The Fate Players

We ran towards the outskirts of the village, searching for that mysterious thundering sound. Although, I had assumed it was just another player using grenades as weapons. Hey, you never know right? After all, Zarerus did mention that there could be other players in the game. Our equine partners were running ahead of us while Phillip, Isa, and I were struggling to keep up. For a couple of small ponies, they sure were fast. We heard another boom, we were getting closer.

“There’s that sound again.” said Isa.

“We’re almost there!” Twilight added.

We arrived in an open plain where a bunch of Pests were gathered, collectively attacking something. I couldn’t tell what, however, as they were all aiming at something just over the hill. When we got to the top, I was surprised to see what lay at the bottom of the hill; a strange creature whose body must have been mixed with almost every animal on earth. It had big yellow eyes with red pupils, a long tan torso, dragon’s tail, several different limbs of living creatures; just looking at the abomination was unsettling.

My eyes shifted over to Twilight and Rarity, they hadn't taken a liking to the creature either. Their faces were a mixture of benign disappointment and disgust. Suddenly, the creature snapped its talons and the three surrounding Pests exploded, blood and guts flying through the air.

“What a funny noise they make.” It laughed.

“It was HIM?!” exclaimed Twilight.

“At first I thought it was Rainbow Dash.” The lizard said.

“So did I. What’s he doing here?” inquired Rarity.

The abomination turned to face us with an uncanny smile forming on its horrid face. He then vanished, reappearing right next to us. We all jumped back at his sudden vanishing.

“Well, hello my pony friends!” He greeted gleefully. “Wonderful day, isn’t it?” He then noticed Phillip, Isa, and I standing next to them. “And who are they? New friends of yours I presume?”

“Discord, would you mind telling us what you’re doing here?!” demanded Twilight.

“Now, now, Twilight. Is that anyway way to greet your friend? I’m shocked you haven’t accepted me yet.”

Isa quickly pointed her axe at him. “Um, who are you?”

“Who am I? Ha-ha-ha!” Discord snapped his talons and disappeared.

“What the?” I stopped myself, noticing Isa’s axe changing form. It grew longer and a face formed on the blade.

“I am Discord. The one and only Spirit of Chaos!”

“AHH!” Isa screamed, dropping her axe. Hitting the ground, Discord reappeared in front of us again.

“That sure is an odd name,” he teased. “But, it’s always nice to make new friends.”

“What is wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me? Oh, I can think up a few things.” The Spirit of Chaos said with a chuckle. “But first why don’t you tell me your names?”

“Todd Walker,” I said bluntly. “And seriously, who the hell are you?”

“I already told you, I am Discord. Try to keep up.”

“Why do you look like a rejected Tim Burton character?” Phillip asked.

“I beg your pardon?”

“A-and how did you get into m-my axe?” Isa stammered, visibly shaken.

“What part of Spirit of Chaos did you not understand? I mean, come on. The title itself is pretty self-explanatory. I thought you humans would have been smarter than that...”

I don’t know who or what this thing is, but I already don’t like him.

“Discord!” Twilight interjected. “Could you not bother our friends and tell me what you’re doing here?”

“What am I doing here, you ask?” He snapped his talons again and reappeared, coiled around Twilight like a snake. “I’m just doing a little Pest Control.” The Pests let out an ear-wrenching hiss and started to close in on us as we got into our defense positions. “Oh, watch this!”

Discord, once again, disappeared and reappeared in front of the Pests wielding a huge blue mallet. He raised it up and smashed it into the bugs, crushing them to death. It looked like something out of a Looney Toons cartoon, except for the blue blood splattered everywhere. I glanced over to the two equines; they both had disturbed expressions at their friend's action.

“You're revolting, Discord!” complained Rarity.

“Thank you, thank you.” The Dragon replied and the mallet vanished, then he turned to us. “Now, maybe you two would like to introduce yourselves?”

“I-I’m Isa Duncan.”

“Phillip Soto.”

“Well, it's a pleasure to meet you.” He eagerly took Isa's hand and shook it until the entire arm fell off and landed on ground. We all jumped back in shock.

“Gah!” Isa screamed. The arm soon grew tiny legs and crawled its way up back into Discords arm socket. He let out a sick guffaw with a tear forming in his eye.

“Oldest trick in the book!”

“Discord! It’s bad enough she was almost eaten alive today, she doesn’t need you scaring her more than she already is.” scolded Twilight.

“Oh, come now Twilight. You know I was only kidding. Why do you gotta be such a downer?” he asked playfully.

“I’m assuming you don’t have many friends, do you?” I wondered.

“Uh, guys...” muttered the tiny lizard.

We all looked to where he was pointing and saw more Pests making their way towards us.

“Man, they just won’t stop coming.” I complained.

“Might as well kill them here.” added Phillip as he aimed his gun.

The horde charged us, seeking to devour everything. The leader let out another ravenous hiss resulting in Phillip shooting a bullet through its head. Pretty soon we were all fighting them; I was keeping my distance while swinging my blade, Twilight shot explosive magic beams aimlessly into the crowd, Isa was busy doing her aerial kicks, and Discord made more Pests explode with a snap at his talons. Despite the ongoing action, I still couldn’t believe I was alive. At first I thought I would be the guy who got axed first. Talk about dumb luck.

“What is with these things?!” I yelled in frustration.

Pretty soon, a Pest jumped in out of nowhere and broke apart our group, attempting to slash us with its legs. I stepped back and tried to get as much room as possible, but it turned around and lunged me, causing me to jump back barely dodging it. I found myself separated from the group and facing the Pest. It was about pounce, until... “Todd, look out!”

“Huh?”

Someone tackled me out of the way and onto the ground before the Pest could touch me. I looked up to see who my savior was, and boy was I surprised. “F-Fluttershy?”

“Oh my…are you alright, Todd?” She asked.

The Pest got back up and slink towards us; we were both lying on the ground helpless. It reared up and prepared to deliver a final blow, its shadow looming over us. Fluttershy looked over and saw the beast and let out a squealed. She buried her face into my chest and latched onto me, awaiting our death. All I could think was, ‘I guess I am the first guy to go after all’.

BOOM!

I felt something wet splatter on the left side of my face. My eye peeked open to see that it was blood. Blue blood. I noticed some of it on Fluttershy’s back. I looked up to see that the Pest’s entire upper half had completely vanished. Its bottom half was still visible, squirting streams of sapphire blood. It collapsed on the ground.

Discord appeared in front of us with a worried expression on his face. “Oh my, are you alright Fluttershy?” he asked.

Fluttershy opened her eyes as soon as she heard his voice. She sat up and faced Discord with tear-filled eyes. She then leapt off of me and immediately wrapped her arms around the strange creature, who returned the gesture. I was just like, ‘What?’

Fluttershy began to weep into the Draconequus’s chest. “Discord, thank you! Thank you!”

Phillip shot the last Pest and turned around to see Fluttershy and Discord sharing an embrace. “What’s going on here?”

“I don’t even know…” I admitted reluctantly.

The lizard neared me. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, um-”

“Spike.”

“Right, now I remember.”

Fluttershy broke from her hug with Discord and faced Twilight and Rarity who were approaching her.

“Fluttershy, are you alright darling?” Rarity asked.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she said in a deflated tone.

“Why’d you do that? You could’ve gotten seriously hurt!” Twilight screamed, you could tell she was upset with her Pegasus friend.

“Well, it’s just I-I-I…” She was interrupted by a loud hissing sound. We all turned around to see if it was another Pest. However, it wasn’t.

What surprised us was that the noise was actually coming from the Pests corpses. Their spilled blood began to bubble and evaporate into the air. Their bodies decomposed quickly into the ground and soon the field was void of the carnage. We all had wide eyed expressions.

I squinted. “What the hell?”

“Did… did those bodies just rot into the ground?” Isa asked.

“I wish I could un-see that,” added Spike.

I turned to Discord, assuming he’d played a sinister part in what had just happened. “Did you do that?” I inquired him.

“Who me? As much as I want to say it, I’m afraid I had nothing to do with it. Although it was entertaining to watch,” he admitted.

“So then, how were they able to do that?” I asked myself.

“Maybe it’s just in their nature?” suggested Phillip. “I’ve seen it before. The monster’s remains disappear once they die, leaving no trace of their existence at all. You see it in movies all the time.”

“That’s weird, but there’s something else I don’t get.”

“What’s that?” asked Isa.

“Where exactly did these things come from? Are they native to this world, or did Zarerus make them?”

“Who is that?” inquired Twilight.

“Zarerus is the being that sent us here to play this strange game.”

“Game? I really don’t see how this is a game. But I can assure you that those bugs are not from here. I mean, I’ve never seen or heard of them before.”

“Seriously?” I asked and she nodded in response.

“Well, what matters is that my dear friend Fluttershy is safe,” chimed Discord, wrapping his arm around the Pegasus’s shoulder.

“Speaking of which, what’s the deal between you two?” I wondered. “Are you, like, dating?”

Suddenly, Fluttershy’s visage turned bright crimson and her pupils shrank to the size of peas.

“No, no, no. It’s nothing like that, he’s just a really close friend is all,” she stammered as she waved her arms frantically.

“Gotcha.” I replied skeptically. I couldn’t tell if she was telling to truth or if she had a crush on this guy and was too afraid to admit it. Oh well, I didn’t really care for that anyway. What I really wanted to know was if the wave was over. I scanned the area and saw that there were no Pests in sight nor could I hear that eerie hissing noise.

“So now what? Is it over? Did we win?” Spike asked.

Before I could answer, a loud scream went off in the distance. It sounded like a man’s scream, but I couldn’t really tell – it was too high-pitched. We all turned our ears in the direction the scream came from.

“That sounded like it came from Sweet Apple Acres.” assumed Rarity.

“Oh no, Applejack!” yelled Twilight. “Everyone, follow me!”

We nodded collectively and followed Twilight; I picked up my case and ran after them. Then I saw that neither Isa nor Phillip had any cases with them at all.

“Hey, where’s your case?” I asked Isa while running.

“My case? Oh, I left it at Twilight’s.”

“Oh. I wish I’d done that.” I felt really dumb that I didn’t leave my case at Fluttershy’s, so that I wouldn’t have to be carrying it all day.

Nevertheless, I followed our partners aimlessly. Pretty soon, we ended walking onto on a large apple farm. I could easily count a million apple trees. I guess that’s why they called the place Sweet Apple Acres. We stopped behind the red barn to catch our breath. When we got there, we saw that there was already a scene going on. I noticed an orange mare with a cowboy hat trying to defend itself from a few pesky Pests; she also had a trio of apples on her flank. She was kicking and smashing every Pest that came near her.

The Pest next to her was suddenly sliced in half; we all jumped back at the sudden dissection. Another one of our members was on the other side; it was the strong guy with the Mohawk, I think his name was Connor. He had his spear in hand with blood dripping from his blade.

Lightning came down and struck another Pest, I looked up and saw the cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane and lightning bolt tattoo on her flank. She was kicking at a storm cloud which in turn shot lightning at the Pests down below. She bucked it again and hit the jackpot; a single bolt electrocuted three cowering Pests.

“Take that ya’ overgrown bugs!” she taunted.

Connor charged at one of the remaining Pests and tackled it to the ground. He scrambled up and began stabbing the creature to death with his weapon, the spear itself producing a gross shlinking sound and blood spattering everywhere. When he was done, the exasperated man pulled his spear out of the bug’s flesh and faced us; a small drop of blue blood ran down his face.

“Oh, it’s you guys,” he said while panting.

The farmer pony hog-tied a Pest, sitting on top of its struggling body triumphantly.  “That’s how we do things on the farm, ya giant cockroach!” she chided with a chuckle. It sounded like she had a southern accent.

All I could say was, “Whoa.”

“Applejack! Rainbow Dash!” yelled the ponies and dragon in unison.

The rainbow pony descended and the orange mare hopped off the tied up Pest to greet her friends.

“Thank goodness you’re all alright.” greeted the orange mare as they all shared one big embrace. The colorful Pegasus then caught sight of us.

“Oh great, there’s more of you guys,” she complained.

“Huh?” I asked.

“So Twilight, I’m assuming you girls got these human-things too?”

“That’s right.” Twilight affirmed.

“Hey, we have names! You don’t have to keep calling us ‘things’”, yelled Connor as he picked up his spear.

“Well, what else am I supposed to call you? Mohawk? I don’t remember names so good…” replied Rainbow Dash.

“It’s not that hard to remember, it’s really simple!”

Well, I’m glad those two are off to a good start.

“We’re just really glad that you’re okay, Rainbow.” added Fluttershy.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s not like a few over-sized bugs could ever stop Rainbow Dash!” she replied rather boastfully.

‘Oh, joy’, I thought to myself sarcastically.

“So, can somepony please explain to me what the hay that things is?” Applejack said, pointing to the restrained insect.

“That’s a Pest. Did you capture it by yourself?” I inquired.

“Ah sure did. But no thanks to my so-called ‘partner’,” she replied.

“Partner?”

“I-I-Is it gone?” squawked a trembling voice.

“Marko, stop being a pussy and come out from behind that tree.” called Connor. “They’re all dead.”

Marko sidestepped from behind a nearby tree. He had a terrified expression on his face, gripping his case and bat tightly.

“Oh, it’s you guys.” he sighed in relief.

“Was it you who screamed,” asked Isa.

“Uh. . .”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.” finished Phillip.

“So, is everybody here? Can we please get some answers already?!” badgered Dash. “Like, what the hay were those things? Why are you human-things here? And what is this game that they keep talking about?”

“I’d also liked to know what’s going on. First this scrawny looking guy pops out of nowhere, next thing I know, we’re being surrounded by these giant beetles.” Applejack complained.

“Girls, girls. Calm down. I’m sure these Humans have a logical answer for all of this…” said Twilight. “Right?”

I drew several blanks, even before she asked the question. “Uh, well…”

“I heard it come from over here!” yelled a young girl’s voice. I turned to the left in time to see the last member of our party: Jamie. She was running towards us, waving her arms while running aside a pink mare with a fluffy fuchsia mane and tail. “Oh, hey guys!”

The two stopped in front of us to catch their breaths. The pink pony looked up with an amazed expression on her face. “Oh my gosh! There are more of you?! This is so cool! I thought Jamie was the only one, but I guess I was wrong, because there are more of you right here–right now! This is super exciting!”

“Hey! Have you guys met Pinkie Pie-Chan? She’s the most funnest girl I’ve ever met!” Jamie yelled, still excited.

“I-I don’t think ‘funnest’ is a word,” muttered Marko. “And, I think your grammar is off.”

“Don’t care! She’s so fun to be around!”

“So why did you come here?” I asked.

“Oh, I was hanging out with Pinkie-Chan and getting to know her, when all of a sudden we heard a woman screaming!” she explained which resulted in Marko’s face turning red.

“I-I-I do not scream like that,” stammered Marko, breaking eye contact with the ecstatic duo.

“Keep telling yourself that, bucko.” the orange mare retorted with a soft chuckle.

“Wait a minute. You mean… You’ve been with this mare this whole time?” I inquired.

“Yeah, why’d you ask?” Jamie asked innocently.

“So, you weren’t around when the Pests came?”

“I don’t think so, all I remember is that I woke up in the back of a bakery and met Pinkie. Next thing I knew, we were talking, and laughing, and eating cupcakes–”

“So, you’ve been goofing off this whole time while we were risking our lives out there today?” Connor interrupted.

“Well, I only arrived about five minutes ago.” Jamie admitted.

“Five minutes!? We’ve been fighting for over an hour!” I hollered.

“Seriously? I guess we all came out at different times, huh?” Jamie pondered. “It’s so weird. Either that or I’ve been having so much fun with Pinkie I lost track of time.”

“This is all well and good, but now can we have an explanation for why you’re here?” proclaimed Rainbow Dash.

“I do believe it’s fair, now that everyone is here and gathered,” added Phillip.

“Wait, what about that Dragon thing from before? He’s not with us,” added Isa.

“You mean Discord?” asked Rarity. “But he’s right-“

She turned around and saw that there was nothing behind her. We all began searching around for the creature, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Huh? Where did he go?” Rarity wondered.

“He was with us just a few moments ago,” said Isa as she scratched her head.

“He just… vanished.” I said.

“That’s typical of Discord, to just disappear and reappear whenever he wants.” Twilight added with an annoyed look on her face.

“Oh, so that’s normal for you then?” I asked.

“Basically.”

“Well, we’ll have to explain our situation without him,” suggested Phillip.

“But don’t you think he should know too?” wondered Fluttershy.

“He’s Discord; he can figure it out on his own. So can we please get on with this?” Rainbow Dash urged.

“Oh boy, where do we begin?” I muttered.

One Thorough Explanation Later…

“There, is that a good enough explanation for you?” I said towards the stunned Pegasus.

She didn’t respond, instead her eyes were just shrank with shock, along with the other ponies and Dragon who were listening.

“So, what you’re saying is, this unknown deity just took you away from your homes, and is now forcing you all to play this game where you have to kill giant bugs in order to protect our kingdom?” inquired Twilight.

“Pretty much.” I replied. “And any other ‘players’ who want this land to themselves.”

“How can this be? This is insane? Are we really just going to accept this?” stammered Twilight.

“I’m still as confused as you are,” Isa said with a shrug.

“Seriously, at first I thought this was going to be something like Sword Art Online,” I said rubbing the back of his head.

“Pardon?” asked Applejack.

“Where we all get trapped in a virtual world and we somehow have to get out.” I explained.

“Virtual world?” wondered Rarity.

“If this is just a sick video game, then can’t Mar do some hacking to get us out?” Connor asked pointing to Marko. “You said you were a computer nerd or whatever right?”

“I prefer to be called a programmer.” Marko replied in a flat tone. “And even if this is a virtual field, I’d need some kind of evidence to show that it is. That way, I could figure out a way to hack into the system and get us out. But, I highly doubt any of this is in some kind of virtual world. Not to mention I’d need an actual computer.”

“I’m sorry but, what do you mean by ‘virtual world?’” insisted Rarity.

“Meaning that everything here is fake.” explained Isa.

“Well I assure you, Equestria is not a fake world! It’s as real as...real gets!” exclaimed Dash.

“Agreed. I highly doubt we’re in a video game,” said Phillip crossing his arms. “To me, this is more like a survival game.”

“S-survival?” squeaked Fluttershy.

“You saw what those things did back there. Those Pests are out to kill. And as long as Zarerus keeps sending them in waves, we’re gonna have to do our best to stay alive until the end.”

I still couldn’t believe what this guy was saying. Our first wave and he’s treating it like it’s some kind of game. I don’t even know what’s real anymore. The group began mumbling and whispering among each other, probably thinking the same thing: this is crazy. It’s not like it’s the end of the world, right?

At least nobody died. Yet.

“If there is an end,” Jamie mumbled, her bubbly attitude taking a plunge into the icy rivulet of the macabre.

Now I had to say something. “D-Don’t say that, Jamie.” I’ll admit it; the thought of never being able to escape this so-called game scared me. “Of course there’ll be an ending. I mean, we can’t stay here and play this game forever, right? This is only the first wave. If we managed get through that, then we can get through anything. I know it probably sounds really cliché, but it’s true. How bad can it be if we’re all fighting by each other’s side?”

“Hey, don’t jinx it!” yelled Marko, I could almost distinguish the fear in his voice.

“Seriously, guys. We can do this. Just think about it.” Soon, my words of encouragement seemed to resonate with the rest of the group. Even Fluttershy felt a little motivated, but there was one thing I couldn’t wrap my head around. She had said that she wanted to stay home, yet she came back and threw me out of the way of an attacking Pest. And for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why?

“Yeah, yeah. That sounds nice and all, but I still don’t trust any of you. If any of you try to pull any funny business, then you’ll have to answer to me! Ya’ got that?” threatened Dash, nearly flying straight into my face.

“Rainbow Dash!” scolded Twilight.

“I’m just making sure, alright! You never know when someone might deceive you,” she added.

“Anyway, that’s a mighty fine speech, boy,” Applejack commended, “but I do have one question.” She turned her head back to the tied up Pest. “What do ya'll think we should do with THAT?”

“Why don’t you cook him up and eat it?” I suggested.

“Ew!” groaned all of the ponies and Dragon.

“That’s just gross, why would we do that?!” exclaimed Twilight.

“J-Just a thought.”

Snap!

We turned around and saw that the Pest broke free and on its feet. We all got into our defensives. However, before it could even charge at us, it exploded. I’m not kidding! Out of nowhere the Pest just blew up, spreading its blue life force everywhere.

“What the hell?!” exclaimed Marko.

“D-Did t-that just…” stammered Isa.

We all heard a familiar laughing noise coming from behind us. We turned around and saw Discord snapping his talons, still chuckling. Since when did he come back?!

“Looks like I missed one, but I got it,” he said with a subdued snicker.

“Where did you disappear to?” asked Isa.

“Oh, there were still a few more of those monsters back at the field, so I took care of them. Good thing I came back just in time right?”

“Uh, who is that?” asked Marko pointing his bat at the creature.

“That there is Discord, spirit of chaos and what not,” Applejack answered tamely. “I’d be careful around him if I were you.”

“Okay, I don’t know who he is, but I already don’t like him.” Connor deadpanned.

It’s like he read my mind from earlier.

“Eh, I still don’t trust the guy either,” Rainbow Dash added.

“Huh, I guess there’s one thing we have in common,” joked Connor. All Rainbow did was grunt in response.

Discord rolled his eyes. “Hey, I am standing right here you know.”

Before anyone could say anything, we heard a loud sizzling noise. We turned around and saw that the Pests blood was beginning to evaporate while its remains disintegrated. The other carcasses quickly followed.

“What just happened?” Jamie asked.

“Are you sure we’re not in a video game? Because I think we all saw that Pest disappear after that Dragon freak killed it?” asked Marko.

“I have a name you know!” Discord shot back.

“Can they all do that?” inquired Applejack.

“It looks that way, doesn’t it?” Connor replied.

“Yeah, I mean, the other Pests back at the field disintegrated.” I mentioned.

“You’re saying there’s more of ‘em?” asked Applejack.

“Just what the hay is going on here?!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

“Who cares, just be glad that all of the Pests are gone now!” yelled Spike excitedly.

“For now,” added Phillip. “Like Todd said, this was only the first wave. I imagine that the ones after this will be far more difficult. We must be prepared.”

“BE PRE-PAAAARRRED!” Jaime sang. We all looked at her in confusion; she greeted our bewilderment with a bright cherry blush. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”

“So, now what do we do?” wondered Isa.

“I know!” yelled Pinkie. “We have new friends now right! This means it’s time for a welcome party!”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know, it’s kind of getting dark,” stated Connor as he directed our eyes to the amber Horizon. “Plus, I’m way too tired to party right now. Spent the whole day killing bugs.”

The pink pony pouted. “Aw! You’re no fun! But that’s ok, maybe we can party tomorrow!”

“I don’t know. We still don’t know that much about this place. And I could really use some sleep right now” Isa said, yawning.

“Speaking of which, where are we going to sleep tonight?” I chimed in.

“I’m pretty sure there’s a hotel nearby where you can all crash for the night,” suggested Rainbow.

“I don’t know, hotels cost money and we don’t know your currency here,” stated Marko.

“Not to mention that we could be here for a while and I don’t think a hotel room will be the best place to hide-out if we’re attacked again.” Isa mentioned. “Besides, we’ll end up attracting too much attention that way.”

“I have an idea!” exclaimed Jamie.

“What?” Isa asked.

“Why don’t we all stay at our partner’s homes?”

Everybody cocked their heads in confusion to the foreign notion; nobody was sure how to react. Was that really the safest bet?

“Huh?” We all asked.

“I mean, you do all have houses right?” Jamie asked.

“Well yeah, of course. But why would you suggest that idea?” Dash responded coldly.

“I’d just thought that it would be a good idea to get to know each other a little more, seeing as how we’re new and have nowhere good to stay. Plus, maybe it could help to build our trust between everybody.”

“I love that idea, you can totally stay with me!” yelled Pinkie as she hugged her new found friend.

“Is that such a good idea?” wondered Isa.

“Well, we don’t really have that many options. But hey, Jamie’s idea to earn our partner’s trust could work,” Marko said with a shrug.

“Yeah, here’s the problem. My home is in the sky, and I highly doubt Connor over here can fly, or sit on a cloud,” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

A sudden wonder struck Connor. “You can do that?”

“Pfft, yeah! It’s easy!”

The blue Pegasus then flew up to a nearby cloud and rested upon it, as if it were like floating mattress. Most of our jaws dropped at the revelation.

“Can all Pegasi do that?” asked Phillip.

“Yeah, we can also do this!” She flew in front of the cloud and kicked it, causing lightning to strike the ground under it. Most of us jumped back at the sound of thunder, especially Jamie who found herself clinging onto a swaying Pinkie.

I gasped. “What the?”

“How did you do that?” asked Marko.

“Easy. Pegasi control the weather here.” Rainbow Dash smirked.

“Seriously?” I asked.

“That’s just not right,” stated Isa who covered her mouth in shock.

“What do you mean?” inquired the Pegasus.

All she got in response was a loud yawn from Isa. She rubbed her eyes, trying to stay awake.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow, I’m beat. I think I used up too much energy,” she said.

“No worry, you can stay at my place. Seeing how everypony is agreeing on that idea,” said Twilight.

“Ok, so where the hell am I supposed to sleep?” asked Connor.

“Well seeing how Marko is apparently staying with me, I suppose we can make room for one more at our farm. I’mma pretty sure we have more than one cot,” offered Applejack.

“Sure,” he replied.

“Phillip, darling, you’re more than welcome to stay with us at the Carousel Boutique as a thank you for ridding it of those horrid creatures.” Rarity offered.

“Thank you, Rarity,” Phillip replied.

Are you sure you really want to trust this guy? I guess it’s better if she DOESN’T know that he’s a street artist.

“Oh um Todd, you can stay at my cottage. I mean, if you want to…” muttered Fluttershy.

“Well where else am I going to go?”

“You’re in for a treat, Todd. Fluttershy’s cottage is just the most wonderful place to stay. I’ve been there a few times myself, and I love it,” mentioned Discord.

“Are you sure he’s not your boyfriend?” I asked again, I didn’t want to look like a jerk or anything.

“N-no, I told you he’s just a friend!” Fluttershy answered.

“Maybe tomorrow, you guys could give us a tour or something, to help give us a little more info about your world? So us that don’t live here have a good idea of what to expect.” suggested Isa.

“That sounds like a splendid idea, Isa.” Rarity agreed.

“Might as well, it’s not like we have any other plans tomorrow. Other than preparing for another wave.” said Phillip.

And with that, we parted ways with their respective partners; Isa left with Twilight and Spike, Phillip with Rarity, Jamie with Pinkie, and Fluttershy and me. On the way back to Fluttershy’s cottage, I decided to ask her something that’s been going around in my head since I arrived here. Good thing Discord was walking far ahead of us, naturally he shouldn’t have been able to hear us.

“Hey Fluttershy.”

“Hm?”

“I gotta ask you, why did you come back?”

“Well, um…I was at my cottage,” She started.

“And?”

“I was too scared to do anything. I just sat on my bed thinking about what I should do. I looked out the window and saw that ponies were panicking and running for their lives, I was so terrified. I kept thinking to myself, ‘what if my friends are out there? What if they get seriously hurt? What would they do if I was in a situation like that?’ Then I remembered what you said to me, ‘I’ll go die by myself then’. I may not know you that well, Todd, but to me you’re like a helpless forest creature.”

I could feel my cheeks burning when she uttered those words. Was that really the best comparison she could come up with? Her statement made me sound weak.

“And I could never stand by and watch as a cute little chipmunk or squirrel run off into the forest only to be eaten by a bigger animal, I just couldn’t.” I stopped dead in my tracks. I’ve never felt so embarrassed. I mean, being compared to a squirrel by a mousy, girly Pegasus, that’s just…..wrong. “Todd?” She noticed I stopped.

“Did you call me helpless?” I asked, calmly.

“Oh, did that offend you? I’m so sorry, I didn’t-“

“Never mind. What were you saying?”

“Oh right. I kept thinking about it, and then I decided that it wouldn’t be fair for you to go out there and fight alone. I’m sure that’s what my friends would’ve done for me just like they probably did the same for their partners.”

“I see.” I paused. “Well, thanks for saving me back there.”

“You’re welcome. And Todd…” I could feel my heart racing. Why was my heart racing? “I know we had a rough start with everything, but can we still be friends?”

I don’t know why, but when she asked that question, I felt unusually pleasant around this creature. Given the other characters I met today, that’s saying a lot. Even if she was a different species, she just seemed so innocent and kind-hearted.

It felt nice to be around her.

At first, I saw her as a scared little girl, but then she saved me from almost getting impaled by a Pest. (Well actually, the others helped a lot too with keeping me alive, but this was different.) However, I’m not strong yet. If we’re going to be partners, I have to get stronger to play this game and to keep her safe.

“Well, how else am I going to get to know you? Besides, we’re partners now, aren’t we?”

“Yeah.” She nodded with a smile.

Don’t worry; I’ll get better at this game. It looks like a made a few new friends today.

“Aw, how precious.” teased Discord as his snake-like neck broke through the middle of our friendly air.

“Ah!” I jumped. “W-we’re you listening the whole time?!”

“Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t. You’ll never know,” He laughed, shrinking back behind us.

‘Now I really don’t like this guy’.

It was now dark out. After a few minutes of pointless conversation, we finally made it back to Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Well, it looks like you’re back. I guess I’ll be going now.” said Discord.

“You’re leaving?” asked Fluttershy.

“Well yes, I just wanted to make sure you got home safe, Fluttershy. And now that you’re here, I’ll be heading home now. Ta-ta!” He waved as he snapped out of the area.

“Does he always come visit you?” I asked Fluttershy.

“Every now and then. Even though he’s the Spirit of Chaos, he’s still a very dear friend of mine and I’m always happy to see him.” She responded.

When we went inside, I was surprised to see that it was filled with animals and plants. Birds, rodents, reptiles, you name it. It was as if every animal in the world was in her living room. There was also a weird smell in the room I couldn’t shake. It was crazy.

“Whoa.”

“Something wrong?” Fluttershy asked.

“I didn’t expect to see a lot of animals in your home.”

“Oh yes, I care for all living creatures,” she replied, filling a bowl with lettuce to feed a few small rodents.

“Are you Mother Nature’s daughter?”

“Who?”

“Uh, never mind.”

“Ok, I’ll be right back. I’ll go get some blankets and pillows for you.” The buttery Pegasus stated before leaving the room.

I decided to rest on the couch and set down both my case and my machete. I was still trying to get used to the sight of the many animals in her house. A blue jay landed on my forearm, I was a bit surprised that a bird would come to me so naturally. I thought it was going to peck at me, but instead it nuzzled its head against my shoulder. I wish the birds in my world were this friendly.

“Seems like you made a new friend.” Fluttershy noted as she was walking out with a blanket and a pillow on her back.

“Yeah, well.”

“You can sleep on the couch there, if you want.”

“I don’t mind.”

Instinctively, I stood up and she began to set the couch. The blue jay on my arm flew away as she looked up at me.

“Ok, you’re all set up. I’m going to get ready for bed as well.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy.”

I got under the covers and rested my head on the pillow and all the other animals escorted themselves out of the room. Probably back to their birdhouses, cages, or wherever they sleep.

Fluttershy was walking upstairs with a tired expression. “Good night,” She called down.

“Night.” I replied. After she left, I decided to eat a few granola bars from my case, since I hadn’t eaten anything for the past hour. Once I was done, I turned off my lamp and drifted off into a deep sleep. I hope I can become better at this game, if I’m going to survive, and win my life back.