One Simple Glass of Water
Carefully, Twilight lowered herself onto the sandy shore, and with only a little tumbling, she came to a halt on the ground once more. Carefully, she tugged in her wings, dropped her saddle bags, and let herself collapse onto the beach.
For two hours straight she had flown over nothing but the blue ocean sea, not to mention all the time she had spent crossing Equestria just to get there, and by now her muscles were aching very much. She deserved a break, and for a minute or two, she simply lay on her back, letting the sun rays warm her and the wind brush over her face.
But exhausted wasn't the only thing she was. There had been no time to eat while in the air, so naturally she had to miss lunch; something her stomach responded to very strongly. She sat back up and went through her saddle bags in search of the water bottles and daisy sandwiches she had packed for the trip. Half of them she'd have now, the other half she would safe for a potential dinner, since she didn't know how long her little adventure would take and dreaded the thought of going without food for this long once again.
Without any real appetite, she took the first bite out of her sandwich and let her eyes roam about the island she had landed on. With its unique shape, there was no doubt this was the right place. The entire island was encircled by a mountain ring that, no doubt, had once been a volcanic crater, now extinct for a long time. Only to one side, the side she was currently residing, did the mountain ring drop off into the ocean, giving way to a sandy beach shore while also forming an entrance into the rich forest vegetation that had covered the crater over the millennia.
She had been told that a long time ago, ponies had tried to settle here, but had failed to properly cultivate the land to sustain a reasonable population. Most had quickly returned to the mainland and only a couple of solitary recluses had stayed behind, eventually being replaced by a new wave of hermits every other century. In the near distance, Twilight could see two small cabins and had to wonder whether they were remnants of the very first ponies to set foot on this island or had been built only in recent centuries. After she had finished her first sandwich and unwrapped the second to eat along the way, she decided to walk over there to investigate a little.
Upon closer inspection, she was really fascinated by the little dwelling she had found, so much in fact, that she would have to report it to the Archeological Society of Canterlot once she got back. It consisted of a small stone shack, its roof completely gone and its walls reduced to little more than rubble by the ceaseless efforts of water and wind. Next to it stood two small wood cabins, most likely a more recent addition by a couple of much younger settlers, relatively speaking. Like many, those settlers had chosen to built on an already existing structure rather than start their houses from scratch, thereby creating a repository for not only their own, but also a previous timeperiod the ASC might be very happy to hear about.
But what interested Twilight the most were the elaborate structures these settlers had placed before their houses. Half a dozen totem poles stuck out of the ground, their meaning and purpose long forgotten, but their beauty remaining. All of them were depicting some sort of animal, ranging from sea gull to tortoise, carved out of wood, resting on top of a pony-high pole. Among them, one stood out far more than the others, not only because it was the only one made out of stone, but also because of the animal it was depicting: a strange, winged lion-like creature that still had the distinct face of a pony.
She walked up to it to brush her hoof along its underside. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “That's some real impressive craftsmanship. I wonder what tools they used to carve it so smoothly.”
“Was that a compliment?” the statue asked. “Should I thank you?”
Twilight screamed and jumped back a full pony length. “It's a talking statue!” she shouted in disbelief. “It's a talking statue!”
“Where? Where?” the statue asked, turning its head every which way, but incapable of making out what Twilight had been talking about. Once it had given up, it spread its wings and leapt off its pole onto the sand below.
Twilight made sure to keep her distance. “What are you? Why can you talk?” she asked it carefully.
The statue merely looked at her, completely disinterested. “Since you have come to my island, wouldn't it be appropriate for me to ask questions first?”
“I guess so,” she decided. Even if she wasn't sure what to make of it, the statue didn't seem to prove any threat. There was no reason not to treat it with the same respect she'd give anypony else.
“Who are you,” the statue asked, “and what are you doing on this island?”
“My name is Twilight Sparkle and I've come to your island to get a glass of water.”
The statue eyed her skeptically. “A glass of water? Why would you come here just for a glass of water?”
She sighed. “It's complicated. You see...”
She paused. How was she supposed to explain when she herself didn't understand what she was really doing? It seemed like it was all just a prank that's been played on her, to which she was still blindly playing along. Maybe it would be best to start from the beginning.
“You see, I have this sick friend named Discord, and he asked me for a glass of water,” she began. “But what he wanted wasn't just any glass of water, he wanted a specific glass of water. Water from the underground springs of the caverns beneath the Island of Zavkos. And since I had already promised to get it for him...” She had purposely left out the parts about all the bargaining, pleading, coercing, and all the other tricks Discord had pulled to get her to go. Thinking about them, she let out an angry huff. “Besides, he guaranteed me that it would cure him of his illness, and once he's back to health, he promised to get out of my mane. You wouldn't believe what I'd be willing to do for that.”
The statue meanwhile had put its stony paw to its chin. “This friend of yours, Discord,” it said, “does he ask you to do these kinds of things often?”
Twilight opened her mouth but stopped herself when she thought about it. She said: “Well, he did just make me fly to the other end of the planet to retrieve the petals of a flower, so I must say yes, yes he does. I don't really know why I put up with it myself, but maybe it's for the better.”
The statue didn't comment. “Would you like me to take you to the underground springs?” it asked instead.
“You would do that? Thank you so much.”
“What would you be willing to pay me?” the statue asked, its face as stone cold as it was expected to be.
Twilight gasped in horror. Hesitantly, she admitted: “But I don't have any money on me. I didn't think I'd need any, so I didn't bring any with me.”
The statue looked at her confused, hurt even. “Do I look like I want any money?” it said. “Can't you just answer me a riddle instead?”
“A riddle?” Now it was Twilight's turn to be confused. “I guess so,” she said, scratching her head, “but I'm not sure if I'll be able to.”
It was hard to tell with a face made of stone, but it looked like the statue was actually smiling at her. “Are you ready?” it asked.
“Sure, go ahead.”
“There are two sisters, the first of which gave birth to the second and the second of which gave birth to the first – who are they?”
It was impossible to prepare for a riddle, but for this one Twilight felt particularly unprepared. Genealogy wasn't exactly her strong suit, even if she had recently brushed up on the subject. Desperately, she tried to put the riddle's information up into a family tree. She shuddered at the first conclusions she drew.
“It's impossible, completely impossible!” she finally declared. “Purely chronologically, since the first sister gave birth to the second one, she has to be older than the second, and therefore the second can not possibly have given birth to the first. No matter how complex or mysterious the ancestry, it simply can't be. Even the family tree of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna—”
She bit her tongue. She had involuntarily given the answer to a question she had deemed impossible just seconds earlier. “It's day and night, isn't it? Every day gives birth to the following night and that night in turn gives birth to the following day.”
“Doesn't that make sense?” said the statue.
“Well,” said Twilight, “did I pass? Was that the right answer?”
“Can't you tell me?” the statue replied. “Don't I look like I'm willing to take you to the underground springs now?”
Another realization hit Twilight that very moment. “You're a sphinx!”she exclaimed excitedly. “I've read about your kind in Mountain Bank's Almanac of the Unexplainable. But in that book it was all rumors and hearsay. I can't believe I'm meeting an actual live sphinx.”
She immediately rushed over, ignoring the safety distance she had held previously and even ignoring any other distances courtesy would demand. “I have so many question. What do you eat? Where do you sleep? Were you born on this island or did you move here? And how do you move at all? Are those wings just for show or can you actually fly? If you can, wouldn't that defy all laws of physics?”
“Do—“ began the startled sphinx backing up a pace. “Do you honestly expect me to answer all these questions?”
“Why not? Did I do something wrong? Did I somehow offend you? Because I honestly don't know what offends a sphinx. Oh, that reminds me: what does offend a sphinx? Is there a book I could study or even just a uniform code I could learn? Or is it different for every single sphinx?”
The sphinx simply looked at her, baffled and stunned. “Have you ever seen a sphinx answer a question before?”
“I have never seen a sphinx before,” she repeated. “That's why I have so many question. All I know about you is that you speak only in riddles. Is that why you can't answer my questions?”
The sphinx sighed deeply. “If you must ask all these question, can't you at least do so while we walk to the springs?” it asked, motioning for her to follow.
“Oops. Sorry,” she said blushing, quickly hurrying to catch up with her guide. “Sure, I can walk and talk. Although I might have so many questions that—is it going to be far?”
The questions kept piling up during their walk, due to the unfamiliar flora and fauna all around them. The forest itself was composed of a type of tree unlike anything Twilight had ever seen. Their leaves were gigantic, with a shape being those of palms, but all the trees still branched off into smaller and smaller limbs, with even the tiniest twigs still bearing palm leaves. Each one made for a unique canopy that looked like a waiter trying to balance leafy trays on his hands, arms, shoulders, and just about any part of his body that could possibly transport them. If the Botanical Society of Canterlot ever found out about this, they would have a real field day.
Below the trees, the underbrush also had numerous surprises of its own. The long vines that zigzagged across the ground were covered by innumerable exotic plants of all shapes and sizes, in all colors of the rainbow. One in particular had caught Twilight's interest: it had tiny cerulean petals that grew all over its filaments in patterns that gave every single one its distinct features. By association, she had dubbed them snowflake flowers and asked the sphinx whether they would grow in Ponyville climate, to which it replied, 'How would I know?'
They had been walking for a good ten minutes, when the sphinx stopped in its tracks, thereby temporarily silencing Twilight's never-ending stream of questions, to utter a warning. “Can you be a little more careful from now on?”
Twilight looked all around her. “Why?” she asked. “Is this part of the island dangerous? Is there anything I need to look out for? Could there—”
The sphinx simply pointed upward and then she knew that it was already too late; she had awakened several of the creatures from their sleep. And she couldn't help herself wake even more of them as she gave in to instinct and screamed: “Serpents! Those are winged serpents!”
More and more started to appear, before them, beside them, behind them – in an example of textbook mimesis, the serpent's wings had the form, color, and size of the palm tree leaves that surrounded them. It was quite possible that they had been around all along and she had simply failed to notice them up until now.
“How fast can you run?” the sphinx asked.
“What are you asking me that for?” Then she gasped, nodded, and readied herself for the go. Once the sphinx had pointed out a direction, both of them started running like Cerberus himself was chasing them.
The serpents immediately followed in hot pursuit. Or maybe they didn't. It was hard to tell if the initial nest of snakes was chasing them or if the ruckus from their escape had simply awoken a new one. Regardless, whenever Twilight turned around to look, there was always a serpent flying right behind, ready to pounce at any minute.
She had no idea how they would get out of this one. Blindly she followed behind the sphinx hoping that somehow it found a way to get them to safety. Fortunately, rescue came to them, as just a couple of ponylengths before them appeared a giant dark cave in which they could seek protection. Without a thought from either one, they leapt inside.
The serpents instantly gave up the chase once they had lost vision. Twilight allowed herself a sigh of relief once she realized that.
“Do you think we'll be safe in here?” the sphinx asked.
“I think so,” she answered, lighting her horn to illuminate the pitch black darkness around her. “At the very least it has bought us some time to rest up and think of a way how to avoid them in the future.”
“But why did they do what they did?” the sphinx replied. “Why would they give up so easily? Doesn't that seem unusual to you?”
“Normally yes,” said Twilight as she lay down onto the ground, “but in this case I believe it makes sense. Admittedly, I don't know anything about their species, but by the looks of it, they weren't out to hunt us at all. They were merely startled by our sudden intrusion and wanted to chase us out of their territory, and once we got out, they had no reason to pursue us any further.” And thank Celestia they didn't, she thought to herself.
The sphinx turned around and walked a little further down the cave. It bent down to examine something on the ground and very abruptly came running back to Twilight. “Might I suggest a different theory for why the serpents gave up chasing us?” it said.
Her eyes went wide and she got up. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“Could it be that they knew the cave was already occupied?”
She turned around to shine some light one what the sphinx had found and felt like screaming once more. What the sphinx had discovered was a spider, which, being barely bigger than the size of her hoof, might have been a little icky, but by itself nothing to worry about. But taking the hundreds of its brothers and sisters behind it into account, the whole of them made for a very impressive and very terrifying swarm. Without any consultation, the sphinx and her took to the air and flew out of the cave as quickly as they could.
Once they had made it outside, they looked for the closest palm tree in order to hide inside its canopy. Twilight thanked her good stars that at least this one wasn't filled with any more serpents.
“What are we going to do now?” she asked once the two of them had calmed down. “I mean, are there any other creatures we have to look out for? Is there any way to avoid them?”
The sphinx looked at her, grinning smugly. “Do you want to hear my idea?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Would you be willing to answer another riddle?”
“Fine, if I have to.”
Beaming even more than before, the sphinx said: “Everything breaks it and nothing restores it, yet whenever the world stands still, you can feel it all around you – what is it?”
She wasn't any less clueless about this one than about the first one, but at least this riddle came with its own set of instructions. All she had to do is wait for the world to stand still and then she'd have her answer. She closed her eyes, held her breath, and waited to feel the answer.
After a minute, she was getting bored. She felt absolutely nothing, not even a breeze of wind blowing through her mane. She was just motionlessly sitting in a tree, blindly watching the world move around her in complete—
“Silence!” she answered proudly. Then she turned to the sphinx sceptically. “But that couldn't possibly be your answer, could it? Just walk as quietly as possible and we will stay out of harm's way?”
The sphinx nodded politely in response.
She pondered the suggestion for a moment. “I guess it could work. I mean, there isn't anything wrong with it per se; it's merely very simple. Besides, it's not like I have a better idea. I say we go for it.”
They quickly climbed down the tree and carefully trotted along. At the slightest noise, they stopped and waited for the commotion to die down. Once it had, they simply continued on their way, managing to reach their destination while avoiding any further incidents.
“Might this be the place you're looking for?” asked the sphinx once they had reached a small clearing in the trees around a small, rocky hill.
“I don't think so,” Twilight answered. “After all, I'm actually looking for an underground spring and there doesn't seem to be any way underground.”
The sphinx pointed to the hill. “Can't you remove this boulder to clear the passage to the underground spring?” Sure enough, now that she looked at it a little more closely, there appeared to be a cave within the hillside, one that was sure to lead underground. She gathered her strength and got ready to remove the boulder.
“I am Livingston, the living stone,” said the boulder. “And nopony is going to clear this passage. I will block it as long as I want and there's nothing you can do about it.”
Twilight stared at the talking boulder in disbelief for a while, but eventually found her words. “Oh really?” she said. “We'll just have to see about that.” With that, she enwrapped the entire boulder in her magic and started pushing as hard as she could.
“Ha! Your pony magic is far too weak,” the boulder taunted. “You will never remove me. I am invincible. This passage shall be forever in my control!”
Livingston turned out to be right. Twilight gave it her all, but she simply couldn't conjure enough magic to get the boulder to move. After her third failed attempt, she collapsed by the hill, panting. “Can't you do anything to help?” she asked the sphinx.
The sphinx said nothing in return and simply flew up above it, studying the boulder from all sides. Once it had, it came flying back down. “Would you like to hear my proposal?”
Twilight had just caught her breath again. “Does it come in the form of another riddle?”
“Would you like that?”
She sighed. “I guess you can't help it, can you? Alright, give me another riddle.”
“Once you start you can't stop by yourself, you'll gain more and more, and the more you gain, the more it'll hurt when you lose it all, because lose it all you must – what—”
“Falling!” Twilight replied immediately, having figured that one out by context alone. “I shouldn't try to push the boulder aside. All we have to do is dig a small trench under it, and it will roll out of place on its own. Come on, help me dig,” she said, already removing a little bit of dirt from the ground with her magic.
Without answering immediately, the sphinx landed on the ground and sat down beside the boulder. “Have you ever seen a sphinx digging?” it asked once it had made itself comfortable.
“Since I've never seen a sphinx before,” she said, removing another patch of dirt, “I can't say I have. Why do you ask? Do sphinxes have an aversion towards digging?”
“Would you leave me alone if it were so?”
The boulder meanwhile had slowly picked up on what was happening around it. “What are you doing?” it asked. “I can't tell. I don't have eyes. But from what it sounds like, it doesn't seem good. Stop it! Stop it, I tell you!”
Of course Twilight didn't stop. Even without the sphinx' help, she had quickly dug the trench. After moving out of any potential path it might take, she removed the last bit of ground that had served as a temporary wedge and sent the boulder rolling out of their way under loud protests.
“Shall we get inside?” the sphinx asked, already leading the way.
“You'll regret this,” said the boulder once more out of his new, lower position. “One day, I will have my revenge. Mark my words. One day, vengeance shall be mine.”
Twilight turned to face it one last time. “I'm sorry, Livingston, but there was no other way. I really have to get into this cave, and since you refused to budge, you brought this on yourself. Why don't you try to be the bigger rock about it?”
But Livingston had no intention to be that. While being cursed to all circles of Tartarus, Twilight followed the sphinx into the underground caverns.
This time around she didn't have to light the cave with her horn; there were countless luminescent mushrooms that did that task for her. Even these mushrooms had their own island-specific perks. Their stems ended in two almost separate caps, both folding around a center from which the yellowy light was emitted, much like a seashell with a pearl inside.
Twilight was tempted to stop and pick one, but she'd be falling behind even more. The sphinx was already a fair way ahead. “Can you hurry up a little?” it asked, nervously glancing over its shoulder repeatedly. “Don't you think it would be better to be done with this sooner rather than later?”
“Of course. Sorry,” she said as she hastily hurried up. She dreaded the thought of losing the sphinx in the labyrinth around her. Every couple of steps there was a new junction, sometimes dividing into three or even four different tunnels. Without proper guidance, she'd be trapped in here forever.
After twenty minutes of twists and turns along their path every which way, the sphinx finally came to a stop. “Was this what you were looking for?” it said pointing to the room ahead.
Even it it hadn't been, what Twilight saw was truly something to behold. The size of the room alone was twice that of the Canterlot throne room. It was filled with all kinds of strange rock formations all over, the most prominent of all being a giant pool of water that was indubitably the underground spring she had been looking for. Instantaneously, she darted towards it.
The sphinx followed closely behind, still anxiously looking over her shoulder. “Can we still hurry up a little more,” it said nervously. “Would you want Zavkos to find out?”
She unscrewed her water bottle and drank it up. “You know, it almost slipped my mind, but I've been meaning to ask who or what Zavkos is. I know that it's the name of this island, but apart from that I know nothing about Zavkos.”
The sphinx looked at her horrified. “Are you serious? You don't know who Zavkos is?”
“Is that a problem?” Twilight asked curiously as she filled up her empty bottle in the pool. “I didn't really think it would be that important.”
The sphinx attempted to say something, but its words were immediately drowned out by a loud banging noise that was rapidly coming closer. “Would you care to meet him?” said it once it had moved its head a little closer to Twilight's ear. “Can we even avoid that at this point?”
The banging grew louder and louder the closer it came. It was shattering the entire cave by now, sending large ripples through the pool that threatened to suck in Twilight at any point. Only when Zavkos finally came into view through the entrance opposite the one they had used did she correctly identify the noise as hoofsteps.
“Of course,” she said to nopony in particular. “A giant cyclops pony. He just had had to be a giant cyclops pony.”
“What you do in Zavkos cave?” the cyclops asked, having spotted them instantaneously. He squinted his eye a little and pieced together what was happening just as quickly. “You try steal Zavkos water from Zavkos! That stealing! You not get away!” With a loud roar he came charging at them.
“Can we get out of here or do you care to find out what Zavkos does to intruders?” asked the sphinx as it yanked Twilight along. Automatically, she unfolded her wings and lifted off, heading for the entrance along its side.
“Oh no. You not fly away. You stay here and get punished,” Zavkos shouted. He picked up a boulder from the ground and immediately hauled it after them.
They both managed to dodge it just in time, but it barely mattered anyway. Zavkos hadn't aimed for them in the first place. He had aimed for their exit and had managed to hit right on target. What used to be an exit once was now completely obliterated, the walls having caved in at both sides and the entire pathway being filled up with rubble. They both watched in awed shock.
“Is there another way out,” asked Twilight, panicking.
“Should I show you?” the sphinx answered. It pointed to the other side of the room, but quickly drew her attention to the cyclops still galloping towards them. “But can we get passed him?”
Twilight smirked as she thought of a plan. “Just leave it to me,” she announced as she flew at him in a full frontal assault. Faster and faster she lunged herself into a forlorn hope, completely ignorant of the colossal force that was storming towards her. She didn't cringe, she didn't flinch – it was like she had completely lost her mind.
A mere second before collision, she pulled herself up, flying over him, but not without leaving a parting gift, that parting gift being all her magical energy bundled up into a laser beam aimed straight at the cyclops's eye. She used the cyclops's weakness against him by blinding his only eye and using that moment of distraction to escape. The plan was ingenious.
Only it didn't work. Zavkos didn't as much as blink upon being hit, only letting out a short cry of pain, and simply turned around to snatch her from the air. She was immediately secured in the tight grip of his hoof. Twilight didn't even know what hit her.
“That hurt,” said Zavkos as he moved back towards the pool. “First you steal Zavkos water, then you hurt Zavkos eye. You bad pony. You need be punished.”
Right by the poolside was a giant bag containing what few earthly possession Zavkos called his. He retrieved a glass from inside and trapped Twilight under it.
“Now you sit and wait till Zavkos think of good punishment,” he reprimanded with a wag of his finger. Then he turned to leave, uttering: “Bad pony ruin Zavkos day. All Zavkos want do was count rock collection. Now Zavkos day ruined.”
Once he had turned around, Twilight immediately began casting her teleportation spell. Escape shouldn't come any easier than that. There was loud pop, but she remained in the exact same location she had been before. “Of course,” she said, pouting angrily, “the glass just had to have magic protection, didn't it?”
“Did you really have to aggravate him even further?” asked the sphinx, having cautiously flown to her side. “What were you thinking?”
“I thought it would work,” she answered truthfully, head resting on her forelegs. “I honestly can't believe it didn't.” She looked back up to the sphinx. “Can't you do anything to get me out of here?”
“And how am I supposed to do that?” it asked.
“I don't know. We could try toppling the glass over. Maybe that could work.”
After quickly flying into position, the sphinx started pushing, attempting just that. They both tried their hardest, but apart from movining the glass a small distance along the ground, they achieved nothing. All the sphinx could offer Twilight apart from that was a helpless shrug.
“Great,” said Twilight, burying her face in her hooves, “trapped by a cyclops awaiting my punishment. And all that just to get a glass of water for Discord. It isn't fair. It just isn't fair.” Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.
“Might I suggest something else?” the sphinx proposed hesitantly.
Twilight looked up and blinked away the tears. “Is it going to be another one of your riddles?”
“Would you like me to pose it as a riddle?”
“Could you please just tell me.”
The sphinx landed beside her and walked up to the edge of the glass. “Have you tried diplomacy? Have you tried talking to him?”
She immediately jumped up. “Are you crazy!? Talking to him!? What's that supposed to do?”
Slowly, the sphinx' gaze shifted between the trapped Twilight and the exit. “What do you have to lose?”
She blinked dumbfoundedly. Everything in her mind was telling her it was a pointless endeavor, but in the end the sphinx was right: what did she have to lose?
“Oh Mr. Zavkos!” she called out as loud as she could. “Could I speak with you, please? I would like to apologize.”
With heavy hoofsteps, the cyclops appeared right away. “Bad pony want talk. Bad pony want apologize. Apologize for stealing Zavkos water or apologize for hurting Zavkos eye?”
“Both, actually,” Twilight admitted. “I shouldn't have taken water from your pool without permission and I shouldn't have shot you in the eye. For that I am truly sorry. But, you see, I had a very good reason for needing the water. I have this friend named Discord, who is sick, and he—”
“You friend with Discord?” Zavkos interrupted. “Why you not say? Friend of Discord is friend of Zavkos.”
Her eyes widened. “Wait a minute: you know Discord?”
“Of course,” Zavkos replied. “Discord is good friend. He teach Zavkos all about proper diet. Before Discord Zavkos only try eat ponies, but he teach Zavkos that is no good. Zavkos need eat different. Zavkos need eat with more chaos. That why Zavkos moved to island and every day eat something different. Today Zavkos only eat mushrooms.”
“Wow! Simply wow!” Twilight replied. For a moment it was all she could verbalize.
Zavkos looked back at her worriedly. “And you say Discord sick? Discord need water for get better?” Twilight simply nodded.
“Then you can have water,” he decided, lifting the glass off of her. “Zavkos no need punish you. You bring water fast. Should Zavkos give you lift to surface?”
She strapped her saddle bags, which she had put on the ground for the duration of her imprisonment, back on. “That's very kind of you, Zavkos,” she said. “I'd very much like that.”
“Could you please take me with you?” the sphinx asked hastily, for a moment completely forgotten by everypony.
“Sure, Zavkos can give you both lift to surface,” Zavkos said as they took a seat upon his back. “But you need hold on tight, because Zavkos go fast. Discord must get water fast.”
He was not kidding when he said fast. He rushed through the caverns at a breakneck speed, taking many of the tunnels in a single leap. After not even a minute, they were all back out in the sun.
“You hurry now. Discord must get water fast,” he repeated. “And if you ever return, you welcome with Zavkos. Friend of Discord is friend of Zavkos.”
“That's good to know,” Twilight said as she took off into the air, the sphinx following suit. “Thanks for the ride and thanks for the water. I'll be sure to bring it to him as quickly as I can.” She quickly waved him goodbye and he waved back until she couldn't see him anymore through the thick forest behind her.
“So I guess it's goodbye for us too,” she said, addressing the sphinx.
“Do you have everything you need?” it asked in return.
“Sure. It's going to be a long flight, but I think I can manage.”
“Will you take care of yourself?”
“I will.”
For a moment, the sphinx looked dreamily into the distance. Then it smiled at her. “It was exciting, wasn't it?”
She giggled. “It sure was.”
Without another word, the sphinx too waved her goodbye and veered towards the beach where Twilight had found her. The rest of the flight she would have to spend alone. It didn't matter at all. She had been successful. She had retrieved a glass of water.
“Here you go,” Twilight said once she had returned, transferred the gathered liquid from her bottle into one of Fluttershy's glasses, and brought it to Discord's bedside. “One glass of water from the underground springs on the Island of Zavkos. Just like you asked.”
“You really got it? Just for me?” Discord asked, theatrically wiping a tear from his eye. “What a truly heart-rending gesture of pure, unadulterated friendship.” He took the floating glass into his claw and placed it on the nightstand right beside him. “Thank you so much, Twilight. You can go now.”
She eyed him warily. “Aren't you going to drink it right away?”
“Drink it?” he asked in surprise. “Why would I ever drink something as precious as this?” He got up to give Twilight a noogie that was a little more than playful. “Where in Equestria would you get such a silly notion from?”
“But you said that it would cure you. That it would make you feel better,” she pointed out. “That was the whole reason why I was willing to make a day-long journey just to get it in the first place!”
“Oh, it does make me feel better. Can't you see that I'm already a much more vibrant shade of green than before?” he said, smiling fiendishly. “You see, it's not the water that you brought me, but the glass itself that has become a token of our friendship. By keeping it by my bedside, I have a constant reminder to light my spirits. No cure could ever be better than a gift from a true friend.”
He put a finger to his lip. “Well, a gift from two friends, really. I must assume that Zavkos also sent his regards when he gave you the water.”
Twilight couldn't believe her ears. “You knew about Zavkos!?” she yelled at him.
“Of course I did. He's an old friend. The two of us go way back.”
She tried her breathing exercises. She tried counting to ten, twice even. But afterwards she was still fuming with a righteous indignation that demanded nothing but swift satisfaction. She magically grabbed the glass from the nightstand and splashed its contents all across Discord's face.
“Now that was completely uncalled for,” he chided. “What did I ever do to deserve that?”
But Twilight couldn't hear him anymore. She had already turned to leave, vowing never to speak to him again.
Author's Note
Be sure to check out the other entries for more tales of pure chaos.
