Discordia Nocturne
By: JoshuaVv
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this fanfiction I wrote myself. Even the OC, Presto, is not of my own creation. He is the creation of the user known as ThatTFguy. All I did was put the words together as you see below.
Chapter 1
"...I don't turn ponies into stone!"
This was true. Discord did no such thing. What fun was stone, anyway? All it did was make them heavy and useless. And what did stone even do? Nothing. It just sat around doing nothing. For thousands and thousands of years it did nothing. No, he turned ponies into something far more...delicious.
The ten minute sun glared off the glass statue of a unicorn. A fragile hoof raised up above the ground, her eyes wide with terror, and her body leaned, as if pulling away from what scared her so. Her tail, if it were in motion, no doubt would be whipping through the air. Instead, this green mare remained in place: a semi-transparent shell of her former self. However, it wasn't just any glass, as the local wildlife found out. It was sugar glass. More or less like hard candy, just even more fragile.
The long legged woodland creatures had stampeded into Ponyville, smelling the sugar from the Everfree Forest. They began to lick, bite, and break these statues. These glass statues of once living, breathing ponies. A sort of red jelly oozed out from the breaking points, dripping slowly towards the ground. Most of the animals licked it away before it sluggishly touched the ground. They had every intention to eat every single one of these statues. And thus every pony in Ponyville.
Chuckling to himself, Discord passed a pegasus. Her front hooves were raised high in the air, her wings spread. Her eyes were not so wide like the terrified unicorn. Instead, this pink pegasus's eyes were narrowed with focus. It was as if, a moment before his spell raced across the land and transformed her, she saw it as a race. A race she simply had to win...but despite all of her passion and determination, had lost.
Tracing a finger lightly, his taloned hand pinched the tip of one of her large feathers, and broke it off with a snap. His tongue slithered out and licked lightly at the candy. He smiled a bit.
"Cotton candy...fitting for such a perfectly pink pegasus. Heheheh..." He popped the feather tip into his mouth. A few cracks could be heard as he munched contently on the once fluffy feather.
Now, where was those six ponies?
Strutting further into the town, passing more and more static statues of sweet glass, Discord carefully studied each petrified pony. Nope...nope...not them. His talon came to his horse chin and scratched it thoughtfully. Perhaps they weren’t in town? Saving the day somewhere else? Maybe. Doubtful, but maybe. Discord had a strong hunch they often stayed close to home. After all, they weren’t super-heroes. Just some somewhat special ponies. Ya know...the ones a bit more in tune with some certain Elements of Harmony. Such a shame that’s all they were good for.
Speaking of which...Discord’s tail curled around slightly, allowing him to glance down at the box held firmly there. The box full of these elements. He wasn’t a fool. To let the ponies have them again spelled doom for Discord. As weak as they were, when together and with the Elements, they had the strength to end him. A very unfitting end, no less. Such an insult to be turned to stone! Such a cruel fate. At the very least it could be colorful stone.
Heh. Celestia never did have any taste in such things. She was as boring as the statue he became.
Anyway. Ponies. Had to find those stupid six that imprisoned him before. Make sure they were taken care of.
“Hrm?” Curling his body just slightly, and summoning the ground beneath him to raise like a jack for a car, Discord narrowed his eyes and looked off in the distance. There he saw flashes of pink light. Unicorn magic. A small smile grew on Discord’s face. Bingo.
“Wait for me, Twilight. I’d hate for you to miss out on the fun.” Discord snapped his paw, and his body twirled, imploding on itself, vanishing into a spec of yellow light.
“Come on...please? Work!” The purple pony complained as her horn touched again and again on the glass mane of another pony. There was a pink glow, and then nothing. Another pink glow, and then nothing once more. She was losing hope on each and every attempt to revive the cursed citizen. Every time she closed her eyes and focused her magic, her hopes would raise. It’ll work this time! He’ll be free! But when she opened her eyes...he would remain as static as before. A sweet statue symbolizing Discord’s delectable taste in chaos.
“Twilight...” A white unicorn approached her, placing a hoof on her back, “You cannot go draining yourself. You simply cannot...save him right now.” Rarity persuaded, her eyes locked on the large red statue that once was the stallion known as Big Macintosh. The six were here at Apple Acres Orchard having just one of many of Pinkie’s parties when it happened.
Applejack had looked out the barn’s window to see the grey waves of magic spread across Ponyville.
“Hey, Twilight. What’n tarnation you suppose that is?” She asked, pointing to the wave. Twilight strode over, looking briefly before shaking her head.
“I don’t know, AJ, but it-” They watched in the distance as suddenly Big Macintosh came stampeding towards them from town. His face wide with fear.
“Hey isn’t that, Mac?”
“Big Mac, what’s wrong?!” But before the stallion could answer he was absorbed by the magic and turned into a statue before their very eyes.
“Mac!”
“Everyone get close! Now!” Twilight took action as the other five huddled close to her. A magic bubble appeared around them and the wave smashed into it as if a dragon had attempted to bash through it. Twilight braced herself and dug in her hooves to keep her from losing control and focus. Cracks appeared over the bubble, but before it broke, the wave had passed and Twilight was able to let go. As the wave passed, the six heard in the distance the evil laugh follow.
“Discord...” They all whispered, chills and fear running through them. Fluttershy had even ducked down and hid, shaking under the window.
“No! I have to save him! And then everypony else! No matter what!” Twilight’s horn glowed again and she attempted to expel the curse off Big Mac.
“Twilight! It’s...it’s ahlright. Yah don’t need ta kill yurself tryin’. W-we can git Big Mac back once we get Discord. But we can’t do that if you keep tirin’ yurself out.” Applejack was the next to try and reassure the desperate pony. Her words were surprisingly calm and reassuring, but the way she looked at her big brother suggested that her heart was falling apart.
“Yeah, c’mon Twilight! We need to go kick Discord’s butt if we want to save everypony!” Next was the blue spunky pegasus to try and refocus her friend.
“But...the animals, the chocolate rain, they’ll-” Twilight continued to protest, only to be cut off once more before she could continue her horrible thought.
“Then just all the more reason to get ourselves in gear and beat the crap out of Discord!” Rainbow Dash flew around Twilight coming to her side, standing tall and firm. Her wings were spread in antsy anticipation. Twilight turned her head, frowning, but nodding as she looked to the frozen Big Mac.
“You’re right...the longer we’re here, the less we can save. Ok. We’ll have to find him. But I’m not sure if my shield can protect from another burst of magic like that. We were lucky before...if he did it again-”
“Did what again, Twilight dear?” Suddenly the Ponies lost their balance. Pinkie fell forward into Applejack and Fluttershy slipped, waving out her hooves and landing on Rainbow Dash just as she had began to flap her wings to save herself from falling. Rarity and Twilight knocked horns together, sending them both crashing down. As Twilight landed she could taste the disgustingness of soap on her tongue.
Above the dazed and confused ponies stood the master of chaos himself, Discord. His mouth was curved into a confident smile, the nails of his lion paw clicked together as he watched them struggle in his soapy road. It was always so fun to watch them flail and fall because of that simple trick. Cute, too. The way their faces scrunched up and winced when they landed...ah just so delightful.
“My, my, Twilight Sparkle. Do you really think your pathetic magic will be able to stop my fun? And why would you? Don’t you think they’re better this way? As fun ponies are when the chaos storm brews...they’re so much more delicious this way!” He placed a talon on Big Macintosh's ear, and snapped it off. “I expect this to taste a bit like apple.”
“Mac! Discord, why y-whoa!” Applejack attempted to make a charge at Discord, but her hooves lost traction quickly and she ended up just sliding into his leg. Applejack’s rage quickly turned into just angry frustration as she looked up at the chuckling draconquues.
“Ah, Honest Apple. So hard to watch as I just pick away at him like the apples in your orchard?” Discord dangled the piece of ear between his nails before tossing it into his mouth, destroying it with a single exaggerated crunch.
“You low-down vermin, bastard! You leave him alone! You tain’t got no business with him or anypony here other than us!”
“I got it, AJ!” A beam of rainbow circled around Discord, as Rainbow Dash darted off the ground and into the air, flying and spinning like a fighter jet. “Get ready for the beating of your life!” Rainbow roared. She truly did intend to make Discord break this time, to beat him to a pulp, and save the day through brute force alone. She went out far, turned sharply, and flew in, aiming to crash into him with the force of a train.
“Honestly, Rainbow Dash, I thought you’d know better.” An eye of Discord’s suddenly widened, bugging slightly as the box his tail held glowed again. “Your loyalty will be the death of you!”
“Rainbow! His spell! He’ll turn you into a statue like the rest!” But Twilight’s warning seemed to come too late. Rainbow Dash was far too fast for her to turn in time now. The box holding the Elements send out a beam of magic. The beam was different shades of grey, like a rainbow without color. “He’s got the Elements!” Twilight then announced, having recognized the box Celestia kept to keep them safe.
“Oh no ya don’t!” Applejack swiveled herself on the soap and swung her hoof into Discord’s shin, causing him to wince in pain and lose his aim. The beam shot up into the sky instead. Rainbow continued on course and slammed into Discord. As she hit, front hooves first, Discord shouted in pain...and stretched. Rainbow Dash kept up her flight speed and strength, and Discord’s body gave, continually sinking back and back as if he were made of rubber.
“You had your high, Rainbow Dash...now its time for you to crash!” Discord’s body suddenly flung forward, his body acting like a rubber band pulled back far too far. Rainbow shot from Discord as if from a canon. Her rainbow arch followed her all the way over a few apple trees and into the ground where she crashed head first. “Ugh...” Discord hit his chest causing him to cough up some screws and bolts. Chuckling deviously he rubbed where the pegasus hit. “She’s a strong flyer, but an even better crasher. Hehaha!”
“R-rainbow!”
“Fluttershy, go see to her!” Twilight called, “What are you doing with the elements, Discord?” She demanded.
“Oh you know, just having some fun.” Discord waved the box around teasingly.
Twilight snorted violently and attempted to stand menacingly as her horn began to glow again, but her legs shook, and her teeth were clenched. It took just as much concentration it seemed to stand as to ready whatever spell she was casting. Fluttershy only nodded before flapping her own wings and flying off towards where Rainbow Dash crashed.
“Trying it again, are you, Twilight? Why bother? You don’t even have the Elements.” Discord curled his body back to point at the Elements while hanging his upper body upside down, “Why don’t you try learning how to stand up first, before standing to me!” Discord laughed again, talons snapped and a giant bowling ball appeared over Twilight’s horn. With a yelp, her neck gave forcing her to drop her head down into the bowling ball. There was a small crack, and the resulting shake caused Rarity and Applejack to fall once more. Pinkie Pie however, just as Discord had hoped, was able to keep her balance just fine. She always was the one Discord enjoyed the most. She seemed to adapt to his chaos veeery well.
“Why, you! Even though you make the sky rain chocolate-really good chocolate by the way. I think I’ll have to put them on some cakes sometime. Oh! I should get some tubs to fill up with all the chocolate! I could give them to the Cakes and we could make the BEST cookies and cakes with them! Oh, oh, oh and the cotton candy clouds! They’d go great on some of Joe’s doughnuts I think! Yep! We could call it, Cottonnut! No, that’s no good, there’s no nuts! Tee-hee! Oh! Oh! Oh! Rarity you could make them into dresses and-”
“Pinkie!” The other three ponies yelled together as they once again struggled to stand. Twilight lifted her head, sliding her horn out of the bowling ball, showing some blood running down from her nose. “Focus!”
“Oh come now, she was just embracing the chaos! Something you three should think about doing. Now that I have the Elements of Disharmony I-”
“Elements of Disharmony?!”
“Well, that’s what I said, isn’t it? You know, Twilight, I think I’m getting tired of your interruptions.” Discord bent down a bit, placing his paw on the side of her mouth.
“What are you-?!” Discord ran it across her lips, and her mouth was, quite literally, zipped shut.
“Much better! You know I thought I’d have to mute Rarity before I had to mute you, Twilight. I was actually looking forward to your friendship speeches, if just because they would be so fun to, ya know, crush.”
“You brute! How dare you touch her! Un...zip her mouth this instant!” Rarity’s horn began to glow as her teeth grit in anger. Her own legs were shaking as well, but Discord couldn’t tell if it was from anger or concentration to keep balance...probably both!
“Oh, and what are you going to do, Rarity? Give me a pretty dress?” Discord turned to the white mare, his talon and paw on his would-be hips. He grinned to her, his eyes challenging, and fearless against the fashionista. Honestly? What could she do? Twilight’s magic easily outclassed Rarity’s.
“Oooooh! I don’t think any dress in all of Equestria could make you even look remotely presentable, you beast! Now unhand those elements!” Rarity’s horn brightened as pieces of the earth around them stripped themselves from the earth. They spun and were fined into beautiful sheets of green fabric.
“So the dress, then?” Discord’s eyes shifted between the sheets, his lids coming down boredly.
“Just. You. Watch!” Rarity nodded her head towards Discord as the fabric made of earth flew at the draconequus. They would wrap themselves around the slithery chimera and tighten. They bound his legs, his tail to his back, his arms to his side, and stopped to keep just his head shown. The sound of stretching fabric could be heard as Discord pulled and tugged to free himself.
“Hah! You see! Fashion can kill!” Rarity’s grin was maniacal as she proclaimed her victory phrase. “I’m sorry to say you might find that ‘dress’ a bit too tight!”
“Is that the best you could come up with?” Discord asked, a brow raised and sharp disappointment in his voice. “Aren’t you one of the whittier of the group? Shouldn’t you come up with a better catch-phrase than that?”
“What?!”
“Bah! I had hopes for you for a second, Rarity. And as nice as it was to give me these clothes...I certainly don’t need them. But, hey, at least your generosity shows!” The glow of the element box returned, Discord’s tail emerged from the fabric, and his body followed. He simply slipped out as if he were made of air. “Its reeeeeeeally starting to become pathetic. No matter how much any of you try, you’re doomed. I’ve corrupted the Elements, you know. So even if you did get them back, you wouldn’t be able to use them. And since none of you are strong enough to stop me...then I guess I’m wasting time letting you try. So...time to join the rest of Ponyville, My Little Ponies!” Holding up his hands, the Elements glowed again. “My Chaos Ring will turn you all into statues just like the rest of Ponyville! You’ll be nothing but decorations for my Kingdom of Chaos! And food for the pets, of course. Good-bye, My Little Ponies! Good-bye...forever!”
“Yoink!” The glow of the box died, and Discord looked back at his tail, stupified to find the elements missing.
Landing in front of Discord with the box in his mouth was a navy blue unicorn with a grey mane. He grinned victoriously behind the box before dropping it on the ground and placing a hoof over the box. Twilight’s horn glowed again, the zipper ran across her muzzle, unzipping her mouth.
“Presto?!” Twilight was quick to recognize the amateur magician. Presto had spent a lot of time in the streets of Ponyville, performing street magic and shows for his friends in Ponyville. Despite all that had happened, he also highly admired Trixie. Twilight recalled briefly how they had argued about Trixie once.
“You could’ve been nicer to her, you know.” Presto had urged.
“Presto, she was being a jerk to everyone. She only got what she had coming. With great power comes great responsibility, you know. And she was anything but responsible.” Twilight retorted, trying to keep a calm cheery tone to avoid any heat. Presto responded with a hoof to the ground.
“So? She deserved to show off! She was amazing!”
“Presto, I-”
“Just...leave me alone. I’ll show you, I’ll be just as good as her one day, and we’ll be the best magic show ever!” He had galloped off on that, and it had been a long time before Presto and Twilight spoke again. When they did, there was some heavy tension, but luckily no venom was passed.
Seeing him of all ponies came to quite a shock to Twilight...had his magic really advanced enough to where he could protect himself from Discord’s magic as well?
“Ya know, I would’ve thought the ‘Great and Powerful Discord’ would’ve watched his back a bit better. It was almost too easy snatching this from you.” Presto said as Discord crossed his arms.
“Well, well, well...if it isn’t the Trixie Wanna-be, Presto. My, my, how did you escape my Chaos Ring? Were you stuck in one of your magic boxes again?” Discord responded with a smirk and an amused stare.
“Nope, just did what Twilight did.” Presto’s horn glowed slightly and then faded back. “I protected myself.”
“And no one else?” Discord began grinding his paw’s nails together dismissively.
“...No. I tried, but...no.”
“Good, then I won’t have any more unpleasant surprises. Now, then...” Discord extended his paw, and the arm stretched as if made of elastic. It stopped just before Presto, “give them back, and maybe I’ll make sure your eyes still work when I make you one of my garden ornaments. At least then, you can have the privilege to watch my Chaos Kingdom grow. ”
“Go to hell.” Presto swung around, bucking a leg out at Discord’s paw, which retracted quickly enough to avoid the bold hoof.
“Hahahah! Yes, I know exactly what to do with you...” Discord suddenly shank, sinking into the ground like he was crushed by some invisible and enormous weight. He sprung back up behind Presto, another spring shooting up under Presto shooting him into a bubble that left him floating at eye level with Discord. From the force, Presto had lost his grip on the Elements. The bubble budded, letting a smaller one holding the box float next to Discord’s head. “We’re going to play a game.” As he finished talking, Discord turned quickly and held out his talon. A wall of taffy emerged behind him just as Rainbow Dash and Applejack charged in at him. They ran into the sticky candy and were stopped dead in their tracks.
Discord snapped his talons and earth rumbled and ruptured. It came up, arched and came down on Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy. The mud, earth, and grass hardened and imprisoned the four, leaving only their heads peeking out.
“Let them go!” Presto demanded, ramming his body against the bubble. Discord opened his paw and the bubble holding the Elements popped, dropping the elements cleanly into his hand.
“Not to worry, Presto, my boy. I’ll let them go...you’ll all be playing, you see. Playing in my game. I was foolish before to make it so simple...I mean sure, I still won, but I’d like to just sit back and watch this time. No reason to waste time meddling with you seven when there’s so much more chaos to bring! Hahah!” Discord once again turned back to Presto as his talon gestured downward. The six ponies let out struggling, grunts, whines, and shouts for help and demands for being ‘let go’, as their imprisonments sank into the ground. Before Presto’s very eyes, the six had disappeared into the earth. The last thing he saw was Rainbow Dash’s head-bloody from the crash-take a deep breath and close her eyes.
“And you, boy, “ Discord pressed a finger against Presto’s horn through the bubble, “Will be the star. It’ll be up to you to save them.” Presto’s eyes widened a bit. Uncertainty, fear, and despair flashed through them. “Oh...and one more thing.” Discord stuck his hand through the bubble and flicked Presto’s horn. It came clean off, flying out of the bubble and landing on the ground. Rock slates emerged from the ground covering his horn in a rough stone coffin. It too sank back into the ground. “No. Magic.”
“You won’t get away with this!” Presto then shouted in some desperate attempt to keep dignity. Discord merely yawned in response.
“That’s what they all say.” Discord then gave a thumbs down motion. “Now...time to play in my house of nightmares. You thought Nightmare Moon was scary? Well, you ponies have only seen the kid’s stuff. Now that I’m back, and with these Elements...well let’s just say being turned into glass candy that bleeds jelly will be the least of your worries.” Presto began to descend towards the ground. He watched as the bubble began to simply phase through it...as well as his body. Scared, he looked back up to see Discord’s crazed smile and wide eyes. And he wasn’t exactly sure...but he thought he saw Discord’s body turn a slight shade of grey just before entering the darkness.
Chapter 2
Darkness. Endless, endless darkness. Were his eyes even open? They felt open...but he couldn’t see. He blinked. He felt his eyelids meet and break apart. Nothing changed.
“Hello?” Presto braved a small call to the darkness. There was no response.
His hooves moved, grinding against what felt like stone. The grinding sound was louder than it should’ve been. It unsettled Presto, like if he made too much noise, a monster would emerge from the blackness and consume him. Regardless, Presto pressed on, and stood himself up. He felt a cold chill run from his flank and up to his mane. It made his flesh crawl, his hair rise on end.
“Hello?” Presto tried again. Again, the abyss before him remained silent. Swallowing hard, Presto began to slowly trot forward. His hooves clopped against the stone floor, destroying the silence, and unsettling him further. He felt like the silent nothingness was being bothered by the noise he was making, that just the smallest of noise angered it. He certainly dared not speak again lest whatever he felt like he was disturbing emerge and rip him to shreds.
Presto stopped and lifted a hoof up to his face. He couldn’t see it, it was so dark. But he could feel it. Feel him. He was shaking. Shaking terribly so. When he placed his hoof back down, it tapped lightly twice against the floor as it shook.
“Scared? Goodness, what happened to that angry bravery you had just a moment ago?” Discord’s voice literally blew through the darkness, causing Presto to jump back as his mane and tail shifted and whipped in the burst of air that came with the taunt.
“Discord! W-where are you?”
“Oh...right here! Can’t you see me? No, I don’t suppose you can. No magic, right. Heh. Well, let me give you a hand, then.” A few feet in front of him, Presto saw deep red lights flash to life. They illuminated a wooden door. The doorway seemed to simply sit in the middle of nothingness. There was nothing on the other side, so, in any other situation, opening it would be utterly pointless. Of course Presto knew better. Discord could practically do anything.
Seemingly on cue, Discord extended his long body from behind the door. His grin was malicious, and even though his body had a very crimson tint to it, Presto could see the grey diluting his natural colors. Presto had no time to really think on that oddity, as Discord continued to extend from the door. In fact, he began to grow, and the lights grew with him. The red silhouette of Discord leaned over the door. His talon and paw balanced him from the top of the door. His grin seemed to grow, and his teeth seemed more jagged than before.
“See me now?” Discord’s voice was rougher...more monstrous. Presto didn’t respond, he simply looked up in awe as Discord stood so tall...so large. If Presto didn’t know better, he’d say he was as tall as a house. “What’s the matter?” Discord’s bulking neck extended down towards the cowering Presto. “Too big?” Discord snapped back, making Presto jump again. Discord vanished behind the door and it swung open with a more normal sized Discord strolling out. He closed the door behind him.“Is this a bit easier for you?”
“W-what did you do with the others. Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Twilight...where are they?” Discord shook his head at the question, his claws grinding together as he leaned against the closed door.
“Well I can’t tell you, you stupid Pony.” Discord scoffed, “That’s part of the game.”
“Game?”
“Yes...a game. The game is for you to escape from my fun-house. Having any of those six with you when you reach the end will get you one prize for each.” Discord held up a single digit of his talon, but then it flattened out dismissively, “But you don’t need to have any with you when you escape to win. Quite frankly, you could ignore them all, for all I care. Leave them to their fate...would be easier for you, you know. Because the more you try to save, the the harder the game will get.” Presto grit his teeth a bit, biting his tongue to keep him from shouting out profanity after profanity at the draconequus.
“So what do I ‘win’ if I bring any out?”
“Their respective Element.” Discord’s tail extended out, the box open to show the six elements still within. However they were as grey as steel, as if they had lost all of their magical powers. That must’ve been what Discord meant when he said he corrupted them. “Sounds like quite the deal, eh? You win their freedom and get an element off me. I’m such a gracious host, aren’t I? Hahahah!”
“What do I have to do, Discord?!” Discord slouched a bit to the question. Did he really just ask that?
“Ugh! Don’t you ponies ever listen? Well, if you don’t want to hear it clearly...how about this?” Discord suddenly appeared behind Presto, his paw coming around Presto’s neck, as if they were best buds. “To play my game you need a plan. And to beat me, you need to save all you can. In the darkness of my game, you’ll find a blue-lit flame. Burn away the darkness, and replace it with kindness. Spread the flame and destroy cold’s ferocity, that is a sure sign of generosity. Honestly, I tell you, royalty will demand loyalty. But fire will make their fate tragic, unless saved with magic. And once, thereafter, you can all die with laughter.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”
“Remember it, Presto.” Discord ducked back, disappearing once more. “Remember it, and see if you can save them. Or die trying. Hehahahah!” The lights died a bit, centering on the door in the middle of the abyss Presto was trapped in.
Alone once more, Presto simply had no choice, but to continue on. Grabbing the knob with his teeth and turning it slightly, Presto pulled open the door just slightly. Moving his head back, he slipped a hoof between the door and the doorway. Presto whipped the door open expecting something horrible to pop out. Nothing did. Instead, Presto was greeted to a hallway..or rather a corridor. The ceiling was low. The walls were lined with boards and wooden studs. Presto walked forward, finding that the unsettling noise of his hooves against stone would not be leaving him soon. Taking a deep breath, the unicorn pressed on. His hooves clopped, echoing off the dark and dreary walls.
“Damn...its like a dungeon in here.” Presto said this without much consciousness of him saying it. A hoof came up quickly to cover his mouth. He waited, tensing, once again expecting the silence to lash out at him for disturbing its peace. His eyes darted around, only able to see so far thanks to the torches held up along the walls. They were few and far between, often barely making it to the next, or leaving a patch of pitch blackness in between the safe havens of these dim lights.
“I need to get a hold of myself.” He scolded himself mentally, “Everypony is counting on me...” The reminder of that pressure made him groan a bit to himself, between clenched teeth and through a tight throat.
“Ahh...”
“Eh?” Presto’s ears perked up. A pained and weak groan echoed through the corridor. Followed by the groan was a sharp chill. “Hello?” Presto called out, finding the courage to break the silence quickly. If it wanted to behead him for being a bit too loud, it probably would’ve by now...right?
“Aghh...” The groan passed through again, chilling Presto again. His heart was pounding hard, now. Drumming in his ears, accompanying the groan in an eerie chant. The groan echoed again down from the darkness. “Uuuuuugh...”
“Twilight? Rarity? Rainbow? Anypony? C’mon talk to me!” Presto’s legs began to carry him towards the noise. He trotted at a jogging pace, following the pained cries. The torches passed as dim reminders of his place, but Presto’s courage rose to shadow the horrible feeling of misplacement and just petrifying terror that attempted to lock his legs still.
“Aughhh...” As Presto trotted on, his speed began to increase. He was almost running now. His hooves clopped heavily against the stone ground. Torches passed in dim blurs. As he came closer, the groaning was beginning to sound familiar. But not of any of the six he expected to find. No, this voice was particularly special to Presto. It made his heart sink when thinking of who it might be. Who it reminded him of and who, no doubt, would just be used as a toy against Presto. Presto didn’t doubt Discord’s cruelty. If it was her...Presto wasn’t sure what he’d do. Especially without his horn.
“Ahhhhhhh!” The cries became more pained, borderline screaming now. Presto was sprinting now. The torches were becoming more and more frequent, or maybe he was just moving that fast. A pair of yellow dots appeared in the distance. He was getting close now. Those pair of distant torches. They must be...he had to be close!
“Trixie, I’m coming!” Presto called when in the homestretch. He didn’t care to wonder why she would be here, but he was certain she was, and that he had to save her. “Hang on!”
“AHHHHHHHHHHH!” She was screaming now.
“I’m coming. I’m coming, hang on, please!” The screaming continued, utterly piercing and infinitely dire. “Hang on! I’m here!” He couldn’t think of anything better to say. Not enough time to think, now, really. He was too close to slow down...so close...closer...almost...the lights grew brighter and brighter.
A dozen torches seemed to light up at once around Presto. The blue unicorn tossed his head around as he entered the supposed end of the corridor. What he saw in the center, however, made him fall down to the ground, his chin digging into the ground. His eyes went wide and his hooves came to the top of his head.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!” Up before Presto was the body of The Great and Powerful Trixie. Her head hung in a noose, her body hanging like a filled sack. Her head was rolled back, empty sockets stared up at the flame-lit ceiling. Her hair was a bloody mop, sagging down towards the ground. Limbs hung on barbed wire around Trixie’s body. Each were torn straight out of her body, with bits and strands of flesh hanging and dripping blood. She was ripped apart and hung on display right in Presto’s way. His eyes stared up at those eyeless eyes, recalling what they were before...
Purple eyes looked sidelong away from a mirror to the bashful fan.
“Yes? What is it?” The Great and Power Trixie inquired as Presto came closer. His bluish-grey mane was slicked back in some feign attempt to look good.
“H-hello, Miss Trixie. My name is Presto, I’m a huge fan of yours and I-”
“Another fan?” The lighter blue unicorn said unamused, turning her head towards Presto, “Well make yourself useful and adjust my mirror.” She looked back to the mirror, her tone firm and fierce. Presto stared blankly at her for a moment, unsure exactly what had just happened. “I do not have all day!”
“O-oh! Sorry!” Presto quickly jumped at the mirror. His horn glowed as an idea came to the unicorn. A small stream of magic came from his horn and touched the mirror, adjusting it slightly. She didn’t seem to take notice as she just reexamined herself and continued to brush her pale mane with the floating brush. Presto stood watching her. He was simply stricken. Her demanding demeanour. Her beautiful mane. Her heavenly voice. And the way her eyes looked at herself in the mirror, as if she was constantly telling herself she was the best and that no one could ever best her. It was all just so captivating. Presto was quite sure he was in love.
“Are you still here?” Trixie turned back to Presto, a brow raised with irritation. “Leave me! The Great and Powerful Trixie must rest!” Her hoof raised to shoo Presto away. Presto couldn’t say no to her...who could? He just gazed at her for a moment longer before trotting away. Yes. He was certain he could have her.
But now he never could.
“TRIXIE!” Presto cried in distress. He was too hurt, too much in pain to get up and look at her. Tears welled in his eyes, running down in sorrowful streams to the stone floor. “No, no, no, no! This is a dream...a dream...a-” Looking back up, Presto’s horrible sight was gone. Instead was just the room with two torches. No body. No blood. No rope...or so he assumed until he looked higher up. A lone noose hung, swaying idly in the non-existent wind. Dots of red decorated the rope as it waited grimly for the next head to be held in its deadly embrace.
“What...but...” The rope came undone before Presto’s very eyes and flopped onto the floor like a dead snake. Presto initially took some steps back, not wanting anything to do with it...but he caught sight of Trixie’s hat. It sat on the top of the stack, perfect and delightfully light in contrast to dreariness of this terrible place. It leaned expectantly towards Presto.
“Hnn...” Presto immediately assumed this was one of Discord’s games. He expected something horrible...but this? This wasn’t chaos...this was pure torture. Presto began to slowly approach the hat. Circling around the bundle of rope, he expected it to lunge out at him to ensnare him like a boa constrictor. Timidly, Presto extended a hoof and nudged the rope. It remained still, but the hat stirred just slightly. The star covered top leaned in his direction once more.
“You think I’m that stupid...?” Presto grumbled this under his breath and retreated slightly away from the hat. His hooves came down firmly in place. “I’m not going near it...no way am I falling for another one of your sick jokes, Discord.” Presto growled this, slowly becoming more and more angry. Presto, however, despite his defiance from touching the hat, couldn’t help but keep his eyes on it. Despite doing nothing, but leaning towards him, Presto could feel it staring at him. It felt as if as he looked at it, it looked back, locking them in a staring contest.
Presto finally tore himself away. His initial reaction was to go right back to staring the hat down. Instincts screamed at him, assuring him that if he took his eyes off the hat for one second it would move and attack him. Presto did his best to ignore this instinct, even moving away from the hat, in search of a door in this room. He began to trot to the other side of the room, seeing a few barrels in the corner, some more studs to keep the ceiling from crashing down and crushing him. He tried to focus on these things, taking in account on what was here and what wasn’t. Maybe that’d give him an idea as to where he was.
The hat didn’t break its gaze on him, though. Presto could feel it. The hat’s ‘eyes’ were drilling holes in the back of his head. It demanded Presto give him his undivided attention...or else. The itch to look was becoming unbearable. So Presto came to a compromise. He’d glance at it. Look at it briefly once, and if it didn’t move, he’d ignore it forever. If it did...something, anything, then he’d keep an eye on it. Presto took a deep breath. He held it, his cheeks puffing out slightly. Turning his head quickly, Presto looked to the hat.
It was still in place. It had not moved, had not stirred. It was just a hat. This was just a trick to psyche Presto out. Presto exhaled and felt a bit of relief wash over him. Turning away from the hat again, Presto continued to wander his eyes about the hopelessly dark room. As he looked, his eye caught a small reflection. It was a door knob. Smiling a bit, he trotted over. Presto had no idea what was on the other side of that door, but it would no doubt be better than here.
Stopping in front of the door, Presto leaned his head down and latched onto the knob with his teeth. He attempted to turn it and pull. The door refused to move. The knob would not turn, and it held firm before Presto. It would now allow him to pass, simple as that. Defeated, Presto cringed and turned to find another door.
The hat sat at his feet. Presto, startled, backed into the door, his eyes wide, staring at the hat once more. It succeeded in keeping his attention, it would seem.
“W-what do you want, huh? You stupid hat!” Presto’s fear turned into anger once more. He was trapped, tricked several times by Discord, and now he was being stalked by a hat resembling the one his idol wore. Discord was just mocking him! Endlessly mocking him with twisted jokes! “Fuck! You!” Presto exclaimed and reared back to stomp down on it. The hat was crushed under his angry hooves. He brought his hooves down again and again. His stomping echoed off the walls, and his roars of frustration followed. “Fuck! You! Fuck you fuck you fuck you!” Each syllable was emphasized with an angry stomp. The walls did not shake, the dust hardly stirred. It was as if the very place he was in, stood still, watching him in old unamusement. Similar to how an old man would stare down a teenager up to mischief.
As his stomping continued, Presto felt something under one of his stomping hooves. Presto ceased his rage briefly, lowering his head and poking at where his hoof hit to make sure he really felt something. Content that he did, Presto picked up the hat and tossed it aside. In the ground and slightly bent was a bronze key. Under it was a piece of paper. Another trick? No doubt, but the key gave him a bit of hope at least, and settled his anger for a moment. Presto slid the key away from the paper, holding it up under the torch’s light to read it.
Hang in there.
Presto spit out the note with a growl at the sick joke. An angry hoof came down on it, grinding it into the ground a bit. Lowering his head, Presto picked up the key and trotted to the door. He had more than enough of this place. All it was, was taunt after taunt. Carefully positioning the key in his mouth, the unicorn placed the key in the keyhole and turned it hearing the lock turn and click. He opened the door, finally, leaving the rope and the beaten hat behind.
The blue unicorn wandered into yet another corridor. However this one was much wider, not quite as claustrophobic. Torches seemed to be a bit less scarce. The hallway was long, as Presto quickly found out. Minutes seemed to pass as he simply proceeded forward. The only sound in this dead hall was his hooves hitting against the stone floor. He had become accustomed to the noise, and so it didn’t feel as disturbing to have it float around in the darkness. Still it was the only noise, the only thing happening. He simply walked on and on. Minutes had to have turned to hours. Hours perhaps even days...no he wasn’t that silly, but the hallway had no end! The further he walked, the less progress he felt like he was making. When looking back, the door to the old corridor was long gone.
He dimly wondered if going back now would end up being just as hopeless as going forward.
Presto’s head began to hang in exhaustion. This whole ordeal was draining. From dealing with Discord, his games, and now this monotonous corridor, Presto’s body was finally realizing just how trying of a day it had been. His legs began to ache slightly. His front hooves were sore from his outburst. And he was stressed. How was he supposed to find the other six if he couldn’t get out of this darn passageway? Sighing, Presto stopped and let himself collapse for a moment.
“How long does this thing go on...?” Presto asked no one in particular. His tired eyes looked down the hallway and saw only more and more dimly lit stone. There seemed to be no end in sight. Was this another game of Discord’s? Seemed like a very boring game for Discord. Presto would’ve expected something more...exciting. Perhaps he ought to be thankful that this game, if that’s what it was, gave him a chance to rest, at least. A chance to collect himself and slow down.
Presto rolled onto his back while on the cold floor. A small sigh escaped his lips as his body relaxed against the welcoming coolness. It was nice, not great, but it had a small sense of peace to it. It was almost...nostalgic. Closing his eyes, Presto went to a day back in Ponyville.
It was hot. Not just hot, boiling, burning. Most ponies had stayed in to avoid the scorching heat. The pegasus were scrambling to collect clouds to block the sun from Ponyville, but the sun seemed to not have any of that. It simply dried out the clouds, thinning them, and making them hardly useful. Rain was a laughable idea. It was simply too hot.
For those who were forced to sit outside, the pegasus simply decided to try and shade them, but gathering the clouds and replacing them turned out to be even more tiring on them. Eventually that idea was even forgotten. So those stuck outside were at the mercy of the fierce sun. It may not have been as quite as hot as a desert sun, but if you were to ask anypony how hot that day was, they’d say that a trip to the desert would’ve been refreshing. Presto was one of those unfortunate ponies.
He was out street performing. It was a very slow day for it, as you could’ve guessed. So rather than stay in one place in the market as he normally would, Presto decided to try and entertain each of the vendors with personal shows. He hoped it would help them through this particularly unpleasant heat-wave. Many of the vendors were grateful for the offer, but few actually accepted, claiming it was simply ‘too hot’ for a magic show. The rest weren’t so nice and simply told Presto to ‘scream, beat it, hit the road, ect.’
Presto was about to give up for the day when he saw a particular pony trot into the market and wave him over.
“Presto, over here!” She called.
“Trixie, dear!” Presto exclaimed, “What are you doing here?”
“Well I just came to check and see how my hunk of a partner was doing.” Trixie giggled.
“You know, flattery doesn’t get you anywhere with me, oh ‘Great and Powerful Trixie’.” And to make his point, in a teasing manner of course, Presto turned away from her, his head up snobbily.
“Well how about a gift?” Presto was about to turn around.
“A gift?” He was suddenly very very cold. His mane hung, and his coat was soaked. His eyes went wide in surprise, but a smile grew with how refreshing it was. “Awww...Trixie...I love you.” He said, laughing to look back to her.
“I love you, too.” Responded the fleshless head of Trixie. Eyes bulged out their sockets, veins could be seen around her skull, pumping blood through her head. Her ears were nothing but a couple of white stubs. Her horn was huge, but broken at the tip, and dotted with red. Her mane clung to her bare scalp, dirty, old, and nothing more than white strands of straw. The sky had darkened and suddenly Presto was alone with the faceless Trixie in the market. The ground exploded around Presto, rubble and gravel flew through the air like shrapnel as chains erupted and shackled Presto in place. They first bound his legs, then tied around his body, then his neck, and around his muzzle.
“How about a kiss?” The creature once known as Trixie asked, her voice distorted and full of earth. Worms and maggots began to crawl out from her skull, falling to the ground in clumps of flesh-eating white. Presto couldn’t scream. He couldn’t move. He could just watch as Trixie’s skull parted her jaw just slightly, a green tongue sticking out to effectively french-kiss the trapped unicorn.
“No!” Presto stood up. His eyes shot around, paranoid to see that monstrosity of Trixie again.
“That wasn’t very nice.” And there she was, standing in the darkness on the far side of the hallway, “I thought you loved me.”
“Be quiet, Discord! How dare you even think about doing any of that stuff to Trixie?!”
“Discord? I’m hurt, Presto, dear. Its me. Your love.”
“Shut up! Tell me where the other six are!”
“You’ll have to catch me first, Love. Eheheheh!” The Trixie cackled like an old witch and turned, running off into the darkness.
“Get back here, you twisted son of a bitch!” Presto thundered after her into the darkness of the corridor. It didn’t even occur to him the torches behind him had died.
