Ten minutes, roughly, had passed by as I cried my miseries out to the world in the mud and dirt. My wails, assuming there was anything around to hear them, would have been heard from a mile away. Upon reflection I should have stayed quiet, but at that moment I didn’t care anymore. No matter how hard I willed it, I simply couldn’t stop the stream of tears. I tried to push away the thoughts of my family and home, but each attempt only provoked a stronger return.

“Y-you can d-do this…” I brokenly assured myself,

“You j-just… you just… j-just…”

Ripping the gauntlets off of my hands, I shielded my eyes from the rest of the world. The gravity of the situation had finally sunk in and it was tearing me in half. One part of me wanted to go on and try to live out the next month or so, the other simply wished to die and rot. How could I continue on if I did make the deadline only to find it had all been in vain?

Eventually, after another ten minutes of me snivelling and crying, I had tired myself out in grief. The former half of me, the half that wanted to live, stood triumphant, whatever it was worth, and my mind switched from sadness to survival. I reattached the gauntlets to my hands, wiping away errant tears with the sleeve of my cloak.

To his credit, my avian companion looked concerned over my mental health. I ignored him briefly, pretending as though my episode had never happened, only to give him an “I’ll be fine,” when the silence became deafening.

Realizing that sitting around in an abandoned campsite wasn’t going to do me any good, I reached for my discarded staff and began the laborious task of getting back up. It wasn’t so much difficult as it was cumbersome to move around in so much metal and smelling like rust. I had water, food and shelter, but I still had to learn how to defend myself. I was decently active back on Earth, so I wasn’t completely screwed. However most of my muscles were in my legs, which was both good and bad. I could outrun a lot of the things coming at me, but if it got physical then I’d be at a huge disadvantage.

The only equalizer that I had, in terms of weaponry anyways, was my apparently magical staff. It changed colours from purple to red when I wanted to look intimidating, so perhaps magic was derived from emotion? Using emotions as a tangible energy was both an interesting and terrifying concept. Would it drain me of my emotions the more that I used it? The unicorns looked pretty happy when I saw them, or is that because they simply channel everything negative into it? Overreaction was a staple of mine, but there isn’t a person alive that wouldn’t be paranoid about the sudden use of magic. There was power that was created through creation itself. It was an energy that could be harnessed and put to use by living things, apparently and seemed to bind the world together. By that logic I wasn’t sure if magic disproved or credited all religions at the same time.

The conundrum of my staff could only be answered through trial and error. I could have waited to ask Discord, but I wasn’t completely sure if he could give me a proper answer. He could use magic because he naturally had the power, I had to channel mine through an artifact, which could have been completely different. Then again, it could have been completely the same and he could have answered all my questions. It’s magic after all, so what would I know about how to use it logically?

There was a large rock, roughly two feet in diameter, on the other side of the clearing which seemed like a good training dummy for magical spells. Staff pointed forwards, I began to think on some kind of reaction. Push, pull, levitate, something that would have been a simple starting point. The gem on the staff turned a snowy white with several sparks flying from the tip as my concentration increased, but there wasn’t a single reaction. My avian comrade squawked in encouragement as I tried to move closer to the bolder. I had realized that it would be a lot easier on me if I moved closer to the rock, so I took appropriate measures and closed half of the distance between me and the rock.

“Levitate!” I demanded, a flurry of white sparks emanating from the tip of the staff. Still, the rock stood still as if it were being faced by an unsure breeze. My anger was spiking from the lack of success and the apparent mental strain that magic had, and walked right up to the oversized pebble. I stood maybe five feet away from it before trying again.

“Levitate!” I yelled to no avail, “Hover! Elevate! Ascend!”

White turned to scarlet as my temper rose with each demand. I could feel that something was happening, that was for certain. A foreign pressure was being directed through my staff and towards the rock, it was unmistakable, yet the insipid thing refused to budge an inch. After several more attempts to convince the rock to move, my mind running out of synonyms for ‘levitate’, I settled on simply insulting the thing.

“Damn it!” My staff collided with the ground as I angrily threw it away. My migraine had returned and it felt like I had just sprinted a whole marathon. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I tried to calm myself down, only to jump back at the sound of an explosion. To my horror, the rock, which I was still only a few feet away from, erupted into black flames. Fire licked at the stone's sides, desperately trying to devour the rock whole. Despite clearly touching the very dry looking grass, nothing but the rock burned. The display lasted for several seconds before the hellish fire realized that rocks were not, in fact, flammable and died out.

“The Hell?!” There was really nothing else to say, I was completely dumbfounded by what had just happened. It was also appropriate, considering that I might have just used demon powers to attack a poor rock. Even my crow companion was surprised, his beak slightly open in what I could only assume was a cross between awe and horror.

The gem in my staff had turned from vibrant red to a nauseous combination of dark purple, sickly green and black. Purple sparks were still coming from the tip, though thankfully in less dangerous looking amounts. I hesitantly reached down to touch it before shying my hand away from it. The staff, assuming I understood it correctly, just attempted to damn something to Hell. Magic or not, there is no fire that naturally looks black. If I touched it, I could easily find myself in the position of the rock. Then again I was focused the rock, and not myself, so unless I was feeling suicidal it was very unlikely that I could inadvertently harm myself with it. It was just a tool, it didn’t have a soul or a mind of its own… I hoped.

Reclaiming my courage, I grasped my staff quickly and brought it back up to standing position. The gem quickly turned back to its default purple state. It definitely seemed to be powered, or at the very least influenced, by emotions. By that logic, all I had to do to cancel a spell was simply will it to cancel. On the other hand it also seemed to be stuck on which ‘setting’ I had it on last, as the crystal only corrected itself when I came into contact with it again.

While my mind still felt exhausted, a small part of me wanted to keep on going. It was apparent that levitation was going to take some work, but I believed that I had discovered something important. If I could spontaneously create fire, then it stood to reason that I was inclined to elemental magic. Or, at the very least, pyromancy. Granted it was demonic fire, but if I could do that then regular fire should be quite easy in comparison.

Aiming my staff at the rock yet again, I decided to try one last spell before focusing on gathering food. I had realized that fire would probably set the grass ablaze around it, so I was going to test my theory on elemental magic. As I closed my eyes my thoughts pictured ice and snow, something that by comparison wasn’t so dangerous, and let the magic flow through me. Upon opening them, I witnessed a blue beam spring forth from the crystal and strike the boulder without hesitation. Frost and ice began forming on the side, even without water on the stone to freeze. Continuing without additional magical support, the ice formed nearly all the way around the rock before stopping. The crow began awkwardly applauding by cawing and flapping its wings together.

It was a victory, if a tiring one. Both my body and my mind felt exhausted. Hazarding a guess, I reasoned that it was roughly one o’clock. It was supposed to be a little after lunch and I felt like I was ready to turn in for the night. My grumbling stomach however reminded me that while the apple helped, I should have been looking for more food. While I didn’t have a basket to keep any of the fruit or berries around, I still carried a distinct memory of blue berry bushes nearby. It’d take some time, but I’d finally have a proper meal in this crazy world.

Ponyville

(Sorry, no proper page break yet. I know a person and hopefully she can help me create a custom one that doesn't look bland or terribly created.)

Quick Remedy sat in Ponyville General Hospital, her newfound friend Pinkie Pie on the other side of the room looking for a checkerboard to help pass the time. The two of them had successfully escaped the Ursa Minor, along with the rest of the other Elements, with the exception of Twilight Sparkle. In a burst of courage and bravery, as Rainbow Dash described it, Twilight had run off to try and lead the Ursa back towards its den. While nopony knew what had set the beast off on such a rampage(Tangents involve talking), they had their suspicions that the demon was involved. They were sure that Twilight would be fine though, her new wings ensured that she could easily escape if things got too bad.

“Hey!” Pinkie Pie called cheerily, “I couldn’t find the checker board, but I found a chess board! It’s too bad because I think red and black looks much better than black and white, but it’ll work!”

Remedy broke into a smile at her friend’s bubbly personality, her mood finally lifting after a long medical examination. While the cut on her cheek was easily healed, she had sat on the hospital bed for well over an hour while the doctors ran checkups to make sure that the demon didn’t implant any harmful spell or illness in her through the staff. They said it was very unlikely, but they checked regardless. Pinkie Pie was kind enough to take time out of her, ‘Ponyville Anti-Demon Planning Party’, to make sure that Remedy was feeling alright.

“That’s great Pinkie,” Quick Remedy replied kindly, if a little dryly. She was grateful for Pinkie’s willingness to keep her company, but couldn’t help but get distracted by thoughts of her family. After nearly dying half a dozen times earlier that day, part from the demon and part from the Ursa Minor, she had realized how little time that she had spent with her family. Her husband must have been worried sick about her being deployed in the search, he would have had a heart attack if he knew that he was hospitalized.
'I’ll have to ask Princess Celestia for some time off…' she thought idly.

“Red or black?” Pinkie asked, quickly setting up the board on the side of the bed. The younger mare had been one of the few things that kept Remedy going throughout the day. Pinkie Pie had even gone as far as to bake a cake to help her feel better. It looked absolutely delicious, but the doctors told her not to eat in the hospital room without permission.

“Red.” Remedy answered, a legitimate smile forming on the side of her cheeks. The sound of chatter and hoof falls coming down the hallway gave the two of them pause however. Remedy leaned over on the bed to hear better while Pinkie flicked her ear at the door, a slight twitch coming over her tail as she did.

“Right this way, she’s in the room to the left at the end of the hall.” Nurse Redheart could be heard saying to a visitor of some kind.

“Thank you so much Nurse Redheart,” the masculine voice returned. A look of realization seemed to come over Pinkie, leaving Remedy to struggle with remembering the voice’s owner. She didn’t have to think long however, as the owner soon stuck his head in through the window in the door, his mismatched eyes filled with excitement as the broken glass fell to the floor, giving an almost musical quality to the derranged being's entrance.

“Pinkie Pie, it’s so nice to see you again!” Discord began merrily, waving ecstatically with a disjointed arm as he slithered through the broken window, “And you must be dear Remedy, I’m so sorry to hear about what happened. Please, take these as my condolences.”

The chaotic spirit coiling around the bedframe, Quick Remedy found herself showered in flower bulbs and chocolates with cardboard coming out of them. Discord meanwhile let loose a hearty, if infamous, laugh, one which caused her to chuckle awkwardly in return. He might not have remembered her specifically, but she had certainly remembered him. Every morning on the way to the barracks she found herself getting doused with chocolate rain along with everypony else in the vicinity. It seemed like he was going for her personally. Then again, most of the Royal Guard could make that claim.

“Uu-h thank you for the gifts Discord,” Remedy hesitantly said, “They look… nice…” She put on her best smile to show appreciation, but the spectacle was more disturbing than heartwarming in her books. Discord was universally known as a psychotic prankster and Remedy was half expecting the flower bulbs to explode.

“Don’t thank me yet!” Discord yelled with a toothy grin, “Now where is… oh yeah, she’s in the lobby…” an eagle claw collided with his bushy eyebrows before dragging itself across his face, “one moment please!”

With a snap the deranged draconequus was gone, only to return a second later with a purple filly held in his arms. She looked around briefly before locking eyes with Remedy and screamed loudly.

“Mommy!”

“Recovery!”

Pinkie Pie was quick to swipe the checkerboard away as the little unicorn leapt up and embraced her mother. The little filly was crying, though it appeared to be from the joy of seeing her mother in good health. Discord and Pinkie stood next to each other, watching the reunion unfold. The former looked upon it awkwardly, not really used to such emotional moments, the latter was dabbing her eyes with a tissue that hadn’t been in her hoof seconds before.

“What’re you doing here?” Remedy asked through a large smile and broken up laughter, “I thought you were supposed to be at school, in Canterlot!” Her daughter, Instant Recovery, nodded energetically before gesturing towards the hovering draconequus.

“Mr. Discord found out what had happened and signed me out of school!” Recovery replied excitedly, “He brought me to Ponyville to see you and got me a chocolate milkshake!”

The two mares in the room turned to the draconequus, who was bearing a grin with so much pride the Prince would call him stuck up. After blowing lightly on his knuckles and rubbing them against his chest, Discord did a theatrical bow. The sound of applause rung out from the empty space in the room as rose petals materialized above him.

“Yes, it was all me!” he declared smugly, “The new and reformed Discord!”

Moving over slightly so that he could whisper to Pinkie Pie, “Can you mention this little good deed to Princess Twilight Sparkle? She’s been breathing down my neck for the past week on not doing anything helpful, so this would really be a friendly thing to do.”
Pinkie Pie nodded hesitantly, but smiled brightly back at the draconequus. It was nice of him, even if it was partially to his own benefit.

“How did you know about what happened?” Remedy asked, her attention focused towards Discord with a drip of suspicion in her voice. The aforementioned spirit of chaos’ eyes shrunk for a moment as a brief pause overtook him. As if struck by lightning, he quickly burst back into action as he floated up from the floor again.

“It wasn’t that hard to hear Lulu screaming back in Canterlot, so I came to visit Fluttershy this morning to make sure everything was alright,” Discord explained, his ‘expository accent’ kicking up as he slipped into one of his more talkative moods,
“She told me about the Ursa attack, which I also helped Sparklebutt out in getting rid of might I add, and learned about little you sitting in the hospital. So, as the kind and generous draconequus that I am, I thought that I’d bring you a little gift to help cheer you up! I couldn’t find your husband though, something about guarding day court or something of the like…”

“Awww, how sweet!” Pinkie exclaimed, wrapping her hooves around Discord’s torso in a hug, “You really are reformed now, aren’t you?”

After the brief moment that it took him to realize what Pinkie was doing, Discord returned the awkward hug accordingly. Instant Recovery didn’t hesitate to start talking to her mother in the few seconds of silence, explaining every little detail of her day and teleportation journey from Canterlot to Ponyville.

“I suppose I am,” he replied softly as he took the moment to appreciate her words.

“I’m sorry but I really must be off! Celestia’s got me on demon hunting duty and I have a couple ideas of where he might be. Say hello to everypony,except for Rainbow Dash, for me!”

With that, the chaotic being was gone.

Author's Note

I know that this isn't some of my best work. I'm obviously aware of this. I've been stuck with writer's block for well over a month and have been trying to produce something so I can get the juices flowing, so to speak. With schooling and personal issues also in the background, I won't be updating as nearly as often as I'd actually like.

Before I continue with my announcements, I'd just like to say thank you to my editor kamachatka, (http://www.fimfiction.net/user/kamachakta), for helping me out after I hired him and forgot about him for a month. Yeah... Anyways, he hasn't done any work on the previous chapters, but he's, (I'm hoping anyways,) going to work on them eventually. Right now I'm focusing on sending him new work instead of old and seeing as how he has a life of his own, revision will come much later. Also, this chapter was supposed to come out much earlier, but unfortunately for me I had very hard troubles uploading new chapters, so here's hoping it works. (Also, if you're reading this, kam, I'm sorry that all your painstakingly, perfect spacing is ruined. Spacing and such doesn't work well with this computer.

Moving on, I'd like to just say how grateful I am for all of those who have liked, favourited or shown general support to this story. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. It truly warms my heart to know that I'm producing something that some people enjoy. Also I'm still looking for OC's, if anyone's interested in sending them to me by PM I'd appreciate it.

Last thing, I promise. Thanks for reading this story, and assuming you're still going through this author's note, for reading this too. If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please post them below. I really do love feedback. Even if it's negative, I'd like to believe I'm big enough of a person to take it. Just don't make it too harsh, if you wouldn't mind that is. (Though upon reflection, I shouldn't have gone online if I didn't want to feel insulted from time to time...) Regardless, thanks for the time and I hope you enjoy what I produce further.