They Walk Among Us

"Well, that was... hot."

Steven didn't know what else to say. Although Steven looked calm and collected from the outside, he was burning up inside. In fact, except for Rainbow Dash, the mouths of everyone there were gaping widely open. No one said anything- not because they didn't have anything to say, but because they didn't dare say anything at that point. What they just saw... really took the breath out of them. Forcefully. Just grabbed it and held onto it like that. Steven needed to break the ice before any of them actually died of asphyxiation.

But still, no one answered. It was starting to get really awkward there- especially considering that the memory had ended, leaving the group in the middle of indefinite white space until they magicked themselves out. Steven wanted to say something else, but he couldn't. The shock of the matter still choked him up.

"Oh my..." said Fluttershy, looking just as shocked as the rest of them. What just happened there must have broken her fragile little mind. "I can't believe you girls think so highly of me, Rainbow Dash."

Steven's mouth grew wider as Fluttershy said that. It seemed that everything else really didn't matter to Fluttershy at the moment.

"Fluttershy..." said Rainbow Dash, walking over to Fluttershy and kneeling down in front of her. "You are the kindest, the most gentle, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but the really one of the bravest ponies I had ever met. What makes you think that we won't think highly of you at all?"

Fluttershy bowed her head down until not even Rainbow Dash could see it.

"It's just... I'm so insignificant." said Fluttershy.

"Don't say that, Fluttershy." said Rainbow Dash, picking Fluttershy's head up. "I've known you for my whole life. If you were anything close to insignificant, I would've said so earlier."

Fluttershy stood still for a while, before finally nuzzling Rainbow Dash's hand as a sign of acceptance. Only now did Steven know how her friends and their words truly meant to Fluttershy. He began to smile, happy about the fact that even a shy (and sometimes even self-degrading) pony like her had such great friends. And they were now his friends too.

"Come on, guys." said Twilight. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." said Rainbow Dash. Twilight beckoned them over to come close to Twilight as she touched Rainbow Dash's forehead with her horn.

"Here goes..." said Twilight, and all of them were pulled inside a flash of light as they disappeared back into the real world.

________________________________________________________________________________

Steven was lying on the floor when he finally came to.

He quickly stood up and let out a great yawn, stretching his back and his hooves as he did so. It really was late, and he should go back to his room and sleep already. But something strange caught his eye.

No, not something. Nothing.

Complete nothingness surrounded Steven again. He knew what was coming- the Voice. He expected it to come, but he didn't want it too. The Voice always brought with it bad news.

There was always nothing in this place. Nothing at all. Nothing to see, nothing to feel... There was only that voice. The same thing was happening now. The place was still empty.

Empty, except...

Twilight!

Twilight was still lying still on the ground, apparently still passed out. Ecstatic but panicked to see one of his best friends lying on the ground in front of him (especially since he had always thought that he was dreaming at these times), Steven tried to wake the purple mare up.

"Twilight?" called Steven, gently nudging her in her sleep.

"5 more minutes..." said Twilight. That struck Steven as strange- the studious ones were usually light sleepers. He knew he was one.

"Twilight, you have to wake up." said Steven, softly but urgently. "Come on, Twilight."

Luckily for Steven, Twilight wasn't that much of a heavy sleeper. As soon as the words escaped of Steven's lips, he noticed Twilight beginning to stir. He stepped back, afraid that a grumpy, early-morning Twilight Sparkle would attack him. Luckily for him, though, she didn't. She was just groggily beginning to stand up.

"Twilight?" said Steven.

That word seemed to have struck Twilight like lightning. Almost immediately, Twilight jumped to attention, her eyes wide open, taking in everything she could. Not like there was really anything there, except him.

"Steven." said Twilight, looking confused. Her eyes were full of fury, panic, stress...

I know that feel, sister.

"What are you doing here?" asked Twilight. Steven was surprised- HE was supposed to be asking that question. SHE was supposed to ask what she was doing here, not what he was doing there. HE was the one who had been coming here for nights on end, after all. Wait... did this mean-

"Okay, don't worry." said Twilight. "We're most likely trapped in a dream world. I'll try to get us out."

"I don't worry?" asked Steven. "No, YOU don't worry."

"No, YOU don't worry." said Twilight, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not worried." said Steven, raising an eyebrow back (hoping it would be raised higher than Twilight's, just to prove his point). "I've been here before, anyway."

"No, I'm not worried. You're supposed to be-" said Twilight, before finally stopping short. "You've... been here before?"

"Yeah." said Steven. "Tons of times."

Twilight began to laugh. Not a 'happy-funny' laugh, but a really creepy laugh. Almost like an evil laugh... only a bit crazier.

"No, you've never been here before." said Twilight, grinning creepily. "It's impossible."

"I've been here many times already." said Steven, visibly scared of Twilight's new persona. "The thing is, I don't know where 'this place' is."

Twilight immediately stopped laughing and smiling (making Steven breathe a sigh of relief), instead thinning her lips as she glared at Steven. Steven's relief soon faded away, replaced by a tense feeling in his heart. Twilight looked like she wanted to kill him.

"When you were in here..." said Twilight. "Did you...meet anyone?"

Steven didn't know how to answer that question. He was afraid that if he told the truth, Twilight was going to attack him. On the other hoof, he was afraid that if he lied, Twilight was going to attack him. But he was also afraid that Twilight would attack him if he remained silent.

To hell with it. thought Steven. It looked as if Twilight was going to attack him anyway, so he might as well tell the truth.

"Yes." said Steven, although as soon as he said the words, his confidence immediately left his body. "I mean... I don't know who he is, and I've never even seen the guy before, but he always brings me in here to talk to him. I don't trust him, though."

"Don't trust him, huh?" asked Twilight. Her expression softened, and she released a resigned sigh. "Well, it looks as if he isn't going to let us go until he says what he needs to say, anyway. He's never told you who he is before?"

"No." said Steven, suddenly intrigued. Did Twilight know the Voice? Has she been experiencing the same things he's been experiencing?

"I was visited in my unconscious sleep last night by Discord." said Twilight, whose breathing became more heavy as her eyes darkened. "Master of Chaos. If you've been visited by the same voice, and it's really really likely, then you would've been talking to Discord as well."

Steven choked in surprise.

Discord? The same Master of Chaos which drove Twilight to nearly kill him? He's been visiting Steven in his sleep?

Wait, but that would mean...

The compass? Was he the compass as well? They had completely different personalities though, but Discord might just be another one of those brilliant actors.

"D-Discord?" asked Steven.

"What has he told you?" asked Twilight, confronting Steven. "No, the question is, what have you told him?"

"Hey, I'm almost never the one talking." said Steven, offended that Twilight would even think about him disclosing information to outsiders. Not that he had any, but still. "You really think I, of all people, would tell a stranger

Twilight immediately let her head drop.

"Sorry." said Twilight quickly. "You just surprised me by saying that you've been here before."

"You did the same to me too." said Steven. "But it doesn't seem like he's here."

Twilight nodded and looked around. It was pitch-black in there, but it wasn't because of the lack of light. it's like one whole empty room with everything painted completely black. The strange thing was, though, that he could see Twilight just fine- like how he would normally see her in bright light. Except for everything around them being completely dark.

"He's here." said Twilight. "Discord might be the most evil, crazy, chaotic bastard alive, but everything he does is for a reason. Why would he keep us here?"

"Why, can't I have a nice chat with you, my dear Twilight?"

Both Steven and Twilight jumped at the sudden appearance of the voice. It was the same voice that he had heard for what felt like a million times, but it still always seemed to surprise him. Why does he always have to let his guard down at the worst possible moments?

"Discord!" said Twilight. Steven saw blinding white fury in her eyes. But there was something else there too- something deeply hidden away behind the anger and the hate. Something that she had most probably tried to deny, but could feel it weighing down on her. Behind those determined eyes, something really stood out from the rest.

Fear?

There was no doubt about it. Despite Twilight's hate and anger towards the draconequus, Twilight was afraid. Steven himself didn't know why- he knew that Twilight and her friends have fought against Discord before, but he didn't have any details. Just how powerful could a Master of Chaos truly be?

But what struck Steven even more than that was the fact that all this time, the Voice that had always spoken to him had been Discord. Of course, it was Steven's fault that he didn't notice it in the first place. He should've known! The Voice had always spoken very cryptically, and people who do that are generally the ones who liked to wreak chaos.

Or he could've just asked him.

"Show yourself, Discord!" screamed Twilight in an angry panic.

"Come on, Twilight, there's no need to shout." mocked the Voice. "Do you think shouting is the best way to meet old friends?"

"You're not my friend." said Twilight grudgingly. "I hate you."

The Voice surprisingly remained quiet for a while. Twilight herself seemed surprised, widening her eyes for a second before resuming her angry expression (albeit with a hint of doubt now).

The Voice cleared his throat.

"Hate me?" asked Discord. He immediately began laughing- a cackling, menacing laughter that pierced through Steven's heart. "HATE ME? There are much better things to hate than little old me, isn't there?"

All of a sudden, there was another figure entering the dark mass of space around them. But this figure was much more different than Steven and Twilight. It was walking upright.

But it was no human. In fact, it was one of the strangest and most grotesque figure he had ever seen in the course of his life (which were many, considering the fact that he was forced to work with such people at times back at the University). It had a head of some sort of goat with one horn of a mountain goat and the other some kind of demon's horn. It also had a small tuft of hair under its chin. It also had two wings- a dragon's and a bird's, the tail of a serpent, two hooves, and two very mismatched hands. They looked like a paw of a lion on one hand and an eagle's claw on the other.

Years of being taught Literature at school had taught Steven to always read between the lines. The mismatched body parts, the strange way it walked, and it's carefree expression had to mean something. They had to symbolize something.

Of course...

Chaos. Discord.

Steven was in no condition to speak, though. All of this was so much to take in, and he felt his mind drawing a complete and total blank. Its appearance, its voice, the fact that Twilight had also been talking to him while he did... Steven couldn't bother to say anything at the moment. All he could do was watch as Discord came even closer to Twilight.

Twilight was silently staring down at the Master of Chaos, not uttering a single word. But the look in Twilight's face said everything. She was ready to attack. She wanted to kill Discord. But she couldn't. Just like Steven himself, Twilight had questions as well, and she wanted them answered.

"Much better things to hate..." said Discord, unaffected by Twilight's death stare. "Like your rainbow-haired friend, perhaps?"

Twilight immediately dropped her expression, replacing it with a look of complete shock. Steven, on the other hoof, was confused. Was Discord talking about Rainbow Dash? Why the hell would Twilught hate Rainbow Dash?

"Yes... You should hate her." said Discord. "Hate her with a passion. Fill your heart with the wish to tear the foolish human apart. Destroy her for trying to get in your way."

"Shut up!" screamed Twilight, trembling as she fought to stay on her hooves.

"Rainbow Dash." said Discord, unfazed. "The name brings up a lot of pent-up anger within you doesn't it? The one woman who could take away your one true love for you."

Now Steven was more confused. Not only because of what Discord was saying (he did kind of expect that, 'cause a Master of Chaos would always want to cause disharmony), but also be because of Twilight's reaction to all this. She was trembling in her hooves, her eyes wide with fear. Whatever Discord was saying must have meant something to her. Something big.

Which would normally mean that it was true.

"Rainbow Dash is the only obstacle in gaining your true love." said Twilight. "Why not just take her apart and leave her out of the picture, hmm?"

Steven couldn't take it anymore. He was just too confused, and he couldn't let Twilight get even more influenced by Discord or something had was sure too happen. He could feel Twilight's struggle- she was teetering along the lines of light and dark. Whatever Discord said had a certain charm to it, some kind of magic, that seemed to have a more than profound effect on Twilight. He needed to stop this.

"Twilight, don't listen to him!" shouted Steven. "It's all lies and deceit! You know that!"

Discord shot him a small smile, to which Steven recoiled. Why was Discord....

Soon after, though, Twilight finally broke out of her trance. She was now standing straight again, ready to fight to the death with the draconequus if need be.

"I don't care about what you say, Discord." said Twilight. "Rainbow Dash is my best friend, and you will never turn me against her, or any one of my other friends. As far as I am concerned, YOU'RE the enemy here, Discord."

Discord immediately left Twilight's side, looking strangely proud of himself. What was his plan? All these questions and mysteries were killing Steven, but he daren't ask a Master of Chaos for any answers. It was far too risky.

"Very well." said Discord, a sudden look of disgust on his face and a tone of annoyance in his voice. "I wasn't here to talk about that anyway. I'm here to talk to dear Steven there."

When Discord mentioned his named, Steven nearly jumped out of his hooves. He might've snapped Twilight out of her trance before, but he wasn't sure if he would be as strong as Twilight.

"As usual, Steven Reilly, my meeting with you shall be brief." said Discord, maintaining a business-like distance and tone from Steven. "I have only come here right now to tell you that it is time."

"T-time?" asked Steven.

"Yes." said Discord. "Your compass will show you the way."

"Steven..." whispered Twilight as she moved next to Steven. "What is he talking about."

Steven didn't answer. He couldn't.

He didn't want to.

It's... Time? Time to meet his father? Steven stood frozen, eyes widened to their breaking point as he began to feel beads of sweat streaming down his face and neck. He couldn't get his eyes off Discord's face as he continued to stare and hang in to every word the draconequus was saying.

"Now, if you don't mind..." said Discord. "Please see yourselves out."

Discord snapped his fingers, and Steven could feel a familiar tugging in his stomach. He didn't want to move. He wanted to stay there and ask him the meaning to all this. But as usual, time has eluded him, and he must now go back to the real world to ponder in his thoughts.

"Arrivaderci."

________________________________________________________________________________

"NO, Steven!" said Twilight, trying to break free from the holds of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. "I am NOT going to wherever Discord is telling you to go, and neither should you."

"Please, Twilight..." said Steven. "I need to get answers, and so do you. He promised me answers, Twilight!"

"Yes, but not this way!" said Twilight, pulling her hooves one last time as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy fell to the floor. "You can't trust him, Steven! You know that!"

"I know!" said Steven, shutting his eyes closed as he pulled down his head in stress. "I know! That's why everything is confusing! By all means, I should just ignore everything and stay here, but I can't! I can't!"

"And why can't you?" asked Twilight, pushing her forehead to Steven's. "Why can't you just stay here?"

"I... can't say." said Steven, looking away.

"You can't say..." repeated Twilight, who then pulled her head away with a great force. "You can't say. That's brilliant, just brilliant."

"I'm sorry." said Steven. "Really. But I can't tell you."

"WHY CAN'T YOU TELL ME?" screamed Twilight. "IF YOU PLAN ON GOING OUT THERE, POTENTIALLY ENDANGERING ALL OF OUR LIVES, THEN WE DESERVE TO KNOW WHY!"

"Um... I don't really mind..." said Fluttershy, raising a hoof as if asking for permission to speak in class.

"SHUT UP, FLUTTERSHY!" snapped Twilight.

Steven could see Fluttershy begin to cry behind her own mane, and Rainbow Dash immediately went to help her. Rarity, however, turned to face Twilight.

"Twilight, please." said Rarity. "You did not have to do that. Did you see what you did to poor Fluttershy?"

"I DON'T CARE! " screamed Twilight. "ALL I NEED TO KNOW RIGH NOW IS WHY THIS B*TCH WANTS TO FOLLOW WHAT DISCORD IS TELLING HIM TO!"

"It's because of my father!" said Steven, hanging his head in shame.

Everybody stopped doing everything they were doing and turned to look at Steven, a confused look in their eyes. It was too much for Steven to bear.

"Discord knows where my father is." said Steven. "I need to go and find him so I can bring him back."

Nobody said anything. Twilight, however, walked up right in front of him with a rock hard expression on her face.

And then, as quick as lightning, Twilight swung a hoof and punched Steven's face.

It wasn't a very strong blow, but it was definitely strong enough for Steven to feel some pain. His heart was being completely wrenched from all the guilt he felt for even trying to convince his friends to come with him in a quest be should've went on alone.

"Twilight!" said Bush, who joined the group along with Big Macintosh after they had left the Engineering Lab.  Try quickly caught up with what was happening, though. "I know this's very emotional to you and all, but can you do all this fightin' somewhere else, mate? Everyone's looking at us."

It was true. They were right in the middle Floor B2, where many ponies and people were walking about. But all of the commotion had died down from the sound of Twilight's punch. They were all now looking at the drama in the middle of the floor.

Twilight, however, didn't need to stay around any longer. She began to turn around and walk away.

"I can't believe you could be so selfish." said Twilight, whose path was immediately cleared as the scared Resistance-folk moved aside in terror of the Purple Menace.

"Nobody's going anywhere." said Twilight. "And you better think about this, Steven, and where it might lead you to. I'm not going to let anyone else waste their lives on such a foolish endeavor."

Twilight immediately walked away, not even stopping once to look back.

"Steven..." said Rainbow Dash.

Steven didn't answer. He turned around and stormed out of the circle of people and ponies, walking back to his room. There was no need to stay there any longer.

Steven angrily kicked open the door to his bedroom. He could hear the television blaring inside, but he didn't care. He slammed the door shut and began to proceed towards the bed, where the compass was flying around in an apparent panic.

"Steven! Steven!" said the compass. "Look, it's-"

The compass didn't have time to finish its sentence. Steven immediately raised a hoof and began to hold the compass down in its place.

"Hey!" said the compass. "What do you think you're doing?"

Steven immediately bent down to take a look at the front of the compass. Sure enough, right where it was supposed to say 'NOT TIME', it simply just said 'TIME'.

"I'm going to get my things ready." said Steven, releasing the compass immediately. "You prepare to guide me to whichever place you're going to guide me to."

The compass remained silent, apparently confused at the sudden change in Steven's personality. But it didn't complain- after all, that's what it was made to do in the first place.

All of a sudden, though, there was a loud knock on the door. Steven chose to ignore it, continuing on packing his bags.

"Steven?" said the voice behind the door. "Steven, it's Dash. Please open the door, we need to talk."

The compass looked up at Steven expectantly, but Steven still didn't show any signs of wanting to react at all. He just continued going around the room, packing his saddle packs and other necessities for the long trip.

"Steven?" called Rainbow Dash, knocking a little louder this time. "Steven, please open this door."

Steven didn't answer. He kept on ignoring the calls behind that door.

"Fine, if you won't open it, then I guess I'll have to open it myself." said Rainbow Dash. "HERE I COME!"

All of a sudden, there was a loud 'BANG!' at the door, and Rainbow Dash and the door came flying into Steven's room. Apparently, Rainbow Dash's strength was more than enough to open the very tightly secured door.

"Owowow..." said Rainbow Dash, lying in the floor and writhing in pain.

Concerned and snapped out of his anger at the sight of his girlfriend, Steven immediately went over to her and bent down so that his face was closer to hers.

"Is anything wrong?" asked Steven, knowing that it was a stupid question.

"Yeah..." said Rainbow Dash, wincing in pain again. "I think I dislocated my shoulder."

"I can fix that." said Steven, who immediately lowered his neck. Getting the idea, Rainbow Dash used her free hand to help herself stand up. It was painful, but she did it anyway.

"Lie down on the bed." said Steven.

Rainbow Dash did as she was told, lying down on the bed face-up, but not before first exclaiming how neatly he kept his bed compared to her own. As usual, Steven disregarded that comment, and immediately went to work on her arm.

As his magically  charged horn came into contact with Rainbow Dash's shoulder, Rainbow Dash winced in pain before relaxing again.

"Why didn't you want to open the door?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Sorry." said Steven. "I didn't want to talk to anybody."

"Oh." said Rainbow Dash. "So you're leaving anyway, huh?"

Steven almost broke his concentration on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. Luckily though, he was quickly able to keep it back in place. Healing was a dangerous job- one small break in concentration and the operation would surely fail, possible even making the matter worse. But Steven managed to hang on through.

"Yeah." said Steven. "I'm going. I need to find the truth of what is happening here."

"That's awesome." said Rainbow Dash, staring at the ceiling. "And I'm coming with you."

Once again, Steven almost broke all of his concentration. But this time was much closer than just now, considering the magnitude of the surprise in the first place. But Steven managed to hold it together, trying to now finish Rainbow Dash's shoulder as soon as possible to prevent any future potential surprises.

"You can't." said Steven. "You heard Twilight's lecture just now. This could most possibly he a trick, or a lie! I can't endanger you like that!"

"But you're going yourself, aren't ya?" asked Rainbow Dash. "And Twilight ALWAYS gives lectures. I'm still coming with you anyway."

Steven quickly wrapped up Rainbow Dash's shoulder, and Rainbow Dash moved it around to test it. It must've been fine, because she immediately left the bed and stood up in front of him.

"Sorry, Dash." said Steven. "I can't let you come with me. It's too dangerous. Too risky."

"Well you can't tell me what I can or cannot do." said Rainbow Dash, poking her tongue out as if mocking Steven. "And I'm going to go with you."

Steven laughed softly. He was feeling a little bit better than just now.

"I did tell you I love you, right?" asked Steven.

"You did." said Rainbow Dash, who three her arms around Steven and kissed his cheek. "And I love you too. And so does the rest of the group."

Steven immediately pulled away from the hug and gave Rainbow Dash a confused-and-terrified face.

Taking the hint, Rainbow Dash put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. Steven had no idea where she had learned to do that, but he himself had learned that he shouldn't question Rainbow Dash.

Almost immediately, the rest of the group (Big Macintosh, Bush, Rarity, and Fluttershy) squeezed inside the room.

"This is a nice room, mate." said Bush. "Real spacey."

"And it's so... clean." said Fluttershy.

"It is!" exclaimed Rarity. "It's as clean as ours! Everyone else never cleans up their rooms!"

"Eeyup." No prizes for guessing who said that.

"Wha... What are all you guys doing here?" asked Steven.

"Coming with you, of course." said Rarity as she began to inspect Steven's bathroom as well. "It's sparkling clean here too!"

"But... It's really dangerous, and-"

"Which is precisely why we decided that we needed to help you." said Bush, grinning widely. "So, we ready to go or what?"

"But-"

"No buts, Steven." said Big Macintosh. "We're coming with ya, whether ya like it or not."

"I still think you're a bit mad for wanting to go." said Rainbow Dash, kissing his cheek again. "But we're coming anyway."

"What about Twilight?" asked Steven. "What will she think?"

"She'll come to." said Fluttershy, who despite being the target for Twilight's anger a few moments ago bore no ill will towards her. "She always does."

"So we ready to go or what?" asked Bush

Steven completely choked up. Everyone in this room knew that there was a 99% chance of Discord having lied to them and actually leading them into a trap. But they were still willing to come with him. Maybe it was because they wanted to help him escape when it really was a trap. Or maybe they wanted to help him because they could still see the 1% chance of success. He would never know.

Friendship is a wonderful thing. It may be complex at times, but it is still one of the most valuable and beautiful things one can experience in their lives. Not false friendships that have an ulterior motive to them, but true friendship, where one would sacrifice everything they have, including their lives, for their friends. Friendship, with it's many complexities, are no less than beautiful. He would easily refute anyone who says otherwise.

He counted himself as the lucky few who has experienced true friendship so early in his life. True friendship, and true love. But in a way, friendship itself is love, isn't it? A different type of love from the mainstream understanding, but still pure love nonetheless.  And that was when Steven realized the truth. The utterly crazy, but still very true truth.

He loved his friends. He loved his relationships.

And he wouldn't have traded it for anything else in the world.

"I think I'm ready." said Steven. "And I can see you're all packed up as well."

Everyone's weapons were carefully concealed behind their everyday clothes, but Steven could easily see through them. He chuckled at the fact that they had known from the beginning that he would let them come with him.

"We'll discreetly slip out the Base's main door, and from there I'll follow whatever directions I get to the destination." said Steven, who quickly put his saddle pack on. "Twilight's not here, so we won't be able to teleport. We're going to have to walk there. Is everyone okay with that?"

Everyone nodded determinedly and excitedly.

"Very well, then." said Steven as he exited the room fully armed and fully packed.

"Let's go."