Chapters Earth: 1818 "Mayor Applejack"
Earth #: 1818
In this Earth, Applejack decided to stay in Manehatten as a filly and not return to Sweet Apple Acres. After witnessing the sonic rain-boom, she instead took it as a sign to enjoy the surrounding beauty of the metropolis she had so far been ignoring.
She explored every inch of territory surrounding her apartment and quickly moved on to entire swaths of the city map. Over time, she became well known of the city and its layout and found herself to be just as knowledgeable as the locals, if not more.
Starting school in the fall, Applejack met a wonderful group of five other fillies, each one denizens of different parts of town. This mixed background of ponies created an interesting combination between the group and their frequent adventures.
Over time, the six ponies forged an unbreakable bond of friendship between each other and were inseparable for the rest of their lives. Even as each filly earned their Cutie Mark (Applejack being the last) they still loved and cherished every minute they spent together, their relationship not changing a bit over time.
On the day that her mark finally did appear, AJ had fully accepted her special talent of orating. More then once, was she able to talk down arguments between her friends and others, with her honeyed but honest words. As she progressed in age, she attempted a career in theater and quickly rose up the stage hierarchy, eventually staring in the lead role as “Ever-Meaner Scrooge” in the play A Hearth’s Warming Story.
However, she later left the theatre scene, stating that the opulent appearances and self-serving lifestyles “just ain’t in ma’ blood”. By that time, she was well into her adulthood and had no career to pursue.
She bounced around for a bit, trying different jobs, hoping to find something that fueled her love of public speaking and problem solving, but something that wouldn’t nurture an individualist attitude.
She landed a job as a speaking coach, mainly dealing with bumbling Equestrian politicians trying to sound more bravado in the face of voters. One day, one of her regulars, the Mayor of Manehatten himself, waddled into her office, sick as a dog with a horrible whopping cough. The pudgy pony collapsed onto the floor and begged her to read his address for the following day, citing: “I just can’t do it!”
Nervous but still determined, Applejack proudly trotted toward the great white domed building in the city center with passion in her heart. She explained to the Mayor’s cabinet the situation and they agreed to the decision to have her step in as the speech reader. It was a Monday afternoon when she slowly walked towards the podium right outside the grand Center Park.
Carried away by the moment, Applejack began telling the crowd, what she thought was best for the City of Manehatten and what she would do if in the Mayor’s shoes for a day. The cabinet was appalled.
The power to her microphone was quickly cut and one of the acolytes ran up on stage to address the crowd. But before the crony could speak, the entire gathering of ponies began to cheer and applaud for AJ and her amazing plans for the city. Before anypony knew it, Applejack was running for mayor.
Although he tried his best with attack ads, backroom favors, and general dastardliness, there was no way for the Mayor to stop the amazing support AJ had with the voters. Her honesty and complete detachment for the political machine won the hearts of nearly every citizen in Manehatten.
On election day, the Mayor gave one last speech saying that: “the ponies of Manehatten have no idea what they were getting themselves into”. He predicted an age of ailing progress and absolute crumbling in all aspects of the city’s achievements. Applejack winning the mayor’s office would spell disaster for the city and everypony in it. He couldn’t have been more wrong.
From her first day, she fixed the grating problems that had gripped the city for generations. Corruption was stamped out, businesses flourished, art and literature where encouraged, and the ponies of Manehatten couldn’t be happier. For years, the city would continue in this state, watched over carefully by her wisdom and even-hoofed justice.
One morning, after five years without a single vacation day, it was unanimously decided by her cabinet for Mayor Applejack to take a mandatory one week leave of absence. It took her awhile to decide where she wished to travel. There were plenty of amazing resorts and exotic locations all around Equestria for her to choose from.
However, Applejack knew that there was only one other place in the entire world where she would like to be, other then Manehatten. With nostalgia leading her, she chose to return to Sweet Apple Acres after all these years.
Arriving in Ponyville the next day, she trotted down the familiar dirt road that led straight to the family farm. Along the way, she passed through the center of town, taking in the sweet memories she had cherished so dearly from her childhood.
Trailing the unicorn was a short stubby baby dragon holding a large stack of books. He was speaking to the unicorn while she scrawled something down on a piece of parchment held close to her face. The two paid AJ no mind as she stopped for a moment and began to stare at them.
Something seemed familiar about the duo, the unicorn in particular. Even after they had moved completely past her line of sight, AJ still stood there, looking at where they had been.
Turning back towards Sweet Apple Acres, she continued to walk down the dusty road. She turned around one more time and stared back down the path, towards Ponyville. She felt strangely sad for a moment, and had no idea why.
Earth: 2149 "Vampirism is Magic"
Earth #: 2149
In this Earth a vampiric plague swept through Equestria, devastating all in its wake. Although difficult to determine where and when first infection occurred, individual outbreaks of most settlements where recorded.
In Ponyville, a week before any major incidents were reported; a handful of individuals had been reported to have several symptoms that mirrored that of Tiny Pox. This included dehydration, itchy eyes, insomnia, and vomiting.
All those infected where quickly quarantined within the local hospital, as was regulation when a Tiny Pox outbreak was spotted. Patient contact with the outside was quickly cut, closed off by the large steel door to the quarantine ward. The only interaction they had was with certain doctors, authorized only to bring food and be fully equipped with hazmat suits at all times.
For a week the sick ponies sadly bumbled around in their prison-like containment. No entertainment was provided, the hospital food was bland, and the doctors delivering the rations were very quick in their duties, hopeful to leave the ward as quickly as possible.
Soon, the ponies lost most of what little energy they had left and spent most of their days sadly sitting in bed, moaning over their decrepit situation. It wasn’t until the next week that a body was discovered.
Three hazmat doctors where sent into the ward to retrieve and prepare the body for cremation. After sterilization of their suits, the trio silently stepped into the ward as the vault door slowly locked behind them. Three minutes later, the first screams were heard.
Desperate pounding could be heard against the steel door with muffled cries coming from one of the doctors. The sealing door was immediately opened and a single doctor stumbled out. His mask was torn of his face, his suit was horridly ripped, and blood covered his entire torso.
As several other doctors rushed over to the dazed survivor’s aid, a figure jumped out of the still open quarantine door. At that precise moment, power to the entire facility was unexpectedly cut, sending the entire building into darkness. Records cease from this point in time.
Following the multiple reports of disturbances in the area surrounding Ponyville’s hospital, several guards where dispatched to apprehend the perpetrators. However, by the time the guards reached Ponyville later in the night, they instead turned their attention to the town itself.
Several citizens had been severely wounded by attacks similar to those in the hospital area. Eyewitnesses said that “thugs were beating and biting everypony they saw, jumping from roof to roof only to dive back down and attack someone else.” Many of those attacked were promptly treated by emergency workers on the scene, but the attacked also began to show signs that mirrored that of Tiny Pox.
It was reported that the attackers were “soaked in blood, incredibly quick, and very resistant to physical force but not invincible”. However, no single attacker was able to be properly examined due to the frequency of their attacks and quick evasion from apprehension.
Announcements by Mayor Mane at the time were for all ponies to stay indoors and await further instruction by the guards. Although this did help in reducing the consistency of the attacks, several homes where broken into and the occupants harmed.
This cycle continued into the pre-dawn hours, where as the thugs where reported to have suddenly disappeared. Peace had returned by morning but at the cost of over half the population of Ponyville now showing signs of Tiny Pox.
The hospital was quickly sealed and all media attention was diverted by the guards. Although no pony knew precisely what had been found inside the building, the implications from the guards was one of absolute terror. A group of scientists were requested to travel from Canterlot to Ponyville immediately to gather and study samples found within the hospital.
By this point in time, several other settlements in Equestria where having similar occurrences to what had happened in Ponyville. Guards where sent to every corner of the country, their primary goal of maintaining order at all costs.
A few days later, after basic blood testing of the bio-matter found within the hospital, a startling discovery was made. The infected that had been held within the hospital had not been infected with Tiny Pox at all, but instead a previously thought eradicated disease, vampirism.
Although some thought vampirism as an ancient and mythological plague, the signs could not be ignored. The attacks, the ailments, the infected, all mirrored the ancient stories of before Celestia’s and Luna’s rein. This realization sent waves of unease through Equestria and it would only be a matter of time before all Hades broke loose. More than a quarter of Equestria was infected with vampirism and society began to show cracks in its facade.
The next weeks of the outbreak are the most obscure in terms of information. It can be gathered from the few remaining pieces of personal records kept by survivors; that this was a period of downward anarchy. The normal work cycles of nearly all business and organizations (except for the guards) grinded to a halt, fear clutching the entire populace. And with this slump in productivity, essentials such as food and clean water began to run low.
Martial law had been in effect for weeks but it was only until now that dissident began to take hold. Many ponies, upset with the lack of food and protection they believed the guards should be giving them, held riots in all still standing settlements. This obviously accomplished nothing but add to the growing chaos.
All non-resisting citizens were moved to several evacuation zones along the Equestrian borders and coastlines. Everyday, thousands willingly moved away from their homes, aware that they might not return to them ever again.
The refugees settled in large swafs of unoccupied land, set aside by the friendly Zebra and Griffon kingdoms. Although the conditions were not incredibly pleasant, some resemblance of order was kept by the guards and remaining politicians.
Two months later, any remaining survivors in Equestria were either overwhelmed by the infected, ran out of supplies, or hunted down by themselves. The guards were the last to pull out of the nation, but not before implementing a scorched earth policy to cover everypony’s escape.
Battalions of guards would march through cities in the daylight hours and tactically rig small fires in and around the center of the city. By nightfall, once the guards had reached a safe distance, the entire city would be ablaze, cutting off and burning any infected trapped within inferno.
This process was repeated upon until most cities were either a pile of ashes or abandoned by the infected. With this in mind, Central Command called for a tactical retreat from Equestria, stating: “We’re done here.” On a humid spring morning, the last group of guards slowly trotted across the Equestrian/Griffon border, triumph and sadness both in their hearts.
A captain walking with the rest of the foot soldiers turned around for a moment and stared back down the pathway. He saw something, or at least he think he did. He didn’t want to speak up if it was nothing, but he was sure it was something. He couldn’t make out much, but he swore that whatever it was, it was following them.
Taking out a pair of binoculars from his saddle bag, he stared down the dirt road and caught a glimpse of the object. It was an infected, earth-pony, female, green and pink in complexion, and coming towards them. He yelled to everypony around him, but before their weapons could be brandished the infected screamed something, hobbled to the right, slipped on the ground, and fell.
The group moved in on the fallen infected and encircled it with their swords at the ready. It appeared to be dead, but no chances could be taken. The captain waited a moment for any sudden movement and then stepped forward. One of the guards yelled at him to get back, but he ignored them. He could see something in the monster before him, something important.
He lowered himself down and glanced around the dead creature. It looked disgusting. Dried blood caked its still open mouth with thin cobalt eyes stuck staring onto the ground. A line of blood streaked down its head. Its mane was disheveled with thick clumps of mud solidified along the ends. The thing looked more dead then alive.
Fixing his eyes on several key points of its body, he began to inspect the monster. The eyes, the head…the stomach, all pointed towards something. He put his hoof to its throat and felt for a pulse. He waited for a moment, then smiled and stood up. “They’re starving!” he proudly announced to the group.
Earth: 259 "Princess of the Hill"
Earth #: 259
Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack stood vacantly along a small stretch of grass bordering the pavement. The stretch of grass was technically Twilight’s property considering it was in front of her new oak fence and the pavement was none other then the alley, prime hangout spot of Twilight and the gang.
The four stood silently, all holding a can of Sweet Apple Acres Cider and occasionally taking a sip of the sweet juice every now and again. Twilight lifted her can to her mouth and took a sip.
“Eyup” she casually called out, followed by Fluttershy’s returning “Eyup”, proceeded by Pinkie’s “Yup”, and finished off by Applejack’s “Mmm-hmm”. This was the ritual. The usual opener to any conversation the four friends had when doing anything that involved cider, the alley, and the evening. And of course, just as soon as the ritual had ended, Pinkie spoke up.
“Hey Twilight, I heard Dashie got some new roofing tiles. Their supposed to be those new Weather-Tec ones that can absorb any moisture and shoot it back down to the ground. It sounds really neat!”
Twilight took another sip of the cider before responding. “Why would Rainbow Dash need roofing tiles, she lives in the sky.”
“Well” continued Pinkie, “She doesn’t want to keep on having clouds brush up against her house, chips off some of the already existing clouds.” Pinkie took another sip of cider. “There’s magnets in them no doubt, attracted to any other surface, ready to scratch and destroy anything we hold dear.”
Fluttershy spoke up at this point, not even waiting to take another sip of her cider. “I wish clouds brushed up against my house. I would invite them in, and we’d have a nice dinner together, and I would even let them pet Angel.”
Applejack responded to this in a casual manner. “Dang ole mare, I tell ya’ what mare, the dang ole shingles on the dang ole house go a’ flip ana’ floppin all aroun’ the dang ole place, mare itsa in like a win’ storm mare, like I tell ya’ what mare ain’t dang ole need for the shingles cause’ the dang ole things justa fly right off and dang ole kill somepony I tell ya’ what. Sad stuff mare.”
The three other ponies nodded in sincere agreement, understanding everything Applejack had just said. “Well that’s what we tell ourselves, Applejack” concluded Twilight.
Everypony got back to silently sipping the cider for the moment when Spike came sprinting up the road, a piece of parchment in his claws.
“Twilight, Twilight!” the stubby little dragon called out, “I just this letter from Princess Celestia!” Spike skidded to a stop right in front of Twilight and quickly thrusted the letter to her face. He smiled up at her as she took it from his claws.
Twilight unfurled the letter with her magic and began to read the letter aloud.
“Dear Twilight Sparkle, it has recently come to my attention that you have surmounted many additional hours of work as Assailant Manager of the Ponyville Library. I am reluctant to announce that in order to keep in line with Federal Labor Laws, I have been mandatorily authorized to give you something that would assuredly make up for your overtime. It can be pretty much anything you want, as long as it’s in with the terms of agreement you signed eight years ago. I can’t find the document anywhere in my office so go crazy. Hey, I don’t make the rules but this seems fair enough. Sincerely, Princess Celestia.”
Twilight put the letter down, partially in surprise and partially in confusion. “What does the Princess mean by this?” she asked aloud.
“It means she’s gonna give you whatever you want Twilight!” responded Pinkie. “You have your boss by the tail and now it’s time to reel her in! If I were you, then I would most definitely ask for something important, something worthwhile. Maybe a space ship or a flying yacht.”
“Dang it Pinkie, I don’t need a dang yacht!”
Fluttershy spoke up at this. “Maybe you should ask for a year off work. Then we could hang out a lot more and I could have you over for dinner everyday that I’m not crying or serving Oreos and stale milk that night.” Pinkie Pie perked up at this idea.
Applejack slowly shook her head in disbelief. “Dang ole mare, I tell ya’ what mare, outta go to the dang ole pinnacle, know what I’m sayin’, dang ole live free, or dang ole die hard, mare, be whatya wanna be, know what I’m sayin’.”
Twilight smiled. “You know what Applejack? I’m going to do just that, exactly what I’d want to do. Thanks!” Twilight put down her can of cider and walked into her house with Spike trailing behind her.
With Twilight now gone, the three began to converse again.
“Darn shame with what Twilight’s doing to herself” said Pinkie. “Putting all her time into that work of hers, I bet she’ll just ask Princess Celestia for a book or something. We ought to do something.”
“Like what?” asked Fluttershy.
Pinkie Pie threw down her can to add dramatic effect. “We’re gonna throw her party! But not just any party, a party that will make her beg Celestia for more days off from work! And thus, be able to hang out with us even more.”
“Dang ole mare, howya’ gonna dang ole’ make Twilight not wanna work, mare, she dang ole can’t stop I tell ya’ what.” Applejack’s skepticism meters were at an all time high with Pinkie’s plan.
Pinkie nodded in agreement. “That might be true, but if we show her how much fun she can have on her work days…I think that’ll convince her.” Pinkie turned to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, do still have those sky diving tickets for you and one other?”
“Yes, I do. I’ve been saving them in a special box whenever somepony offers to go with me. I’ve told you girls about it before but you’ve never seemed to-”
“Excellent!” Continued Pinkie. “Since the skydiving is normally at ten thousand feet, if we rip each ticket in half, that’ll cover all of us to skydive from five thousand feet!”
Pinkie turned her attention to Applejack. “Applejack, you still have the vintage Converga Convertible from last summer?”
“Dang ole’ mare, I got da’ dang ole thing ready mare, I tell ya what.”
“Perfect. And I still have my stock of fireworks and blasting caps. Of course I’ll have to add some extra magnesium so the fireworks can’t be affected by any psychoactive-alien influxes that occur when they’re above the tree line. But I can work that out later.”
Pinkie looked at both Fluttershy and Applejack and then shouted. “Team, move out!” Pinkie took off sprinting towards her house and Applejack began to casually walk towards her house. Fluttershy stood there a moment and then shouted “I’ll run too!” and took off bolting towards her house.
Earth: 5622 "Kindly Communistic"
Earth #: 5622
Mr. and Mrs. Cake silently went through preparations for the night. The glasses were washed, the distillery had been filled, and the counter was scrubbed. All they awaited now was the first rush of customers on that cold winter’s night.
Thick clumps of flurries paraded onto the cobbled streets outside their meager tavern and they of all ponies knew that the cold always attracted the drinking type. Mr. Cake had just put a new bottle of vinegar and salt onto the serving shelf, when the first patron of the night came through their door.
“Officer Sparkle!” greeted Mrs. Cake, “What a pleasant surprise!”
“Thank you comrade Cake” returned Twilight Sparkle, “I always enjoy the company of good people like you and your husband, especially in troubling times like this.”
Twilight, still standing at the gangly rug near the front door, slipped off her red scarf and stuck it onto a nearby coat rack. She stomped the snow off her hooves and trotted towards her normal booth along the wall of the room. Sitting down, she made a waving gesture with her hoof, and the Cakes immediately got to work.
“So how are things troubling?” Queried Mr. Cake as he poured Twilight’s normal mug of sour cider. “Is it something with the Griffons?”
“No, not just the Griffons. More unrest in Celestiagrad. Food riots and such. We’ve had to dispatch a few soldiers to keep the peace.”
Mr. Cake made his way over to the booth, the mug balanced on his head. “And the Griffons?”
“They’ve been using spy-gliders on us again. Only this time they fly so high our Air Corps can’t reach them. So we can see them taking photos of our nation, we just can’t stop them.”
Mr. Cake set down the glass of cider on Twilight’s table and quickly walked back around the counter. The night was still young so he could only expect more customers. Mrs. Cake came back from the kitchen, carrying a bowl of grilled flowers and steamed hay.
“Here you go” she said as she put the food down in the middle of Twilight’s table. “Are comrades Dash, Jack, and Rarity coming this night, officer?”
Twilight was sipping her drink heartily as she responded. “Not comrade Rarity. She’s been busy repairing clothes for the steel workers. The flames in those foundries always singe the jumpsuits first.”
Mrs. Cake nodded and moved back into the kitchen. Mr. Cake moved his hoof towards the old radio that sat on one of the drink shelves when the door suddenly burst open.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack came galloping into the room, leaving tracks of snow behind them. “Sorry for be’en late Twilight” apologized Applejack, “All this snow makes it mighty difficult to maneuver about.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Or maybe you shouldn’t have been such a slow poke getting here. I could’ve flow the both of us here at the drop of a dime.” Applejack sat down next to Twilight in the booth followed by RD dropping into the other side of the table.
Mr. Cake began to pour the usuals for the girls as he finally clicked on the dumpy old radio. Immediately, nationalistic tunes began to sing out of the box, filling the tavern with some much needed energy.
“I love this song!” exclaimed Dash. “United as sisters we staaaaand! For the love of our nation and wooooorld! With hammer and cycle we caaaaarve! A brand new world of our ooooown! ”
Shaking his head at her poor singing, Mr. Cake brought over the rest of the drinks and took his place back behind the bar.
The three began to munch and drink on their small feast in front of them. AJ and RD gobbled most of the food down while Twilight slowly drank in silence. Noticing her aloofness, AJ stopped eating for a moment.
“Twilight…is something wrong? Ya’ don’t seem right.”
Twilight Sparkle responded in a very low voice, almost like a whisper. “I have concerns for our great nation comrades. I have kept them held within myself for a considerable amount of time and I’m not sure if I can stand it any longer.”
Rainbow Dash looked flabbergasted and immediately stopped eating. “What do you mean concerns?”
“Comrade Celestia” she continued, “I am starting to doubt her leadership capabilities greatly.”
Applejack was taking a swig of vinegar when she heard this and she instinctively spat out her drink onto the table. “What!?!”
“You heard me! She is unfit, I have seen it myself. I have been in her presence for several years. I know her better then any of you, and what I think is so.”
Mr. Cake, nervously pretending not to listen, slowly took out a piece of paper from his apron and began to scrawl something down onto it. Twilight immediately noticed and calmly yelled over to the timid bartender.
“Don’t even think about contacting the police, comrade Cake. They know me and I know them. But you on the other hoof may not be so lucky.”
Mr. Cake frighteningly responded to the hidden threat. “What do you mean by that, officer!”
“It means that the police and I are good friends, and they would not mind giving me a favor or two to those who rat on military officers. You’re a good father Mr. Cake; don’t throw it all away for some patriotic devotion of yours. It’s not going to get you far.”
Mr. Cake was practically ready to faint as he quickly got up from his chair and bolted into the kitchen.
Twilight sat back down as if nothing had happened and got back to her drinking. Rainbow and Applejack were uneasy from what they had just seen but Applejack nervously pressed on.
“But how is the Princess of Steel unable to lead? She’s been such a good leader in the past.”
Twilight gently set down her drink and stared the two mares straight in the eyes. “Maybe she was, maybe she wasn’t. But what I can confirm is that she has gone mad. Completely, utterly, mad.”
“I have seen her bouts.” She continued. “Talking to herself, snapping at her guards, crying uncontrollably. She stays in her bedroom for hours in a single day, and does absolutely nothing in terms of helping the nation. It’s just her advisors that pull the strings these days and even they are afraid of her.”
“Then what are you proposing?” asked Rainbow Dash accusatorily. “You want to be in charge now?”
Anger rippled into Twilight’s eyes. “I said nothing of the sort, how dare you!”
“Now Twilight, don’t get all riled up at Rainbow Dash. It’s just that no pony normally talks like this, even if they are a military officer. You’re not invincible, you know.”
Twilight aimed her growing anger towards Applejack. “But aren’t you worried? Aren’t you concerned? Don’t you want to do something about this, for the good of everypony else?”
“Twilight…” said Applejack as she put her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “We leave things like that to the higher up, the leaders. We are workers, and glorious Equestria needs workers. If we were too distracted thinking about politics that are out of our control, then no work would be done, and the country would most certainly die.”
“So two of you don’t want to talk about this, don’t even want to think about this obvious problem?”
Rainbow Dash and Applejack both shook their heads in unison.
“Well if that is the case” said Twilight as she rose out of the booth, “Then I’m going home, goodnight comrades!”
Twilight Sparkle stomped over to the front door and yanked her scarf off the hook. Hastily tying it around her neck, she kicked the door open and left the tavern without even saying “goodbye” to her friends.
As she walked home, the fresh snow crunched under her hooves while she maneuvered through the crowded wooden and concrete structures that were the heart and soul of Ponyville. She made her way down several vacant alley ways and side streets, the normal shortcuts back to her upstanding officer’s apartment.
She continued down her last alley way, from there all she would have to do was turn onto Mane Street and she would be home. The biting cold was starting to get to her hooves and the scarf was doing little to keep her head warm.
Middle way through the alley, she noticed a recently placed poster on one of the brick walls. It was picture of a muscular looking stallion clutching a hammer and looking up at a golden sky. The text bellow the figure read: A New Age of Peace, Prosperity, and Hope
Something creeped out of the corner of her eye and she instinctively turned her entire body around to face the mouth of the alley. A dark silhouette had appeared a few feet away, vacantly standing at the end of the road. She couldn’t make out what it was but she could easily see the gleam of something on its chest, something bright, a red star.
She stood frozen in time as the figure stared at her and she stared at the figure. She was about to open her mouth when she saw the shadow raise something from its side. Even in the darkness of night she could tell exactly what it was, a gun. Before she could even scream out in terror, a bullet ripped through her chest and she fell. Her body landed on the cold stone pavement and the silhouette disappeared.
Earth: 4031 "Discord the Meek"
Earth #: 4031
Discord slowly pattered through the pristine marble hallway. He held a substantial stack of books in his claw/paw and even more hovered behind him, suspended by a levitation spell. The Royal Library had received a recent edition of encyclopedias and he had volunteered to carry them from the front entrance hall, all they way to the shelves themselves in the library.
This was normal of his day to day actions. Any odd job that was involved with Canterlot’s wide assortment of information was definitely his responsibility. He was the active librarian, book assistant, check-out manager, check-in manager, and page restorer for over a thousand years. He saw it as his duty to deal with anything involving his domain, even when it technically wasn’t.
Reaching the wide double doors to the Hall of Shelves, he attempted to push his way through the spacious opening. No luck. The stacks he was carrying were too high to fit over the door top. Trying again, he still could not squeeze the stacks through. Pushing one last time, the books both in his grasp and hovering behind him, exploded in a flurry of book bindings and pages as each codex tumbled to the ground.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no!” Discord mumbled to himself, quickly getting on his knees to pick up and push all the fallen books through the doorway. Halfway through his work, he heard hoofsteps at the end of the hall followed by snickers and muffled whispers.
Panicking, Discord pushed the last clutter of texts through the doors and promptly shut them behind him. He was safe now.
Lifting all the books with his magic, he levitated them over to his processing table and neatly placed them alphabetically across it. Planning to get to work later, he plopped himself down on the nearest bench and put his claw to his forehead.
Anger seethed from his cheeks as his jaw tightened in pure hatred at the guards. “They always do this!” he thought to himself, “They never stop! What did I do to them!?”
Although he hadn’t seen their faces, he knew all to well the sources of those passing insults. Stonewall and Blitzkrieg was their names, a pair of guards that were regularly posted around the library and the connecting chambers. Ever since they had appeared awhile back, his peaceful world had been shattered to bits. Whether it was a passing sarcastic compliment or giggling at his clumsy antics, those two never seemed to be satisfied with bothering him.
But what made it worse about it all, was his whimpyness in responding to them. He never did anything about it, always enduring through the days and hoping that they might get bored with him.
“I’m almost twelve-hundred years old, I shouldn’t take this from a couple of punks!” he continued to himself. “I should…I should do something bad to them! Like make them slip on the floor or maybe spray water on them! Yeah, that’ll teach them a lesson!”
But the little voice in his head spoke straight through these emotional responses and told him the right thing to do. “Just report them to the Princess, she will understand. Bullying should never be tolerated in the workplace.”
Discord sighed and stood back up. He had a lot of inventory to take and he needed to get down to business before lunch. Walking back over to his processing table, he was about to sit down, when a knock came from the double doors.
Sighing once more, Discord walked over to the doors and pulled both open. Realizing who it was, Discord jumped back in surprise. “Princess Celestia!” he shockingly exclaimed, jumping backwards and quickly recovering with a bow onto his knee.
The stoic monarch smiled and slowly trotted into the library, her bright rainbow hair slowly fluttering behind her. “Good morning Discord” regally greeted Celestia, “How are you doing today?”
Pausing a moment in recoil, Discord responded. “F-Fine, everything’s f-fine. I got the books over from the front hall all the w-way here, just like I said.”
The Princess nodded in approval and glanced over at the neat stack of texts on the table. She smiled once more at Discord. “It’s good to see that your position as Book Master is still a perfect fit for you, Discord.” The Princess slowly walked over to a nearby shelf and pulled a book from it. “I came over just to borrow a read on superheroes and such. A friend in Ponyville recommended it to me.”
She levitated a black book with a large yellow smiley face and drop of blood on the cover away from its resting place. Walking back to the doors, she said her farewell. “It was very nice seeing you today Discord, keep up the good work.”
Discord shakily grinned at the compliment and then realized he was about to miss out on his opportunity. “Excuse me, Princess!” he called to her as she was halfway through the door.
“Yes?” she called back, not a hint of agitation in her voice.
“I wanted to report something to you, something that’s been bothering me.” Discord could feel his nerves tightening. He really didn’t want to tattle to the Princess of Equestria, but he knew it was the only way. “A couple of guards around here have been picking on me. Stonewall and Blitzkrieg I think are their names. Could you please make them stop?”
The Princess’s expression changed to one of light thought at the news of this. “Hmmm, thank you for telling me this Discord. I shall go talk with them, and I promise this will never happen again.”
Discord beamed in triumph. “Thank you, Princess!”
“You are very most welcome. I will go and see them now.” Gently closing the door, the Princess left the room just as quickly as she’d entered.
Doing a hop and a skip, Discord did a little victory dance for himself. “Disaster averted!” he quietly said, “Now to get to work in peace.”
