pupils had shrunk, my heart was beating very fast, and I was gasping for air, but my reflection did none of those.

"What is going on?"

"You should know." the voice echoed through the mirror. "Don't you recognize me? I was in your mind this whole time. Twilight and Cyclon met me too."

Slowly, my reflection began to...melt? It was losing its color, turning into some black goopy version of me as it did the same with its eyes, turning them into beady white dots. This soul-piercing glare was scaring me even more. I fell onto my rear as my legs were shaking too much to hold me up.

"That's right. Deep down, you know, but you'll refuse to admit it, like everything else!"

Its mouth slid open with the sound of gurgling muck. It was smiling, but that goop was dripping even from its mouth. Slowly, it lift its left foreleg towards the mirror's edge.

"You always refuse everything. If it doesn't register with you, you refuse it. You refused your turning into a pony. You rebutted any friendship or kindness layed towards you because you do not recognize these functions. You even refuse your own daughter." it spat in the end.

"No! That's not true! I love Amber Jewel."

"YOU LIE! DO NOT TOY WITH ME! I know EVERYTHING about you. I know your darkest secrets, your deepest desies, your greatest fears! I know what you know and what you think. I know what you will plan to do and what you would have done. I. KNOW. EVERYTHING! IT'S. TIME. TO TELL!"

The hoof stretched through the mirror, creating a wave effect upon the point of exit like a rock falling into water, except this hoof turned into a big hand.

"AHHHHH!" I screamed as I reached for the door.

"Ah, ah, ahhh! Nope. You aren't getting away."

I kept screaming and trying to fight for my life, but when I turned around, I nearly fainted. The goopy figure was halfway out of the mirror. It was...me mixed with features of Silver. Instead of being able to escape in time, or having someone help me, I was pulled into the darkness of this mirror world, suddenly fallen into unconciousness.

(I know I shouldn't, but here you go. Fuck da po-lice!)

I was floating again. It was the same feeling as when I traveled to this world. Only, I didn't feel warmth nor safety, nor did I have Silver to comfort me. No. I was all alone. I could move, so that, atleast, was an upside to this whole thing. Slowly, though, I was lowered to the ground. My whole surroundings looked like a moving black smog. There were some lines of white, but they quickly dissappeared under the swirling mass.

"Ah. Awake now, are we?"

"Huh? AH!"

"No need to scream in here."

It was that mucky version of Silver again. It...wasn't attacking me. It even helped me up.

"Where am I? Some mirror world?"

"No. Somewhere more familiar to you...dumbass."

I stared at it.

"It's a word you like to use a lot. I figured it would make you feel more comfortable."

"Seems to me like you were insulting me instead."

"Silence. You best be quiet. You've been bottling up too much fear and anger, and I'm here to make you release them."

"And what'll force me?"

"I'll tell you in the end."

"Why are there detroyed buildings floating in the back?"

That...thing's mouth simply opened again as it looked at me from the side.

"You say you love your daughter, yet, you refused her existence during your pregnancy."

"When?" I stood sternly.

It just stared at me with an emotionless face."The entirety of your carriage. Look here, at this portion of memory."

I small, broken piece of glass floated in front of us. It was me with a bigger belly. I remember that part. I was struggling with the stomach pains, and Cyclon was mocking me.

"Wow. The baby is going to be huge if you keep eating like that."Cyclon burst into laughter.

"I don't have a baby. It's just...gas..."

The image faded away into the smog behind it.

"That was a joke."

"NO IT WASN'T!" the smog began to churn violently. "You deny everything! I'm here to force you to say it."

"Say what?" I stared at it coldly.

It stared back in determination. It took awhile, but then I finally realized, and my guard went down. My worries began to bubble up.

"I can't!"

"Why not? You don't like this situation? What do you care? Who cares if your daughter is going to learn about that? You don't love Cyclon. No. That would make you gay despite your new form and the changes already made upon your psyche. Nooooo."

It was growing bigger and bigger until a new form broke out of my reflection. It looked like a much taller me with a longer mane and tail. It seemed to be imitating a mixture of me and Celestia, but its 'wings' just seemed to be occasional bubbles of goop. Its eyes still remained small and beady.

"I told you I would explain what would force you? Right?" it leaned closer.

I whimpered and trie to flee, but it was no use. I was stuck firmly. Its hoof turned into a hand and stretched into my chest. The pain was unbearable, but I couldn't scream. The goop had stuck itself onto my face. It showed no concern for what it was doing. I could feel that hand crushing my heart. It was a pain too horrid to describe or compare. Finally, I was let go and dropped to the floor. I literally couldn't breathe.

"You have a week. If you haven't told that truth to the entirety of Ponyville and your Twilicorn pal by then, you'll die. Your daughter will see you crumble in front of her and die without being able to grow up with you, and Cyclon will be heart broken and fall into depression."

I was rolled up into the fetal position and could only slightly open my eyes through the searing pain to see it getting uncomfortably close and gobbling me up with its body.

"If you do, you won't die, but...well...you'll see. It's up to you. Death or rejection. Which will have the upper hand...or should I say 'hoof'? Heheheh."

I was completely engulfed and started to float again. Suddenly, though, I felt myself falling quickly downwards. I was screaming! I was going to die! Nooooo!

"SILVER! SILVER WAKE UP! WAKE UUUUUP! You're having a nightmare!"

"AAAAH! Ahhh. Wh-what? I...I'm alive?!" I was gasping and tapping myself."Ah. Ooof. Thank you for waking me up.

"You were screaming for several minutes. I couldn't wake you up. Are you okay? You need to talk?"

"N-no. I'll be fine. I just need to analyze the dream. Go see Jewel. I'm pretty sure she heard."

"Alright. Just stay here and calm down a bit."

"Okay."

He did as told and rushed to Jewel's room. I smiled as I realized that was all a dream. Unfortunately, that didn't last long as I felt something scratching my heart and coming up my throat. I felt like vomiting, but I coughed, instead, into my hooves. It hurt horribly just to cough I looked to see that, on my hooves, was lots of blood mixed with some weird black substance. I felt my panic and fear beginning to rush forth and simply looked up in disbelief.

That wasn't a dream. You best get to it. Tick-tock, Derry. TICK. TOCK.
> Visiting Twily
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was still shocked by the blood in my mouth, but that could only be a coincidence, right? I had to think of something to say in case this happens again. I can't let Jewel see me like this. I washed myself up and went straight to the living room. Cyclon had made some breakfast, but I wasn't hungry. Jewel and I both adored irritating Cyclon without him noticing. Luna's tricks have been helping quite alot with allowing her to maintain her control and to let her voluntarily call her magic.

"Jewel." I whispered as Cyclon wa putting his bowl in the silvery sink.

"Yeah?" she responded with a wide smile and big eyes.

"Try and activate the faucet."

"Ehee." she giggled.

As we minded our own business, Jewel's horn began to glow. Suddenly, we heard metal rattling, and the sound of water gushing all over Cyclon filled our ears. The water died down, but Opal turned to look at us with confusion as his fur dripped with water. He looked like a wet dog.

"Pahahahaha!" Jewel and I exploded in laughter.

"Oh, so you think this is funny?" he scolded.

"Yes. Quite so." I answered with an air of superiority.

He stared at me for awhile, then laughed whole heartedly. I...don't know why.

"Mom."

I shivered.

"What?"

"Are we going to get a special carriage to go to Twi...I mean, Princess Twilight's palace?"

"No. We're going to use the train." I sighed in irritation "I hate trains."

"Too bad." Cyclon shouted as he hoisted several heavy bags onto his back.

That idiot had donned his silvery armor again. I didn't see the point as we were just going to Twilight's place for the week...I think. I wasn't too sure about the terms of our visit. Cyclon was only vague about them. Either way, Jewel seemed happy because she was going to be closer to Luna that way. Watching her gallop about happily made a micro-smile form on the edge of my mouth. That bright light illuminated her. Her...innocence was getting to me. What was I going to do?

Perhaps die in vain and take your secret with you?

I felt my heart scrape against something again, and I slammed a hoof to my mouth. Jewel's horn sparked and she looked at me with worry, taking Cyclon's gaze with her.

"Mommy?"

"I'll be alright! Just get to the station. I'll be there in a few. I...*blurgh*...Forgot something."

I ran back to the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Holding myself over the sink, I felt like the world was spinning as I remained in the center. I barfed up some more blood with the same black substance as before. It was clinging to my blood this time, and in the mirror, it was...that thing again. It was smiling and leaning against the counter with its left foreleg. The goop coming from its body just splattered onto the sink and slithered down the drain.

"Tick Tock, Derry. One day has passed."

"What? But it has only been a few hours!"

"I know, but time is not relative for me. It starts at eight. We are thursday. Next thursday, you better have told them, or your life is as good as mine." it finished with a clenched fist.

"Where's Silver?!" I snapped back, coughing up more blood in the process.

"What do you mean? I'm looking at her."

"No. I mean the REAL Silver."

"Ohhhh!  You mean the Giga Sparkle? I am Silver." it narrowed its inexistant eyes.

"Cut the bullshit. I know that she wasn't affected by some sort of astral anomaly. If that were the case, all sparkles would have been eliminated long ago."

Its laughter echoed several times throughout the bathroom, taking along different tones of voices with it.

"That is true. What, then, rendered her insane? Did she really go insane? Perhaps, perhaps not."

"I--"

"You best hurry." it looked at the door with a blank attitude "You might miss the train. Don't worry. You don't need to look at me like that. I won't cause your heart to lash out while you gallop into the meadows...for now. Remember: Each passing day, your heart will get worse and worse. You best hurry before I am able to start the next verse. Now unlock the door and be off, I have other things to ponder about besides your blood cough. Unlock the door and you will know, about your future that I hold in tow."

I just stared at it with disgust. This was all a game and it held the strings. I did as suggested and did indeed find that I was nearly late for the train. They were both waiting for me, and I was about to jump on the moving vehicle when a coach proceeded to stop me...or so he wished. Everypony around here had learned not to get between me and Jewel. Despite that, this guy seemed to come from somewhere else.  He first told me to stop, but started to panic as I inched closer and closer to him, finally tossing him into the air and jumping onto the moving train into Cyclon's forelegs, toppling him over and giving a strange appearance of twisted pony. Jewel just laughed while we shook our heads and moaned in pain.

"You took your time. What were you doing?"

"Some...urgent necessities before we left."

"Yes. Necessities." he growled.

It took awhile, but we unbundled ourselves. I looked the other way in embarassment.

"Let's not talk about this."

"Not talk about what? Everypony saw that!"

"Can you not fight, please?" Jewel asked with big watery eyes.

We tried to resist, but we both broke under the pressure.

"HNNNRGH! Fine! Where do we sit?!" I yelled from stress due to the cute wittle eyes.

"Over here." Cyclon gestured through the passageway.

This was just like the trains I was used to. A small hallway with entrances to individual cabins. We finally chose to stop in one. An empty one, at that. Two leather seats, and a window to show the prairie outside. It was a relief to finally sit down.

"So, dad, how long until we reach Twilight's house?"

"I don't know. Considering the distance, perhaps three hours without interruption?"

"Three hours?! Ooooh!" she complained as she melted onto the couch.

A few minutes passed that I tried to fall asleep, but Cyclon and the light effects caused by the tree branches prevented me from doing so.

"What's going on, Silver? You aren't looking very well. I think...you look paler."

"...I'm covered in silver-colored fur. How can you see if I'm looking sicker?"

"I have my ways."

"Can we just relax while I try to sleep? I'm feeling awfully exhausted, lately."

He decided to nod slowly while looking at me with eyes full of suspicion. We hadn't payed attention, but Jewel was actually meditating next to her father.  She was even smiling as she was gradually surrounded by a faint covering of light. I don't how we didn't notice. Perhaps because of my fatigue and Cyclon's suspicions being solely centered on me. Either way, I finally fell asleep. I even had a great dream! I dreamt I was beating up Cycon and slamming his head a gainst a cinder block several times. Heheheh.

After the three hours were up, we were finally at the train station. It was relatively new. It seemed to have the same style of the one back in Ponyville, except that the roof covering the landing for the passengers was slanted upwards like a piano's lid. We were also the only ones to get out of here. One would think that after this grand ceremony, Twilight would have more visitors. After all three of us got out, the train belched out more steam and started to chug along to Canterlot. Cyclon was the first to look around.

"Nopony is here. I wonder why? Maybe they're--"

Cyclon was tackled by a random guard and tossed onto the floor. This guard had lavender colored fur, along with purple armor that covered his body. It had a very similar style to Celestia and Luna's royal guards, but he had Twilight's butt tatoo as a crest on his chest plate. Another guard tried to tackle me as well, but I moved out of the way, allowing him to slam into one of the solid pillars holding the roof up.

"Nopony is allowed here! Princess Twilight has been busy studying the necessities of her rule. You dare to disobey Princess Celestia?!" the bulky purple stallion yelled.

I huffed and walked forward while Jewel stayed cramped to my leg. She looked so cute being scared.

"Oh. If it's just an order from Celestia." I snarked.

The guard didn't like that and growled at me. He completely forgot about Cyclon, whom he pinned down earlier. The idiot didn't even notice his armor. We're all noticing a great many details today.

"How dare you brush aside an order fromm--" the guard got kicked through the train station's wall.

"Hmph." Cyclon harumphed as he dusted himself off."You speak of loyalties, yet you still attack your captain?"

"C-captain?" the guard growled.

"What's going on down here? I just wanted to study a bit, and then i here a bunch of crashing and destruction. *gasp* Silver and Cyclon! You're here!" 

Twilight had flown down from her palace a bit further away. She was still getting used to them, judging by her wobbling before she landed.

"Twilight!" Jewel yelled as she ran and jumped at Twilight for a hug.

"Aha! I'm glad to see you too. How are your studies?"

"I'm doing pretty good. Princess Luna says I might become like you if I study hard."

"Really now?" Twilight smiled and cocked an eyebrow.

"Princess twilight." Cyclon bowed.

"You don't need to be like that, Cyclon. I'm just a pony."

"Your status still demands respect." he spoke firmly.

"Oh, well if you base your judgement solely on status, then you won't go far." I mocked with an eye rolling.

"I have so many things to talk to you about, Silver. How the ceremony went, what everything was like." she started to recite everything passing by her mind.

"Yeah. I heard that Empress Celestia decided to wear a bigger crown and that Luna's dress was considered as an awful wear. Personally, judging by the pictures I've seen and the words I've heard, everything went a bit fast for you." I walked in front of her then just stared at her face with a hidden frown-smile.

"Empress? Because of her crown?"

"We'll talk about that later. Let's go to the castle! I'm pretty sure Jewel here wants to see everything she can in the week we're staying here."

"Really? is this true, Amber?" Twilight turned my little pew.

"Yes! Where's Spike? Do you have a treasure room? Do you have cooks all for you? I heard Discord comes by here often. Will I get to see him?"

"Let's see...In his new room, getting aquainted with everything...No...Not yet...and yes. He does. Unfortunately."

My eye twitched and anger boiled up in me.

"Dis...cord?" I gritted my teeth.

"He's a changed...draconequus now! I'm sure he can make up for what he did."

"I DOUBT IT! LET'S GO!" I shouted as I tore the doors of the station down to get onthe other side.

Amber seemed confused.

"Why doesn't mommy like Discord?"

"It's something you don't need to know about yet."

"But--"

"No buts, Amber." Cyclon interjected. "Shall we go, princess?"

"Go on ahead. I'll meet up with you. I have to fix everything here and get explanations from the guards."

"Okay then. Come on. Let's go meet up with Mumra."

(narrator transition)

Twilight stared at Silver with worry, but also with a narrow eye. There was something wrong with her, and she could sense it. It also didn't help to hear her awfully loud coughing. It sounded like she was barfing up a cat. The new princess would have to get an answer out of her friend by any means necessary...just not draconian means..
> Talking about Cyclon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The path up this small hill was rather wavy, and going up here wasn't good for me. However, despite it being completely enclosed, this mini castle was rather pretty. Grass grew like some sort of green candy cane. The flowers spread about everywhere, and the two fountains flanking both sides of this path were of some form of beauty I did not comprehend. White marble and the form of a pony standing on its hind-legs while spewing water from its mouth? Myes. Such a great design choice. Twilight kept looking at me from the side of her eye, squickly jolting her look back to the mini-palace of hers.

Speaking of, the coloration was awful. It looked like some sort of mansion made by Elves, what with the enormous, circular window planted right at the topmost floor, and the ivy climbing on the walls. Pillars half-sealed into the wall were whitened while the rounded roof above looked like some sort of vanilla tablet that stayed too long in the sun. It looked more like a cathedral than a palace, and the mixture of purple and green on the walls gave it some sort of 'military camoflauge' appearance.

"So, what kind of you planning on hiding?" I ask Twilight with a smirk.

She frowned and puffed up her cheeks."I didn't decide on this, okay? Even I know it's not the best look. Maybe if I asked Rarity--"

"NO! Don't. We'll look for someone else." I smile nervously.

"Why? She makes great dresses."

"..." I glare at Twilight in irritation.

"Okay. Fine! I'll ask somepony else to review the decoration of my home...Stop smiling."

"Who? Me? I'm not smiling in victory at all!"

Twilight frowned more, but she was suddenly startled by Jewel when she teleported right in front of us a smile plastered onto her face.

"A-Amber?! How? What? When--"

"She learned teleportation from Luna. Why? Is that a bad thing?"

"No. Not at all. I'm just kind of surprised. It's hard for teleportation, especially for somepony beginning her training in magic."

"It's because Princess Luna taught me lots and lots! It's hard, but I can do it!" Jewel shouted as she thrust a foreleg forward with pride.

"That's my wittle Jewel!" 

I grab Amber and hug her powerfully and rub my head against her face. What? I couldn't help it. She's so cute and cuddly.

"Moooom! You're crushing me."

"And I'll crush you more if you struggle."

Suddenly, Jewel teleported out my hugging and appeared on the grass, swaying from left to right. Twilight just laughed. As we were about to say something again, Cyclon walked up to us and looked at Twilight.

"Princess. I ask that you let me supervise the training of your personal guards."

"Why? They seem okay to me." Twilight grinned with worry.

Cyclon just furrowed his brow and presented the few guards Twiilght had with a foreleg. They were trying to tackle one of the training dummies that stallion had just set up. Needless to say, the dummy was winning. At this sight, Twilight hid herself behind her wing in shame.

"Okay. Do what you need to do. I don't want to see that again. It's both hilarious and embarassing."

One of the guards literally got flung over the walls just as Twilight finished her sentence.

"Embarassing..." Twilight added.

"Yes. ALRIGHT MAGGOTS! Get back to your stations. I'm going to teach you the HARD way on how to fight."

"And off he goes." I spoke as my voice trailed off.

Twilight followed my view and ended up on a rather conspicuous part of Cyclon's body. The princess looked at me with a sly grin.

"What? I was thinking about something. STOP JUDGING ME!"

"Princess Twilight, when is Discord coming?" Amber tucked on Twilight's wing.

"Tomorrow...hopefully. I'll send a message to Princess Celestia stating that Silver has arrived. Those two need to make amends."

I pouted and Twilight just looked at me with a rather irritated smirk.

"You never told me what happened." Jewel looked up with big watery eyes.

"And you never will. There's nothing to speak about. Let's get into the palace. I want to see our rooms." I stampeded away from the scene.

I wasn't aware that I scared Amber, but judging by her trembling little body, I surmized that I did quite alot.

"It's okay, Amber." Twilight reassured the filly. "She's just...having a hard time." Twilight smiled once more, yet she looked towards me with concern."What is it that I'm sensing within you? It feels like it's gnawing away at your body."

Swinging the doors open gave me a view of a beautiful little palace. While it was small for royalty, it was a nice, humble little abode. The floor was covered in black and white marble tiles, there were four doors on both the left and right sides of this entrance, and the stairs that led to the second floor curved as to let a hole in-between them, allowing a fifth door to place itself.

Twilight directed us upstairs, then to the right. While Jewel was taken by a mare who worked as a caretaker, I was taken bu lavender to a room at the end of the hall. The room was illuminated with light, and said rays focused my attention upon an enormous bed covered with fluffy cyan and white comfettors. I just jumped onto the bed and huffed a sigh of relief for my tired body. Everything smushed underneath me as I lay there.

"I didn't know that you were always so tired? Are you...again?"

"I'm what again?"

"You know..." Twilight twirled her hooves around a bit.

"What-NO! No! I didn't do that again. It wasn't my choice to begin with." I trailed off, burrying my head into the pillow.

"Yet you don't regeret the result. Despite having nearly crushed Cyclon every day when you got bigger and bigger, you never tried to get rid of the foal. Of Amber. You don't seem like the mare that would purposely get herself pregnant, especially with the reaction you had when you were giving birth."

"Don't remind me of that pain."

"It was just pressure."

I pulled my head out of the pillows and stared at Twilight in fury."Just like a Tornado is considered a wind current?"

There was a long moment of silence.

"Right. I was trying to make a joke." Twilight replied apologetically.

"Whatever."

I felt the bed move a bit. Twilight had gotten on it and lied down next to me. I remained hidden in the pillow. In the darkness.

"Why don't we have some girl talk?"

"Oh god. Smite me. Kill me. Throw me at warrior taffy before she starts!"

"How do you really feel about Cyclon?"

"Nothing."

"That isn't true, otherwise you wouldn't have lived with him for so long."

"I didn't exactly have a choice."

"Yes you did. You knew full well that you could've just come back to the library with me and Spike." she giggled.

"Where is Spike, anyhow?"

"At Canterlot. I sent him a message to find Discord and bring him here."

"When did you do that?"

"I didn't. I just told one of the caretakers to do it for me."

"I see. 'Obey your master'."

"It's not like that."

"Psch." I grinned discreetly.

"Hmph. I know that you love Cyclon with all your heart. You just don't want to admit it."

"..."

"I know that you feel for him in many more than just one way."

"..."

"You always look at him. Admire him. You make sure that Amber is always near him when you're not there and he's the only one still nearby. Do you see him as a figure you never possessed yourself? Are you glad that you have both a lover and a friend that is making sure that your only child does not live through what you did?"

"..."

"You have to tell me, Silver! I can't help you if you don't."

I looked up at Twilight with sadness on my face. I didn't know why I suddenly felt sad. It just came like that. Becoming what I have and adapting to your new emotions is pretty tough, but, somehow, I've managed, in one way.

"It's more complicated than what you think. I..."

"You have something to tell me?"

"I...hurgh..."

My chest suddenly began to burn again, and this feeling ebbed along to my shoulder and leg as well. It was unbearable! I felt like lava was being poured on my body.

"Where's the bathroom?!" I cried in pain as I gasped for air.

"Right up front." she looked horrified.

"Thank you!"

I slam the door shut. There are no mirrors here, but that shadowy figure doesn't seem intent on coming out this time. Having an encounter with it every day is far too much. I feel something crawling in my throat, and I cough it up. A huge puddle of that black liquid mixed with my blood. It burns my throat and my mouth as it slides out, and I cough some more to get rid of the rest. As I put a hoof to my mouth, I see the black goo twist and turn to spell out :

"6 days. Amber Jewel."

If I didn't know any better, I'd say that it was warning me about Amber. Why? She was perfectly safe.

"Are you okay in there?" Twilight knocked.

I coughed a bit more before answering:"Y-yes. I just had a bad dish on the train."

"...I know that feel. I'll see you outside, in the back. It's the door right between the stairs that leads there. I want to show you something I'm sure you'll like."

"Okay. Thank you." I said once Twilight slammed the door. "The pain keeps getting worse. How long is it going to take before I can't bare this pain anymore?"




Twilight waited at the foot of the stairs, staring upwards. She had concern and thoughts etched onto her face. Something important was passing through her mind.

"I'll call a doctor while she doesn't know. I'm sure that if I ask her, she'll allow me. I'll do it tonight and send the message to Princess Luna. She certainly knows a few good doctors...hopefully."
> Discording up da joint
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was dreaming. It was a really nice dream. No pain. No worries. Only comfort. Even though it was weird. I was actually dreaming that I was in a small fishing boat in a sea of clouds, yet even the boat was comfortable despite the wood...I've noticed that I seem to be a bit obsessed with comfort, too. Hm. I'll have to think about that when I have time, which means never. The waving clouds gave me a sort of vibration massage which made it even worse. I was starting to sleep in my sleep. Nevertheless, I found that the burning in my throat and chest had stopped as well. In its place, the soft and soothing cold breeze of the frozen air. Even the sky was bluish-white. It mixed perfectly with this atmosphere, so I just slumped down further into the boat, ignoring me still being Silver. I could finally relax.

"What's this? A small boat to the side! Anchor away!" yelled a voice.

My eyes immediately jolted open to see that there was a massive ship that had stopped to the left of my boat. It was pink with blue board linings, and even the sails were pink! Judging by its form, design, and shape, it was from the eighteenth century, but what would it be doing here? IN MY DREAM?!

"HEY! What's going on? I just wanted some comfort. Leave me alone!"

It's at that moment, that a stallion with a weird tophat leaned over the ship's hold and waved at me.

"I know you. You gave me that pacifier awhile back. What're you doing in my dream and how did you get here."

"Mmmm. You'd love to know. Wouldn't you?" he put a hoof to his chin and smirked.

"Yes. I would!" I responded with a direct and commanding tone.

He seemed insulted seeing his smile faded away as he jolted back.

"Well. That's too bad. I'm not going to tell you." he said as he turned his back to me.

"You better tell me."

"Nah!"

I felt my blood boiling as he continued to act like a child...No. He was worse than Jewel even when she's in her most foul moods.

"Ahoy, there!" yelled a voice that I actually recognized.

That same voice that traumatized me so long ago. That same voice that had infested my mind and eyes with lies and torturing views. It was Discord.

"YOU!" 

I yelled as a flipped around to stare at a rather typical ship. Well, it would be typical were it not for the figurehead that looked like Discord holding a candle instead of a mermaid holding said candle. The flag flying above his ship's mast still showed his disgustingly smiling face.

"How're you doin', Derry. Having fun 'n all that?" he joked as he poured some tea into the bottom of his cup.

"How DARE you show yourself. After what you did to me. I can never forgive you. You actually used my grandfather to hurt me." I began to cry as anger came rushing out.

"Oh, posh. Don't get your hair in a knot." he mocked. 

While he stirred his glass of tea with his tail, both my mane and tail twisted themselves into horrible knots.

"HEY! Get rid of this. NOW!"

"Why. You look quite...pffff...Knotty like that. I'm sure Cyclon would LOVE a knotty pony."

My face puffed up as I unintentionally grew red, although that all went away when my heart nearly stopped. That pink stallion had suddenly appeared right next to me and had taken my...mane and taill off of my body. He didn't even seem to make an effort as he placed them on the side of the boat, reached into his hat, and somehow pulled out two muffins. They were both placed on my back before each ran in the opposite direction, rooted themselves into my scalp and rear, then bloomed into a new mane and tail. I was too confused at the moment, but I noticed that Discord's eyes had widened as he saw this stallion.

"How did YOU get here." he said in astonishment.

"The same way as any, Discord. WITH POTATO MAGIC!"

"Huh?" I said.

The stallion turned my old, knotted hair into gigantic potatoes that he tossed towards Discord, who immediately shrunk them into peanuts and devoured them with a snap of his jaw. He seemed all confident of himself while the stallion just leaned against his boat's rails again. I heard an explosion and saw that Discord's mouth had exploded and that red vines had grown out of them to engulf his face.

"Muahahaha! I am the greetest!" the stallion yelled like an idiot.

"Fire the cannons!" Discord shouted through his cage.

The ship's flaps had all flung open, and cannonballs flew out of their containers like fireworks, although that other stallion somehow donned a tennis player's costume and started to smack the balls away with a racket. Discord played along, although he was playing ping pong.

"You cannot defeat the Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad!" the stallion yelled.

"That ship sunk because of light winds. I just have a first rate." Discord smirked.

"Silly chaos. Physics are for chumps." the stallion shook his head in disappointment.

His ship somehow immediately spun to face the side of Discord's ship directly, then boosted forward and rammed into it full force, only to spin back onto its side and begin firing at the bastard's ship. I couldn't believe it, but I was cheering for this crazy guy. He seemed worse than Discord, that is, until Discord was fighting the stallion up close wearing what seemed to be a pirate costume and an old cutlass. The stallion, however, has the appearance of an old man and was holding...a wooden leg and a sausage.

"This is the ancient technique of the wooden sausage."

Discord just stared at him plainly before attacking. The fighting made no real sense, until the pink stallion and Discord began to walk on the side of the Santima..nuev...whatever...and walked underneath the water. THat's when my dream flipped upside down and I found myself falling back towards my body.




I immediately jumped up, gasping for air. As I started to calm down, I looked to the right to see that Cyclon was sleeping. This was all nice, until our room suddenly became flooded with sea water. We were both caught off-guard and couldn't react properly as we both caught ejected from our room, then through the hall, then down the stairs of the small castle, and , finally, outside onto the lawn. We gently slid to a stop as I rested on my back while Cyclon slid onto his stomach. Discord was just overhead, looking at me with a grin. I growled as I forced myself upright.

"That stallion is all YOUR doing, isnt it?!" I shouted as I poked him in the stomach.

"Of course not. Why would I make something that tries to oppose me. It's only Illogic. It thinks it's different from chaos, but it's n--"

Discord suddenly spat out a giant carp from his mouth. As it flopped around a few moments, it immediately uprighted itself. It took a can and a monocle out from underneath its scales and pulled a message out from its mouth before dropping it and flying...flying away...

"Chaos is inferior as it tries to fin logic in what cannot be understood." Discord just sighed. "He got me there. Eh. Doesn't matter. I always get him back anyways. Now then. Why don't I pick you two up?"

Finally, the guards and Twilight had finally awoken to see the carnage brought up by this idiot. While Cyclon caughed up the water and tried to move his mane out of his eyes, Discord helped him up. 

"Twilight. It's Discord. Quick! Seal him up or turn him to stone or something!" I yelled with panic.

"Silver. No need for that, although I need a word with the draconequus. Why would he wake us up so early in the morning?" she grumbled.

"DISCORD!" she yelled as she stomped away.

"Yes, my dear Twilight?" he answered with eye fluttering.

"What's the meaning of this? Why did you wake us all up so early, and...why did you flood my home?"

Twilight looked behind herself to see everypony caugght in the flood to be drying themselves off or simply looking horrified at the scene.

"Oh. Come now. I was only having a fight with this...stallion in D-I mean, Silver's dreams."

"What? No. Don't answer that. I just want you to fix everything up."

"Fine." 

Discord rolled his eyes and was about to repair the damage done until Jewel came running towards him. I could see that look of overjoyment in her eyes.

"Jewel, wait!"

"Hm?" Discord hummed as he looked down to see a little filly staring at him with sparkling eyes."What is that?"

"She's the daughter of Silver and Cyclon."

"D..." Discord looked at me with pure shock and confusion.

"Yeah! She's the best! You know, I've always wanted to meet you."

"Y...You have?"

"Yeah. I was told that you do some weird things. I bet they're pretty funny." Jewel giggled.

"I..uh-I uh well...Why yes. I am quite enriched in humor." Discord regained his posture and adjusted a monocle that came out of nowhere.

"Cool. Could you teach me?"

"NO!" everyone yelled in response.

We scared Jewel, but it was in her best intentions. Discord, however, didn't see it like that. 

"Come now." he sterned as he picke up Jewel and started to spin her on his claw like a basketball."If somepony wants to know how fun chaos can be, then let her. What's the harm that can be done. Besides, look at her. She's enjoying herself. I finally found somepony who appreciates chaos as much as I do."

That bastard finally set Jewel back on the floor, although she was still dizzy from the spinning and fell down on Discord's foot while she still laughed.

"I see a promising future for her." 

The draconequus looked upward with great pride while the rest of us moaned or facehoofed.
> Jewel and the draconequus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just sat in the front of the mansion, waiting for Cyclon. In the meantime, I couldn't sleep the rest of the night, and my eyes were burning up. I absolutely hated it. However, if there's something I hate more than my eyes burning, it was Discord, and I had to deal with him and Jewel playing volleyball together...a few feet above the ground...with a delayed explosive that would expel all kinds of jelly everywhere. The ponies inside kept coming and going as they tried to deal with the few minor annoyances that Discord conjured up after he "fixed" the damages done. One of them, though, stopped right next to me. I simply lowered my head even more out of sheer anger and frustration.

"Hey, Cyclon."

"Silver."

We both remained silent for quite awhile while we stared at Discord snorkeling through a floating ball of what seemed to be orange juice. We both hated him tremendously and gritted our teeth accordingly. Twilight arrived as well, her wings still fluttering with nervousness and stress.

"Look, I know you two have had bad experiences wit Discord in the past, and I know he can be a bit...unpredictable."Twilight rubbed the back of her head with embarassment."But, I know he can be a good guy. He isn't all that bad. I mean, if the princess gave him a chance--"

"That's where I have to stop you, Twilight. Don't forget that she tried to kill the first moment she got without thinking of alternatives, just like she did with her sister. I don't like Celestia at all. I'm willing to give her a cha-*cough cough*. Erm. Pardon. I'm willing to give her a chance, but only if she does one thing that I will have to ask her in five days."

"Why five days?"

"That's very personal, Twilight. I'd prefer you keep quiet on that subject."

"But--"

"Just drop it." I told her with a hoof gesture.

She frowned and sighed while Cyclon just looked at her and shrugged in return.

"Besides, after what he did, I'm ready to wring his neck and tear him to shreds. I'm sure his skin would make a lovely rug."

My grin quickly disappeared once I saw Discord's skin literally floating in front of me like a flag. I nearly vomited once he showed up from behind this flapping atrocity. He was nothing but muscle and bloody meat now.

"Well, if you think that my likeness would do splendors for your interior decoration, I'd be happy to oblige."

"Ewwww. Hahahaha!" Jewel shouted as she flopped onto my head.

"Jewel. Get off."

"Oh. Sorry, mom." 

Her climbing down was an irritating one, but Cyclon helped her deal with that ordeal while the draconequus put his skin back on.

"I think I'll go and train your guards, princess. See you later. Discord." he glared at the draconequus who simply smiled at him with the side of his eyes.

"Now then. I thought that bringing Discord over for the week could help you get better aquainted."

"I think you already said that." I said.

I didn't want to move my head, no matter what Discord was doing, but it seemed that he wouldn't give up, as he picked me up in his arms and cradled me.

"Let go of me you bastard."

"Now now. Such language. Don't worry, Twilight. We'll get along just fine."

"Like butter and apples." I snarl.

The draconequus leaned closer to the side of my face and whispered:

"I know your secret."

"I know." I answer bluntly.

"Not that one, you transexual idiot! The black plague slumbering in your chest. I saw you coughing it up. I can't SEE it see it, but I still know you have a disease that can't be treated. I also know that you don't want to tell the others."

I look at him with shock.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anypony. I especially know that you won't want to worry Amber Jewel."

He tilted me to show Jewel playing around with a bunch of butterflies he conjured up, along with Twilight giggling alongside my daughter as she got some sort of butterfly mustache.

"And now you've corrupted her."

"Why? Did that vault in your mind scare you? Just for reference, I was not in there. I don't know what happened, but it seemed quite terrible; How horrifying." he said with beady eyes above my face.

"What do you want, anyways?"

"Twilight asked me that I teach you how to destress." the draconequus deflated like a baloon.

"You aren't funny." I lift an eyebrow.

"Come now. Let's go into the forest. Grab my tail!"

"...Why?"

"Just do it."

I did just because, and nothing happened. Then he whipped me high and far into the air, allowing e to scream in fear and horror at what was happening. I could see the forest and stream far below closing in faster and faster. The freezing wind scraping against my face was not helpful either.

"OHSHITOSHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHI--"

I stopped. In mid-air right above the ground. I could feel that my heart was about to give out, but that was when I was left to flop hard on the moldy green ground right below me. As I held my chest to massage it, I felt it burning again. This time, I vomited. It was like having magma in your throat. The pain was just unimaginable, but it was justified. I had vomited a huge amount of what looked like tar and my blood. The substance landed on the ground, sizzled and smoked a bit, before dissipating into the ground, killing all life there and created a brown crack. I could only gasp and wheeze at the scene. There was no more energy left in me for anything else.

"Oh my. What have we here. Litterin' and pollutin'. Ah'm gon' have ta fine ya for that m'am."  

Discord was wearing what looked like a police costume, although it seemed...seventy-ish.

"..." I just couldn't speak. My throat hurt too much.

"Oh. Don't worry, Derry. I won't force you to talk. Welcome to my place of retirement." 

The draconequus presented this forest proudly, and looking closely at it, I noticed it was a bright, although murky and swamp-like in nature. The grass was quite mushy, and off the trees hung what seemed like the typical mold usually found in swamps. The light was, at best, ambient, although it emphasized the creepy, sickly mood of this place.

"It's where I used to go when I wanted to relax back in the day. That means I rarely came here since I was always relaxing with chaos. Ahahahaha!" he chuckled and wiped from his eye that shot out like a bullet through several of the trees. "C'mon, I'll bring you to the open spot, and then I'll bring Jewel too."

My jaw moved up and down, but nothing came out, so he leaned closer sarcastically.

"Wh...What's that? You're okay with that idea? Perfect!"

I wanted to yell, but I settled with sighing instead. Being dragged by my hind-leg was...a drag. I'm in such bad shape that I'm doing terrible puns now. Ugh...



(Narrator transition)

While the two "friends" were getting better acquainted, a figure peered at the mare through the thick swamp-like canopy. Only the giant mushrooms growing around and the mold hanging from the tree branches were enough to hide its details. It was but a black figure with what seemed like horned protrusions coming from its head. It was too tall to be a pony, however. As it moved to hide further in the forest, its cranial protrusions seemed to have been tree branches, although its owned body was, apparently, nothing but hanging mold and mushrooms. It seemed to be nothing more than an unimportant optical illusion.
> WE'ZE IN DA FOW-REST!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"CAN YOU FEEL THE BEAT OF THE NATURE?!"

Discord was standing on some sort of gigantic podium he had built out of nowhere and was dressed up like some DJ from the seventies, with the backwards baseball-cap, the striped sunglasses, and the sagging clothes.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"I don't get it."

"Falling down..." I whispered as I kicked the podium.

Discord came tumbling down and landed face first into the mud. As he lay there for a moment, I got closer to him and whispered in his ear:

"Falling down."

Trotting on over to a stump was all I could really do right now. I didn't know what was lurking between these trees, so I had to depend on that bastard Discord.

"So what do you want me to do here?"

"Wait that I bring Jewel."

"I'm not letting you bring her here! It's too dangerous?"

"Derry, come now." 

Discord just looked at me as sarcastically as ever, and began to stir...a glass of hot chocolate?

"Is that hot chocolate?" I ask with a stunned expression.

"Why yes, it is." 

He proceeded to drink the glass, eat the spoon, then threw the hot chocolate behind him. As per cliché, I expected it to explode. Instead, it grew arms and legs, a leopard tunic, then began swinging from branch to branch, yelling, before disappearing into the forest. I could only leave my mouth agape to this scene.

"And this is normal to you?!" I yell at Discord while gesturing to the direction of the event.

"I don't understand what you mean. There was nothing abnormal there. Now, if you excuse, ADVENTURE AWAITS!"

He threw his arm into the air, then blasted off with a rainbow right behind.

"Wait!" I shout as I try to grab his tail."Don't leave me here. It's too dangerous."

Silence. He was already gone. This didn't bode well. I was in a forest with no knowledge of the place. This meant that I knew neither how to get out, or what was lurking around. I had goosebumps just thinking about it. Then again, I've dealt with worse. All I'd need now is some sort of gigantic plant-thing to try and eat me.

"Hello? Come on, Discord. This isn't funny."

"..."

"Discord? Get me out of here or I'll pummel you."

I threatened, but here I was shaking and would surely be wringing my hands together nervously if I still had some.

"Derry?"

"Discord?"

"Noooooo. You know me."

"What?"

I didn't know who that was, but it showed itself to be some sort of black figure passing through the trees. It was rather tall, though.

"Who is that?"

What came through the moss shocked me to the highest degree. It was...me...as I was before. I...I mean it, was walking through slowly towards me with its arms behind its back and a rather devious smile. It started to walk around me while humming and analyzing my appearance.

"Tsktsk, Derry. You should pay more attention to Silver's body. Who knows what'll happen." it smirked.

"Waiit. I know what's going on. You're either a creation of Discord, you're the Giga Sparkle doing something, or you're one of those other monsters trying to confuse me. Well, not this time!"

My anger roared, and I dashed forward to deliver one powerful blow into its stomach. Once my blow connected, it simply bent slightly and looked at me with skepticism before I fel an immense pain in my own stomach and tumbled over.

"Funny, isn't it?" it said as it moved me up and massaged my shoulders.

*cough cough*

"You thinking such absurd things. It's funny, really. Maybe I'm a figment of your imagination wanting to teach the greatness about friendship and...Bah. Even joking I can't even do that." it literally transitioned from being all loving to being bored."Oh! Maybe I'm that black thing in your body that's infected your eyes and brain?"

My heart started to race in panic. What if this thing was a parasite?

"No. I bet you're thinking that stuff is a parasite. It's not. You're the one creating it and passing it through your body.

"That still doesn't explain how I hurt myself hitting you." I grunted on the floor.

"Hmmm. MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE I'M LINKED TO YOU?! WHAT A THOUGHT."

"What?"

"Oh. Don't worry. This won't be at all like those inner-speakings that you've had before. Far from it. We're just here to talk about getting you on track for when you'll do the great reveal!" it twirled in place after saying that.

"What reveal?"

"You know. You say it or you die."

"What, you'll kill me?" I struggled back up. 

"Kill you? Me? Technically, I'm you, so what would that bring me?"

"What are you saying?"

"If Silver was your doll in that world, what would you be in this?"

"..."

"Exactly."

"A...doll."

It facepalmed.

"NO! The original Silver was a Giga Sparkle, one created by your love for it. I am, in some ways, the opposite of it."

"Huh?"

"Remember the snake that your friends faced in your mind? I'm not it."

It put a hand on its mouth and gave me one of those weird feminin laughs from the nineteenth century.

"WHAT ARE YOU?!"

"Your old conciousness, although I am the one that was never tainted. Think of me as alternate reality to what your existence was."

"And I should care?"

It looked away from me with face of smiling concern towards the forest.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing, really. Now, I suppose you want to find a safe place before you become animal chow.

"Yes, but--"

"Cliché-ily, there's a cave a few meters over there. I suggest you run as fast as you can."

"Why should I--"

An immense beast tore through the trees and roared so violently that the surrounding, unscathed trees saw their bark get torn off. This thing was brown, but seemed to have wings made from bones. Its eyes...there were only two, but the scelera was black with three green pupils in them. The creature was bipedal, and from the brown fur it seemed to e leaking a weird, toxic green liquid that was causing the ground to rot upon contact.

"Don't inspect it closer. It's an undead creature."

"What? That exists?"

"Hey. You were hypnotized by a blob that was also a type of spirit, I THINK THIS IS A VALID POSSIBILITY."

"What do I do now?"

"Run or be devoured."

"OH SHIT!"

"Over there, dumbass." it pointed away from the creature and that's exactly where we both jolted off to.

"Honestly. Kurom-Fotah's aren't that smart. They're beings of pestilence! READ A BOOK YOU UNCULTURED BARBARIAN!" it yelled at me.

I ran...er...galopped as fast as I could, but that hulking abomination just charged through every tree and boulder in its way. It even tripped, slid on the floor, then got back up without losing speed. How is that even possible? No matter what I tried, it kept getting closer and closer. I started to panic so much that I began to cry unwillingly, then something flew to my left and begin to whisper in my ear.

"Hello, Derry. I see you're going to die prematurily. Want some help getting rid of that thing?"

"How are you here and not in my mind?"

"That last batch you barfed out allowed the entirety of the black matter to give me a semblant of a body here."

"And what will happen if I ask for your help?"

"Detract a day from your time frame."

"What?"

That thing roared once more and from the torn portions of its skin fired streams of that green muck towards me, desintegrating anything they touched.

"AHHH!"

"Time is ticking, Derry. Don't worry. You'll only have, oh, four more days if you get out of this by yourself, which I doubt. I'll even arrange to have your reveal happen in Ponyville."

"NO! Not that!"

"Fine. Just the three day thing. It would have been quite amusing, though."

That black fog literally broke the corner and engulfed the creature, tossing it far away...and through more of the scenery. Finally, afar, I could see the cave slightly above the ground. It took alot of energy, but I managed to climb that cliff and climb into the cave. I smiled as a gasped for air.

"Well then. You've come at quite a tardy hour, my dear."

My eyes cracked open when I looked behind me to see that Discord was wearing a tuxedo, a tophat, and a monocle. He had even brought in a table, three chairs, and was sipping tea with Jewel.

"Hi, Mom!" she yelled happily.

"Discord, I hate you tremendously."

"Oh! What a ruffian. You have such ill manners, unlike your daughter, here."



> Chilling too much
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What's the meaning of this? You've taken me out into the middle of nowhere, mocked me, then abandoned me, and you suddenly appear in this cave looking 'posh' while drinking tea with Jewel!"

Discord just took a sip of his tea and looked at me stoically.

"And?"

I clenched my teeth and stomped towards Discord intent on carving his face out of his skull until Jewel interrupted me.

"Wait! Discord told me that he did that so that you could appreciate the scenery. He never wanted you to get hurt."

"Never wanted me to get hurt?! I was chased by a gigantic beast that was running THROUGH hills and immense boulders."

"Waaaah! Call the WAAAAAAMbulance while you're at it." Discord mocked as he began walking on the ceiling."The thing is, you're too uptight."

"That would be your fault." I growled.

"Oh really?"

"You've gone a long way from the angsty teenager that I had met a long time ago."

Jewel was following something and was holding back laughs. I tried following her eyes but I couldn't see what was going on.

Discord had suddenly dissappeared, but was still speaking.

"When you came here, how were you? Weren't you always angry ALL THE TIME?! Didn'y you want a power chair to smash everything?"

The voice moved elsewhere.

"What about Big Mac?"

My muscles tightened up and I began to sweat. I turned to look at Jewel who had stopped following whatever it was and tightened her eyes while a weird smile carved itself into her face.

"Remember? Accentuated sweating, heart thumping, the works?"

"I never--"

"Then, when you met Cyclon. That feeling of pure rage that I had induced into him to get you two together."

"WHAT?!" my muscles tensed even more.

"Sure, he exaggerated, but I wasn't so lenient back then as I am now. There was that spark when you saw him. You didn't understand it at first, but I took advantage of that. Now look what has happened. You actually have somepony who loves you, you have seen him on several occasions, and you even had a kid."

I was about to say something, when Discord suddenly appeared in front of me from my mouth and closed my eyes.

"APAPAPAP. I don't want to know the details."

He hopped out, then floated gently back onto the chair. Taking a cube of sugar from a stalagmite, he dropped it in Jewel's cup of tea, then stared longingly at her only to point at her with one of his creepy fingers.

"You could see me." he said with intrigue.

"Well, yeah. Who can't?"

"Everypony. You have a magical source similar to chaos. This must be why you aren't affected by the lingering chaos magic around."

"LINGERING CHAOS MAGIC?!"

"Where do you think the creature came from?" he laughed non-chalantly.

"And the black ink was your doing, too?!" I shouted in response.

Discord coughed up his glass of tea, then looked at Jewel then back at me with confusion literally written on his face.

"What are you talking about? I only took you here so you two could go in the deepest parts of this cave."

"What? Why?" 

I couldn't think straight with this idiot.

"Let's slide and see!"

Discord grabbed me and Jewel, and placed her on my back. He then slithered with me in his arms towards the back of the cave where it was supposed to grow dark. What I was shown was a glittery cavern covered with sparkling ice. It made me think of...jewels. We were dropped off here to...admire the scenery?

"Jewel, I think we found your cousins."

She just looked at me with frustration. Discord even looked down to see us and smirked.

"That's not funny, mom. What if I called you 'Ice block'?"

"I would say that you gave me the 'cold shoulder'." I tease.

The draconequus grouped us both together and then placed his face right between our own. My confusion started turning to anger as I clenched my teeth.

"Look closer at the end of this shiny hall."

"What do you...is that some sort of slide?"

"You betcha!"

He began to puss us slowly towards the slippery edge.

"Hey, HEY, HEY! I--"

"-'m FAAAAAAAAAT ALBERT!" he finished my sentence.

This made Jewel laugh for some reason, but then we were pushed onto the 'slide'. Discord just waved goodbye at us and disappeared. this was an incredibly scary ride. On more than one occasion were we going to get sliced by the stalagmites...or mites...I don't know, were actually sliding all over this tunnel! Jewel was just screaming like hell, having fun, while I just held her close in my arms because I've never liked this sort of thing. Every now and then, there'd be a hole in the 'walls', showing us either a simple dark amount of the cave, or, on the rare occasion, such an immense plethora of vibrant colors and formations that it made me wonder if one could fit entire football stadiums in this cave. Seriously. It was like there was a lake here sometimes.

The worst part is that this slippery tunnel of sparkles was becoming more and more steep, until we arrived at a point where we were falling, plain and simple. I screamed for my life as I held Jewel in my arms. She was just laughing. That's when I remembered that we might be reaching the rock floor. Doing what I could, I twisted myself in the air so as to receive the full blow of the landing. I could already spot the ground coming closer and closer, so I stressed my muscles to make them sturdier upon impact. I clenched my teeth and loosened my eyes as I prepared for the big hit. Instead, I just heard a poof and felt myself falling deep within several meters of snow.

"Mom. Open your eyes. We're stuck in the snow."

"Huh?"

We had just carved some sort of well in this pile that was so deep it was almost impossible to believe. I struggled to move but gave up quickly. At least Jewel was okay and sitting on my belly.

"Well, that's just great. How are we going to get out?"

"How about if I do this?"

There was a flash, then we were on the surface of this huge pile of snow. I jolted left to right trying to understand what happened.

"Discord taught me that."

I just stared at her while gasping.

"But...but...That's teleportation. I thought Luna was teaching you that."

"Nope. Discord is more quick!" she just smiled at me with hopes of approval.

I couldn't let her down just because I hated that Discord.

"Well, as long as there are no side effects."

She came and hugged me, to which I nervously smiled and passed my hoof through her mane.

"What the hell did the Giga Sparkle do? She had great magic potential, which I can understand to some extent, but now she can use chaos? This doesn't bode well at all."

"Doubt brings disappointment, and disappointment brings pain and failure." a voice boomed in the cave.

"Discord, this isn't funny. Stop that."

"I am not the draconequus. I despise chaos, but I can see something in you both that creates order to it. Especially you, Derry Wilhall."

I suddenly lost all trains of thought and began to literally freeze up. Jewel looked up at me with confusion.

"Who's Derry Wilhall?"

"N...No one."

"You must tell them. Time is running short. Speaking of, one must be scratched off." the voice trailed off from wise to psychotic.

"Wait...Are you--"

A huge mass of moving ice covered with the black goop formed off of the ice on the wall and "looked" at me and Jewel. The block of ice on this bipedal construct that seemed to be its 'head', looked at me, the Jewel, and reached for her. I was terrified. Oh yes, but I could NOT let it hurt my daughter.

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU HURT HER! She's the best thing that has ever happened in my life." I begin to tear up as rage and fear fills me up once more.

"Too bad. I gave you a delay. You didn't respect it. I told you that near the end, I would begin scratching off everyone you loved."

"No you didn't! You just threatened me!"

"Life can burn."

It struck at Jewel, and I really tried to intercept it, but it was too quick. I could only watch helplessly as the block of ice hurdled at my daughter.

"Ah ah ah. Naught naughty. You ruined the excursion I wanted them to have."

I fell into the snow and looked up to see Discord holding a martini and sitting on the block of ice.

"D-Discord?"

"Well, duh! Who were you expecting." he took another sip."So this is what you were talking about? It seems to have the darker side of chaos magic corrupting it. I'll deal with this. I won't have it hurting my friend or her mother while I'm here."

"What are you--"

"Out of here, you two." he ordered as he lift a hand.

"No! Discord! Come with us!" Jewel shouted in terror.

Why did she worry about him?

"Oh, please. I'm chaos. It's not like it can destroy me. Now, off you go to Candyland."

"To Candyland?" I speak with a bemused tone.

But it was too late. I was poofed away with Jewel...into Twilight's room, apparently, landing on her bed. Funny enough, this place was like my own, only with an excessive amount of purple and more "royal" designs, like curtains around the bed.

"Silver? Jewel? Discord sent you back?" Twilight asked aloud as she recovered from her startledness.

She was apparently working on something at her desk which lined the wall, and all her folders and papers had fallen onto the floor. I could only tell you her one thing as Jewel cried.

"Gather everyone...I need to tell you all something..."

"What do you need to tell us?"

"I'll tell everyone, now just do it!"




Meanwhile, Discord and the construct were having a face-off, although the construct didn't seem to react to the draconequus.

"So, what's your deal? You had a bad childhood and felt really cold deep inside?" Discord mocked with a terrible joke.

The construct did not react. Instead, it simply disintegrated as the black goop flew off it and seep through the walls.

"Hmmmm. It left the second I transported those two out of here. It's best I get to the castle soon."

Discord did just as he said once he jumped off the floating ice block. He reached for something, then turned it, and pulled. He had opened a door from nowhere and was entering the basement of Twilight's castle. If he wanted to prove himself, this was certainly the point in time.

> Black senility
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took atleast a few hours, but Twilight had brought the other five that we knew to her castle. They were all waiting in the front yard, except for Twilight who waited in front of the entrance outside of the "castle". I just waited in my room and clenched my chest as best I could without fingers. I was sitting on a chair, like I would as a human, in front of a make-up table. I just looked up at the mirror and crunched my face up more. This would be tough. I never feared telling them what I actually was. I simply feared how they would react, and now, I have something worse to worry about. I recall that thing saying that something would happen to me once I told them. What was it? Surely, it would be something good, right? It couldn't be something awful. I was already being punished here.

"Why?" I asked the mirror as I clenched my paining heart."I had three more days. THREE! And why do these things have to happen to me anyways? What have I done wrong?!" I yell before putting my face between my hooves.

"Silver. Come on. It's something that you insisted on telling everyone you really knew."Twilight shouted from downstairs.

"Okay! I'm coming!"I answered back.

I couldn't do this, but I had to. It was for Amber. If I didn't...No. I couldn't think of these things. Taking my courage in both hooves, I got out of my room and slowly went down the stairs. My heart was beating a mile a minute and even felt like it was pounding in my throat. My muscles coiled and tensed up painfully as I began to dehydrate with all my sweating. Stress was going to claim me before I told them everything. When I finally reached the door, I gulped and pushed it open, worry and pain etched all over my face.

Twilight's guards were there, along with the castle's few servants. They weren't the important ones. Twilight was there to greet me next to the door. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were talking about stuff, I dunno. Fluttershy was with Rarity, and Pinkie Pie was dressing up a guard in party decorations. Cyclon and Jewel were the ones closest to me, and they seemed the least concerned for what I was about to say. I took a big gulp and looked at Twilight, hoping she would be able to talk me out of this, but she spoke to me first in whisper:

"Silver, I know that there have been issues with you, and they haven't been because of your attitude. No. There's something else wrong with you. I saw the second you arrived. Now, I don't know what it is, but it clearly isn't natural. If this is the only way to save yourself, do it. I'll help you through whatever you have to say."

"Okay...Twilight. You know...if my family didn't count, I have to admit that you were actually my very first friend...of flesh and blood." I joked as I gave a nervous smile.

"I...Go ahead."

Here it was; The grand finale.

"Everyone." they all turned to face me."I've called you here because I have something extremely important to tell you. Several things, in fact."

"You're throwing a surprise party?! No wait. That wouldn't make it a surprise anymore." Pinkie interjected.

"Pinkie! It's obvious she's tryin' ta tell us somethin' important, so, could you just quiet down?"

"Okay. Fine, but I still think it's a party."

"It's not a party." I yell at her with irritation.

"It's just that I...Well...I don't come from this world..." 

A small brouaha started.

"I wasn't a pony. Not even when I was born. No. I was a human. Think of humans as being naked monkeys who can walk on their hind-legs. We're a bipedal species. Always warring because it' in our nature, but we also invent and innovate. We're creative...atleast some of us are...Then, Fluttershy, we're omnivores. We--"

"Get to the source material rather than delaying." a voice resounded.

Everyone looked to the right, and, fair enough, we saw the black goop creature. It had taken the shape of a gigantic reindeer with enormous antlers, and it was bubbling everywhere. The eyes were still beady white dots and its mouth was still drippin and gooey like usual.

"Hey, who are you?! What do you want?!" Rainbow shouted.

"Hold your tongue, muffin. I'm an acquaintance of Silver."

"I don't like how it said acquaintance." Rarity hissed.

Twilight stepped between us as it approached me, but he pushed her aside. She tried zapping it with her magic, but it was no use. It wasn't affected.

"Go. Directly. To. It." it said in a manner resembling clenched teeth.

"Fine. Cyclon, I know that you would be most affected by this, but...I wasn't a mare, as Luna told Twilight so many years ago."

I could see his face clenching up and the ones of the others getting mixed reactions. One of the servants seemed to find what I was about to say as kinky. Ew.

"I was a male." I drop my head in shame.

The ink creature laughs whole heartedly as we all hear some sort of spark go off. There were immense gasps in the crowd, and Twilight was the first taken aback, although I suppose that Cyclon's face of confusion as he began having internal conflicts added to the picture. The creature stepped aside with a smile on its face as it saw Twilight coming towards me and lifting my head up with her hoof, her eyes moving between both. An expression of betrayal on it.

"I didn't tell you at first because I was embarassed and, frankly, absolutely hated everything. I had a bad life growing up. When I was going to tell you, Cyclon came up, and I was having feelings for stallions, which showed that my mind had changed as well. I couldn't tell him, especially when we were controlled by the Giga Sparkle when it was supposed to have been destroyed. Heck, I never wanted this to happen either, but it did."

"But, you could have told us when we first met."

"Oh yeah. I was totally going to talk to total strangers in my stuffed dolls body, said strangers being ponies as well."

"Stuffed doll?" Cyclon whispered.

"I had grown so bitter of the years. I had hated so many things. The only object that really helped me was my plushie of Silver. It was the only gift I ever recieved from the only person who actually loved and cared for me: My grandfather."

Twilight rubbed her chin.

"It's true. I remember you mumbling about him when you slept at the library."

"Yet, so much has happened since I first arrived here. I actually got friends, peo-ponies, pardon, who actually cared about me, who were complete strangers on all that. I couldn't understand what was going on, and I ponly ever felt anger and pity on myself because of how I was treated. I only wanted to hurt. I guess that you all taught me what my grandfather was trying to teach me since my early years on Earth."

"Well, I do believe that you could require a hug from all of us." Rarity exclaimed.

"What?"

"We were the first to know about ho badly you felt, and although this is a rather...erm...special experience, we still love you." Fluttershy added.

"Yeah. Now we're going to give you the elements of harmony group hug!" Rainbow yelled as she prepared to charge.

"I'm going to hug her too. She's my mommy and I don't care what she was like before." Jewel added.

Little Jewel hopped towards me with a radiant face of joy as Cyclon still debated with himself, his face full of disturbances and discrepancies. The others came closer as well, but something happened that I didn't expect. Jewel was intercepted by an antler and thrown into Rainbow Dash who, luckily, caught her and held herself aloft.

"Hey! What gives?!" she cursed.

"I have tolerated enough of this. Derry Wilhall was his name, and now, you're going back home."  

It squinted and backed away as a white portal appeared in front of the entrance to Twilight's castle, and I was being sucked in.

"NO! You said that Jewel would still have me after this!" I shouted as I began to slide backwards against my will.

"Oh? I didn't lie. You won't be dead. Not at all. I just said that were you to never fulfill your duty, you would die. Here, you aren't dying."

Tears began to well up and pour across my face. The others, even Twilight, tried to reach me, but the creature erected an immense cage of the black goop. The guards began to bang and strike at the cage, and so did the six, but their efforts were fruitless. I looked at them with guilt and horror, until I saw that damned deer move aside and show me Jewel. Her face was completely covered in tears, and she was the one banging the most on the cage. She even kept calling for Cyclon, but he never reacted. Then something sparked in me, and I began to fight even more as I struggled to get away from the pull.

"NO!" I began to cry profusively."I actually have a life here! I don't want to go! I don't want to leave Jewel. She was the greatest thing that ever happened to me! I don't want another thing I love to be taken away from me so violently! Let me stay!"

The deer opened a portion of the cage to let Jewel reach me, and we both showed smiles on our faces as we were going to embrace eachother again.

"Ah ah ah! I was just joking!" he said.

As its goopy mouth curved into a smile, the portal pulled atleast ten times harder than before. We were centimeters away from eachother, and we were separated, just like that. With one final scream, I lost sight of everyone. The last words I heard before falling into that forgotten light was from Amber Jewel:

"MOM! DON'T TAKE MOMMY AWAY! I WANT HER BACK! MOMMYYYYYYYYYYY!"




> My little puppeteer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a week since Silver was cast away. When Discord came out of Twilight's basement, it was too late.The mare had already dissappeared. Twilight felt terrible at what had happened. Even though she had become an alicorn, she didn't have the power to get through the cage and save Silver. She was gone forever. The other five felt just as horrible. They had known her for quite some time, and knowing that they played a part in her evolution of mind was both refreshing and painful, as what they had done would now be lost forever. Cyclon became mentally disturbed as he thought of future outcomes. While he wasn't outwright crazy, he was too concerned about analyzing the situation that he didn't do much with his job afterwards. Twilight hired him temporarily to continue training her own guards, though.

The one who was the most traumatized by the situation, however, was Amber Jewel. Her mother was at a hair's reach, but she didn't manage to grab her in time. She missed. She missed. She...missed. The little filly could only watch her mother slowly become engulfed by the banishing vortex while the black creature just stared at her and laughed powerfully and openly. Her mother was gone forever. Discord, however, wouldn't let things stay like this. If he was going to prove himself, and still hav some fun with his chaotic powers, then he was going to have to find a way to bring Silver back all while trying to cheer up Jewel.




In Cyclon's house, Twilight and Discord sat in the living room while other ponies were trying to soothe Jewel's shattered mind and heart. Discord ate the air and rank the wood's color as he looked to the side. He was the only one who didn't seem to care much, which brought about some crooked stares by those who have lived in a similar predicament. One of the ponies came back and just looked at Twilight Sparkle as he fumbled through his notes. It was a psychiatric doctor.

"We still haven't made any progress." he sighed.

"She hasn't gotten out of her room for a week." Twilight answered.

"Hmmm. Has she been drinking or eating anything you have given her?"

"Barely. She just seems to want to die, although I've found her talking to somepony and trying to create a portal to reach her mother."

"I see...She has become mentally unstable, creating a mental recreation that helps her cope with the problems. Um. Des she yell violently at it?"

"Oh, very much so." Discord answered as he tossed the glass into the ceiling."I believe I know what to do, but it will require me to infuse her with pure chaotic magic."

"WHAT?!" the two ponies screamed out.

Twilight stepped off the couch and faced the smiling draconequus directly.

"Are you crazy?! Do you know what happens to others when you use chaos on them?"

Discord picked up the mare and held her in his arms like a baby.

"Little Twilight. That's because you all don't have any appreciation for it...Well. That, and you also do not have any protection against it."

"What do you mean?" the psychiatrist asked as he suddenly stopped writing.

"Why do you think she has these powers? Do you think she's like Twilight? A pony born every few centuries with incredible magic powers are all that other hoopla about innate talent?" 

The draconequus tossed Twilight back onto the couch where she soon realized it had become sticky marshmallows.

"No. She was infused with a foreign magic during her...conception, if we are to say it vulgarly. This magic is apparently very ancient, and whatever gave it to her is currently speaking with her."

"No..."

"Princess?" the psychiatrist asked.

Twilight's eyes darted rapidly back and forth as she began to think about the events that led up to this point.

"Is it possible?" she thought aloud.

"Is what possible?" the pony responded with intrigue on his face.

"She was sent here by the Giga Sparkle."

"Giga Sparkle? They've been extinct longer than I have existed." Discord answered.

"It was apparently born through Silver's concentrated love for one object. It's possible that it was never truly killed." her eyes widened."If that's the case...then Silver was..." Twilight became silent after her sudden realization.




(Jewel's room)

The filly had been rolled up on her bed, which was in a terrible state, one might add. The filly had barely eaten or drunk anything since her mother had dissappeared, so her physique had become quite sickened and thin. The window hadn't been opened either, demonstrated by the faint sunlight passing through the window and giving the room a faint, golden appearance. Her toys were all piled in one corner, and the only mirror in her room was placed on a closet door, and even that had some weird scribbles on it.

The little mare had cried herself to sleep, thinking about her mother. Not even Cyclon was capable of convincing her to leave, although his fractured thought patterns might explain that as well. So she slept. She slept through everything being told behind the door until a voice muffled them all into whispers as its blackened the mirror.

"Little tarnished Jewel. What have you become?"

"Mom?" she suddenly jolted upwards tossing sheets everywhere.

The voice sounded like Amber's mother and even called her "Jewel" while everypony else called her "Amber". To this, the filly scuttered around the room with a smile on her face, only to stop in front of the mirror and immediately sadden. There was a black, inky figure, floating about in that "other dimension". It mocked and taunted the filly with its whitened smile, purposely dragging her to it.

"You! You're the one that has been annoying me this whole time! You're the one who took my mother! Give her back!"

"Nope."

"GIVE HER BACK!"

The filly turned around and bucked the glass, throwing shards everywher and cutting herself up badly. As she lay on the ground sniffling as the wounds hurt her, the shadow rose from the different pieces and took the shape of a black, misty Silver. It put a hoof on the tearing filly and cast away the bad wounds, effectively healing her and making Jewel confused.

"Huh?"

"There are some things you must know about your...'mother', Amber Jewel."

"No! I don't wanna listen to anything you tell me! Give me back my mommy!" the little filly began to hit the shadowy figure.

This had no effect other than to make it sigh in irritation.

"Your mother's mind has been broken and divided ever since her new lifestyle broke what her spirit had built its 'bridge' upon. Its foundations are crumbling."

"Huh?" the filly stopped hitting the creature.

"There are things that even you should understand. When you feel bad, or you're confused, who do you look for to help you? Silver or Cyclon?"

"Yes. Mommy and Daddy help me alot."

"When you need something, who has provided that for you? Like, who has brought you food, water, and toys?"

"Mommy and Daddy."

The creature levitated that filly back onto her bed and began to spread its ethereal body across the room, cleaning and rearranging it. Jewel was now lying on her bad and staring at the shadowy creature, both hate and sadness filling her every being.

"When you need love, your mother and father give it to you too?"

"Y...Yes."

"When your father needed help, he would go to others? When he had trouble, he would go to others? You've met General Bullseye, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"Along with Motel."

"Yes."

"But have you ever seen your mother go to anypony for help?"

"Y...No. Well, maybe Twilight."

"Wrong. She never asked her for help either. She doesn't ask for help because she never got it back as a child. She grew up unloved and thrown into darkness. She never knew how to express herself. Look into this mist and see what she has been doing so that you don't live through the same ordeal."

The being began to create misty windows into the past that showed Amber exactly what her mother had been doing when she had her. One showed her struggling in the hospital with her in her arms. The filly knew directly that she was forcing her tired body after some unknown event to get her something to eat. She looked absolutely devastated. She seemed close to death, but she still pushed on.

Another had her going directly to Canterlot to get her diapers and food late at night as the stores were all closed at this time. She even stayed a little longer just to get her a new toy.

"If you want to help her, then watch what happens when you look at the mirror pieces."

The being slid aside as it cast a foreleg out to show all the pieces on the floor. There was something moving about inside it, but Jewel didn't know what. As she leaned over her bed to have a closer look, the filly's eyes widened, and she reached out to them.



-One week earlier-

I was in the white world again. The world that sent me to that place so long ago. The place where I still can't move. I still feel like Silver. Why can't I go back? I don't want to go. I want to stay with Jewel. I...I love her...

The light suddenly dimmed, then I found myself on solid ground, smelling dirt and wet moss from the rain. I bolted upright after realizing I was back in the forest near the mountain cliff. Remembering what had happened all those years ago, I turned around, hoping to see the blue crystal again, but to my dismay, there was nothing but a hole. That couldn't be it. I decided to sit on my legs and try to assess the situation and remember what had happened up to this point in my life. I still had my mountaineer outfit...which meant that Silver was...No. My smile faded away as soon as I slammed my hands onto my chest. Even she had left me. All I could do now was force myself back up and walk to the cabin.

Unfortunately for me, I had stayed as a pony for so long that I had forgotten how to walk on two legs. It took awhile of stumbling and fumbling, but I managed to atleast stabilize myself and hunch back to the cabin, although it was kinda hard seeing as I couldn't remember where anything was. Once I finally found my home in the woods, the place had not changed since I left it. There was even...

"Oh yeah. I forgot about you dolts."

Lying on the ground, smoking, were three wannabe thieves. They had tried vaulting over my electric fence and created an enormous crackling noise in the forest. 

"Get out of here." I told them as I kicked their ribs.

They just moaned, tearing away my fears that I had killed them. So, I left them in their muddy spot, deactivating the code for the gates and walking through it unharmed. I took a deep breath and opened the door to my house after fumbling through my pockets for wherever the key was. It really hadn't changed. The counter was till there as well as th ekitchen behind it. My living room still had the t.v. along with the couches. Nothing special. I dropped my backpack on the floor and immediately tumbled over. I may have gotten used to walking on two legs again, but that was because of the counter-weight on my back. Without it, I had to practically crawl back to my room, where my bed awaited me. I had forgotten how much my original home looked like the one in Equestria.

Using my newly lost ability to walk, I crawled on my bed and punched the pillows while I let my muffled cries take me to a better place. Dreams always free you from the burdens of life, even if it is temporary. 

My life continued like this for about a week. I couldn't really cry. I never learned how to. I tried to find Silver, and I went back to that opening in the forest right next to the mountain again, but each time, the two quests proved fruitless.I really felt like killing myself.As I sat in my living room, listening to the trickling of the rain on my window, I simply sipped a cup of tea. I hadn't eaten any meat since I came back. Just the memory of what happened when I tried to sneak some meat into my stomach last time scared me.

The smell of this hot chocolate wasn't giving me any better moods, and my herat pounded as I contemplated by the "final solution" to my problem, that is, until Silver melted out of the windows and formed right in front of me, startling me and making me toss hot chocolate and my glass everywhere.

"What are YOU doing here?!" I shouted.

She walked up to me standing on the counch and gestured for me to get down. Her eyes still glew a bright blue even though her body was made of black ink.

"What?"

"Have you had enough, feeling what it's like to lose everything you love?"

"What?"

"You heard me."

"You...What did you do to the others?"

"Me? Nothing. Except your pal Discord is finding a way to drag you back into Equestria to prove his good intentions."

"Uh? But he--"

"He never hated you. When you're trapped in a prison for centuries, you tend to try and find ways to get out, even if it means going to extreme measures."

"And why did you do this to me? I thought you loved me?"

She snuffed at me with a smile.

"I do, but you were always complaining so much about your past that you didn't pay attention to your present and future." she walked over to my broken glass on the floor and picked it up."You know, they say that you should never dwell on the past and only look towards the future."

"Well, those people--"

"Are idiots. Never listen to them."

"Why?"

"If one forgets their past, they tend to repeat it in the future. You should keep your past in mind to have as a souvenir, but your present and future are your only priorities."

"Why are you telling me this when you already separated me from my child?"

"Because you get to back on one condition."

"And what's that?"

"You'll have to climb the mountain and go to that spot again."

With those words, she melted into a puddle of sludge and leaked out of my house. This was my chance to get out of here and rejoin Amber Jewel. I put my shoes on and immediately jolted out of the door. I ignored what I needed. No climbing equipment. No extra bottles of water. Instead, I ran as fast as I could and finally reached that spot after about forty-five minutes. I was already dead tired, but she was waiting for me right there.

"What...what is it now?"

"You'll have to fight me and kill me."

"WAIT WHAT?!"

The startled birds around flew away.

"That's right. As you recall, I didn't have this appearance before."

"So what?"

"Remember when Cyclon and Twilight went in your skull to find you?"

"Yeah...The serpent. I knew I had seen you somewhere." I silently cursed.

"Not necessarily. Being a creature that initially strived on negativity, it only reawakened my original purpose, but I was never inherently evil. Everything I did up to now was to get your hopes up and make you happier, so I let the serpent do what it wanted while maintaining a minimum of of control, yet it never worked. You were always confused and angry, but, if you 'kill' me, you'll free yourself of these emotions." 

She gestured her two front hooves as if she was doing quotation fingers.

"So what? Do I do this now?"

"No. You're just going to have to do it in the White Zone."

"The White Zone...That's what it's called? Seriously?"

"No. I dunno what it's called. Look. I'm just trying to be creative here."

"You're failing at it." I crossed my arms.

"WHOSE FAULT IS THAT?!"

Silver facehoofed and dragged it across her face, then stared at me.

"Are we doing this or not? This is your only chance to get back to Jewel and those who are your friends."

"Yes."

"Are you serious? No thinking whatsoever?"

"No."

"You know that you might die yourself."

"I was expecting that. Yes."

"Okay then. In we go."

She stomped the floor with a face of concern, and, like a frog catches an insect, I was caught by the vrtex and tossed into the white light. We were both free falling through it. It was like sky-diving, and the landscape was comprised of several images showing the events that led up to this point in my life. My birth, my fights, my encounters, everything. As I twirled around to look at everything in disbelief, I looked back at Silver to see that she had taken the shape of that deer creature again.

I immediately clenched my fists. It started. She threw herself at me, trying to impale me with her antlers, which I grabbed and used an invisible wall behind us to use as a pressure point and foot hold. I pushed back against her and broke off a piece of the antler, making her yell in pain, then I jumped to her side and stabbed her there. Pieces of the ink flew up then dissolved, followed by my voice.

"I'm not a mare. No matter what, I'm always a man."

She back-flipped and kicked me in the head with her hoof, stunning me, right before hitting my chest with the side of her head. Bad move. I grabbed it, slammed her back against my stomach, then started pummeling her into attempted submision. The ink started to dissolve itself.

"I've never had friends, yet they're so kind, but I've always wanted to be alone, so why are they always there for me when I'm rarely there for them? When no one was really ever there for me?"

She got out of my hold and growled as she shook her head. This time, she was mad. She started to use magic now, judging by the black projectiles being thrown from her antlers at me. I managed to dodge a few, but several still scraped my skin, causing me to cringe and glare back at her as she laughed. She let her guard down. I immediately threw my hand in her mouth then wrapped it around her lower jaw, which I snapped in two after some forced pressure. Her scream was awful, but I knew that this wasn't really how Silver was.

"I was a man, yet a held a foal in my belly for eleven months, and she came out as cute and adorable as I would have hoped. Why am I so attached to her when something unrelated to men happened to me? Something that should have traumatized me?"

As I grabbed Silver's hind leg which was coming towards me, I swung her around and threw her against the wall, making some more ink dissolve. This time, the void was starting to become dotted with the ink, as if something was happening.

"Derry. It's me." a voice spoke aloud.

"Grandfather?"

"Yes."

"What are you coming to me again for? I thought you were done."

"Apparently not, because Silver thought that extreme methods were necessary."

I dodged another strike coming from Silver and punched her in the gut before she twisted my arm and tossed me against the wall.

"What do you mean?"

"Derry, to be honest, I knew everything from the beginning when it started. Let's just say that I've been yourr guardian angel for some time. I've been spying on your parents too. Your dad ended up getting diarrhea after eating one carrot." 

He burst into laughter.

"Wait, so this means that you've been behind all of this?"

"Yes and no. Silver and I have been talking quietly together about how to make you open up. However, when nothing was working, she took things into her own hands the second she got caught by the snake."

"Then..."

"Yes. We've been working behind the scenes to make you open yourself up and make you happy. Although several factors came out of our reach, like that Discord fellow, you've pretty much handled yourself like holding water in a holed can."

"Meaning?" I asked after kicking Silver away.

"That I've been intervening with several things?"

"..."

"I can't go into too much detail. However, I can tell you that, if you pass this, you'll be staying with your new family and friends forever, because this place is degrading."

"It is?"

I look around to see that the tunnel was slowly becoming devoured by a black color. Just as soon as I realize this, I hear a voice call out for me. It was too faint to understand.

"Well, if it's going to be my new home, then I best get there in one piece!"

I grabbed Silver's antlers and rip them off, a resounding crack echoing in this place. I then jab them in her throat. She suddenly stops moving, and all the ink gets removed from her body. Her now lifeless body is just floating and slowly rotating as I find my own being returned to that of Silver's. I then hear Amber calling out for me.

"MOMMY! I can't reach her!"

"Where is that coming from? Jewel? Jewel! I'm going to get back to you, I swear it!"

I see a portion of the ecnroaching blackness get swiped away by some weird, crackling energies as a shard forms in it. Jewel is bashing on whatever it is and tries to push her hoof through afterwards. Using Silver's body, I push myself towards the shard and finally manage to touch this side of the mirror, if that's what it truly was. As I look at Amber and smile, she smiles back. She looked terrible, but when she reached out for me, a huge flash blinded me.

(Narrator transition)

As Derry disappeared, the true Silver smiled and dissolved herself. The tunnel was now completely engulfed by darkness and, soon, crumple into a singular mess.

(Silver transition)

I kept my eyes closed, although I felt that I was holding something. It was like when I first when through that tunnel holding Silver. Once the blinding flash dissipated, I opened my eyes to see that I was holding Jewel in my arms, and that I was a pony again. How quaint it was to feel this again. This time, however, I actually felt liberated. I was happy with what I had become, and I embraced my new purpose of existence in my legs very tightly.

"I missed you, mommy."

"I missed you too, Jewel."

The door slammed open with Twilight, Discord, and what seemed to be doctors.

"AMBER! Get out of th...It's not possible."

"What's wrong, Twilight. Did you miss moi?" I asked with a voice of humor.

Before she could walk towards me, Discord pushed her aside with a look of fear on his face.

"What is this? Silver using humor? It must be the apocalypse."

"Your humor is still largely unfunny."

"To uncouth cannies such as yourself, maybe." he put his hand on his chets and turned to the side.

"I don't get it. How is this possible?" Twilight asked.

I was about to say something, but I heard a certain voice that mocked me the first moments I was in Equestria.

Tell her it was Discord. Having chaos on your side might be good.

"But I thought you were--"

Shaddap. Yer gettin' interrupted too much.

"It was Discord's chaos that helped me get back."

The draconequus' eyes widened as he uncrossed his arms.

"I wh-what?"

"Don't be so modest."

Everypony turned to face him.

"W-Well. It was all in a day's work." he announced smugly.

"Yes. I'm sure." I frowned.

"Well, how about I just bring Cyclon here?"

"What? But I just--"

"Too late!"

Cyclon was teleported right in front of me, where he was yelling violently.

"AND IF I HEAR COMPLAIN ONE MORE TIME I'LL...I'll..."

His colors faded.

"S...Silver?"

"Yes. Still disturbed."

"Well...I talked to General Bullseye about this. He had seen his fair share in bizarreties and said that he once knew a similar predicament. Suffice to say, in this world, you've always been Silver. So, basically, there's no need to worry, although it took awhile to get used to and confirm that to myself. I guess that...I still love you."

He looked at me and simply shrugged. I stood up, stared him straight in the eyes, then kissed him...then I put him into an arm hold.

"Don't think I'll be getting mushy anytime soon." I evily grinned.

"Not on my list to expect such things."

The reunion with the others was touching as well, and a few, such as Pinkie Pie and Applejack, noticed my change in humor, saying that I seemed more 'free' of my emotions. I couldn't agree more. The pink pony threw a party for us at Twilight Sparkle's palace, to which I actually danced. I didn't have to deal with Gold, so I could enjoy this. After that, things became a bit more...shall we say, bland? Jewel began to develop her magical powers at an incredible rate, although both Luna and Celestia agreed that it was her 'natural talent', so to say, although she did recieve high praise and should be staying as Luna's personal student. 

I also made amends with Celestia. We had a little talk, and there was a bit of commotion, but I decided to treat her with respect as long as she did the same for me. I still wasn't going to use 'princess' in her name, though. Besides that, nothing really special happened. Silver was still alive and giving me advice in my head...and mocking me, and my grandfather was watching my every move. I hope he was pleased with how his plans had worked out. I still don't understand how the Giga Sparkle could communicate with someone who is dead. I guess I'll never know.




-1 year later-

It was Amber Jewel's sixth birthday, and Twilight had agreed to let her celebrate it at her palace, what with our friendship and all that. Her front yard was completely covered in decorations, and even the guards had removed their helmets and were, in a way, 'off duty'. Twilight and some of the servants were waiting for my family and I to arrive at the front door. Once we did, Twilight smiled and said:

"Happy birthday, Amber."

"Thank you, Twilight."

"Discord is in the back, in case you want to see him. He's the clown." she joked.

"YES!"

"HOLD ON!" I shouted to Jewel before she ran off. "I wanted to give you something early before you went to your party and opened the other presents."

I pulled a stuffed pony out of the backpack that Cyclon was carrying. Its body was of a cherry red, while the mane and tail, although twirled, both had a straight, mint green line going through them and their pure whiteness. Its eyes were also mint-green. It also didn't have a cutie-mark, just like Silver. It was going to be Jewel's choice on what it was going to be. I smiled as I looked at it.

"I'm giving this to you so you can cherish it. To be honest, my only gift, ever, was a plushie like this one. I cared deeply for her."

"What happened to her?" Jewel asked me.

Stop being mushy. I'm still here, dumbass.

"Well, let's just say that, even though she's gone, she's still in my head." 

My eyes glew a faint blue, judging by the reflection in Jewel's eyes.

"Here."

Jewel looked at it for awhile, then grabbed and hugged it, then thanked me.

"I'll call her 'Minty'."

"Sweetie, that isn't very--"

I cut Cyclon off and whispered to him:

"It's very creative. Don't destroy her imagination."

"Okay. Fine! Yeesh!"

I smiled in victory.

(Narrator transition)

As the filly hugged her doll, her mother and father looked at her with happiness, especially Silver. The filly hopped into the castle as she held her plushie, eager to meet Discord, but nopony noticed that, as the filly did this, the eyes of the plushie glew a faint red and a small smile pushed itself across the seems made to form the mouth.