Shadowbolts Adventures: The Chaos Lord

Chapters

Chapter 01: The Lord Cometh
Chapter 02: Chaos and Order
Chapter 03: Into the Dark
Chapter 04: Friendship Is Something Or Other

Chapter 01: The Lord Cometh

"Oh my goodness, book two of Shadow Spade was probably one of my favorite books ever!" Twilight Sparkle allowed herself a little squeal as her arms wrapped around the backpack in her lap, clutching it tightly to her chest. "I can't believe I missed all of those clues! It was so obvious when I went back and read it a second time! A.K. Yearling really is a genius! And so multitalented! I hope I'm half as clever and creative as she is someday!"

Starswirl chuckled lightly with a tolerant smile on his lips. The bus was rolling along towards its destination, giving the two time to talk about their recent journeys into the world of fantasy, as they often did. They had nothing better to do, after all, and sharing experiences with a like-minded individual was a wonderful way to pass the time. "I can't say I've read it, but it's certainly good to hear that there are still creative authors out there."

"Oh, you should! Do you want to borrow my copy?" Twilight's hands darted into her backpack to hold the red and pink laced book up to the older man, who gave it a bemused glance.

"Thank you, but no. I still have a stack of books of my own to get to, one of these days." Starswirl watched her slide the book back into her backpack. "Perhaps someday soon I'll find time to get to it."

"I think you would like it. I know it may seem a little girly, but a good mystery is something anybody can enjoy!"

"I couldn't agree more, my dear." Starswirl nodded with an almost proud smile. "For now, however, it seems that we've reached your stop."

"Oh! Right! I'll see you tomorrow!" Twilight quickly zipped up her backpack and slung it over her shoulders before exiting the bus at her usual street corner.

She gave the bus one more friendly wave before turning to make her way towards home, her shoes click-clacking across the sidewalk with a light bounce in her step. Her steps began to slow however when she heard an odd sound behind her, not quite another pair of footsteps, just slightly out of time with her own pace.

Twilight looked back, and was puzzled to see a small coffee table sitting on the sidewalk. She was sure that hadn't been there before, but she did have a habit of getting lost in thought. She probably just didn't notice passing it. So she turned to march forward again towards home, only to this time hear an odd crinkling sound behind her.

She turned again. The coffee table was gone, and there was a garbage bag sitting on the sidewalk just a few paces behind her. Slowly Twilight backed away from the bag, but predictably, it didn't move. With a chuckle Twilight hit herself in the head with one hand. "What are you expecting, Twilight? Sheesh, you're just not paying attention."

Twilight turned to head home again, but she stopped almost immediately when a sharp scraping sound sent a chill up her spine. She whirled to see a rake lying on the pavement behind her.

This time Twilight broke into a run, ignoring her logical mind as she tried to leave... whatever it could possibly be, behind. But the sound of something thumping along the sidewalk behind her never faded into the distance. Glancing back she saw a pair of boots sitting inert on the sidewalk, then moments later a dead fish lying on the pavement, then the most mystifying of all, she saw a little raincloud sitting at the end of her driveway as she approached the door to her home, raining softly on the pavement.

Twilight darted inside and slammed the door behind her, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she pushed herself against it to hold it shut. "Wh... whu... Sunset... Sunset would know..." With her voice quaking, Twilight dug into her pockets for her phone, but what she pulled out was a pair of yellow eyeballs attached to a small paddle, which rolled around to stare up at her as she held it.

A shriek erupted from her throat as she hurled the object into the air, then raced to the staircase on the other side of the room, taking them rapidly toward her bedroom.

"Huh?" Spike's head jerked toward the door as she entered, slamming the door behind her. "Twilight? What's wrong?"

"I..." Twilight gulped. "I have no idea... it... it's-" Twilight shrieked again and fell to her butt against the door as the bedsheets suddenly jerked upwards, sending Spike hurtling through the air towards her. Twilight caught him in both arms, clutching him against her chest as she sheets lifted into the air, as if draped over something rising from her mattress. "Wh-wh-wh-what are you? You... you're not possible... you're not possible..."

"Anything is possible..." A powerful voice echoed from the bedsheets. "When you're an almighty nigh-omnipotent lord of chaos." Suddenly the sheets fell away with the sound of riotous laughter, and a strange creature materialized right in front of her, its goat-like head grinning around a single long, fang-like tooth. "Oh I am sorry, Twilight Sparkle! I just couldn't resist! You looked so innocent, and nothing is more tempting than the torture of the innocent!"

"I... I... I can't feel my feet..." Twilight's pounding heart seemed to be sucking all of the blood from her appendages. "Wh... wha...?"

"What are you...?" Spike finished for her from her arms.

"I am, as they say, a draconequus!" The creature lifted one forelimb in the shape of an eagle's claw, plucking Twilight's glasses from her nose to blow on them. The powerful gust of wind blew Twilight's hair clean out of her bun, and he placed the now spotless glasses on her face. "There you go, now you'll be able to see me better."

"D-Dracon..." Twilight couldn't even finish the word. "I've never... heard of..."

"Well you wouldn't have. There are none here, nor are there others in Equestria!" Discord cackled and began to bounce around the room on his long lizard's tail. "The wonderful thing about draconequus is that I'm the only one! Hoohoo!"

"Equestria?" Spike was the first one who recovered to speak. "I thought creatures like you couldn't come through the portal. I mean, obviously dragons can't."

"That's right..." Twilight was finally able to speak as her adrenaline began to wore off watching the strange, but so far non-dangerous, creature bounce around her room. "There's... there's not enough magic in this world to support your existence. How are you here?"

"Support my existence? Haw haw!" The draconequus busted into a hearty laugh, collapsing to the floor dramatically with a hand on his chest before suddenly reappearing leaning against the wall beside her. "I am not supported by magic, my dear..." he leaned closer, speaking in a whisper that sounded too low to hear, but which she somehow understood anyway. "I am chaos magic." He pulled back with a grin. "Wherever I go, it goes with me!"

"And... and why are you... in my bedroom?" Twilight asked. "F-for that matter... how do you know me and Spike...?"

"Oh I've heard all about your world from Princess Twilight." The draconequus cackled. "She loves to talk to anybody who will listen about... well, everything. I thought your world sounded relaxing, and being Twilight Sparkle yourself, I knew you would agree to let me stay here while I enjoy the sights and sounds of your world for a while."

"Hey, I never agreed to that." Twilight fell silent for a moment, then grumbled. "How long do you plan on staying, anyway?"

"I don't know, maybe a few days, maybe a few millennia." The creature shrugged and floated from the wall like a balloon in the wind.

"What!?" Twilight gasped. "You can't stay here forever!"

"Pffft, forever is such a mortal concept..." The draconequus chuckled breathily. "One or two millennia is suddenly 'forever'. Honestly, aren't you Twilight Sparkles supposed to be math geniuses or something?"

Twilight finally got enough blood flowing in her legs again to rise to her feet, cradling Spike in her arms to comfort him, and be comforted in turn. "You never even told me your name."

"Me?" The creature bent over backwards, his lips curling into a crooked grin that was somehow right side up despite his head being upside down. "Discord, the lord of chaos. A pleasure to meet you."

***

Lemon Zest's head was bouncing idly against her pillow in time with the tunes pumping from her headphones. One sock-clad foot was tapping against the bedsheets as the fingers of her right hand flipped the page of the magazine she was holding over her head. She was an active girl, a happy girl who enjoyed going out and letting her body groove to the sounds of life. But even she needed her quiet moments of zen every now and then.

Her moment of zen was suddenly interrupted however by a furry body flopping across her head, which was attached to a wagging tail and a panting mouth. Lemon Zest sat in the darkness for a moment, then threw her arms around the bundle of fur and pushed her to the pillow with a giggle. "Aw you wanna fight, do ya? Come on Li'l babe, you know you can't take me!"

Mina the dog yelped and swiped at her hands with her little paws, but Lemon was far too big and powerful for her to push away. It wasn't long though before the giggling smother turned into an affectionate belly scratch.

"Boy, have I been over-feeding you or what?" Lemon Zest giggled as her fingers scratched carefully into the rotund belly before her. "You're turning into a li'l fatso." Lemon giggled and scratched the dog's belly with a grin. "Who's the most adorable little fat girl on the planet? You are, oh yes you are." Mina leapt to her feet and jumped up eagerly to lick Lemon's cheek, drawing a delighted chuckle out of the teenager. "Haha, okay, okay, I'm getting up! We can go for a walk or something you fat little bundle of energy."

Mina leapt off the bed as Lemon Zest swung her legs off the mattress to stand up, but her foot landed squarely on one of her stress balls. She yelped as her butt hit the floor with a thud, and the ball went flying clear into the opposite wall, only to rebound and come flying straight back at her head.

Lemon Zest threw herself to the floor just in time for the ball to fly clean over her, but it bounced off of the rim of her bed, flew up to rebound off the ceiling, and came right back toward her. "Run, Mina!" Lemon Zest jerked to her feet and ran from the room with her dog yipping at her heels. She was sure she would be safe in the hallway, but somehow the ball flew from the room and began bouncing its way down the hall after her.

Lemon plucked her dog from the carpet and dove out of the hallway into the living room just in time to avoid the ball as it flew to the opposite wall, bounced off, and came after her yet again. Lemon Zest threw herself to one side and quickly scrambled underneath the coffee table in front of the couch, clutching her dog against her chest as she waited. At last, after bouncing for what must have been five minutes the ball came to rest right beside the coffee table, rocking to stillness on the carpet.

Lemon Zest squinted hard at the ball, half expecting it to spring to life again, but it remained as inert as a little ball should. "I didn't imagine that, did I, Mina?" Mina barked. "Yeah, I didn't think so... that was super weird... but at least it's over." Lemon carefully moved to crawl out from under the coffee table, but her palm landed on the ball and sent it flying straight into the couch, from which it rebounded and slammed right into her forehead with a little puff before falling to the ground again.

"... Ow."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It wasn't very ha..." Lemon Zest halted and looked over at Mina, who had her head cocked and her tail wagging innocently.

***

The top rolled down and the wind in her hair, that was exactly where Indigo Zap belonged right now. The grin on her face as her convertible rolled down the highway was her favorite part of owning a car. Well, that and being able to get on the highway whenever she wanted. She wasn't even sure where she was going, she would probably stop at a food joint somewhere along the way, she just loved to spend a day every now and then seeing what this town had to offer that she hadn't seen yet.

Her hand reached down idly to turn up the volume on her radio to let In The End ring out across the city around her. Her head bobbed to the beat as her fingers rapped on the door. "I had to fall, to lose it all..." She sang under her breath.

A surprised yip escaped her throat when something slammed into the passenger's side of her windshield. A yellow splatter the size of her hand was spread out across the glass. "Ewe... bug guts..." Indigo grumbled and turned on her windshield wipers, hoping to clean the gunk off before it could dry on her car.

Once the gunk was gone she turned off the windshield wiper, but no sooner did she settle in again than another splat spread across her windshield, right in front of her this time. "What in Tartarus..." She wiped this spot off as well, but once that was gone another bug met its messy demise on her windshield. "What is this, some kind of infestation?"

She turned on her windshield wipers and left them on this time, but suddenly bugs began slamming into her windshield with the sound of a machine gun firing at her. She shrieked and jerked back in her seat, nearly letting go of the wheel as her view of the road suddenly vanished behind a wall of insect corpses. The car jerked back and forth across the thankfully empty highway until she slammed on the breaks, bringing it to a screeching halt on the shoulder.

With shaking hands she grabbed the door handle and lurched out of the car, dropping to her hands and knees to give herself a moment to relax. When she regained the use of her legs she pushed herself to her feet to march to the front of her car. Now what in the world was all that about?

She stopped, looking up and down in disgust and some awe when she saw the entire front of her car coated in bug guts as thick as yellow paint. From the top of the windshield to the bottom of the bumper, it looked like someone had taken a paint roller and gone to town on it. Indigo looked around her searchingly, but didn't see any other insects in the area. Did she somehow managed to plough right through one car-shaped swarm of bugs in the middle of the highway?

She shook her head and walked around to the trunk to pull out her squeegee. She needed to clean off her windshield if she was going to get anywhere... and maybe she would take it extra slow for the rest of the day.

***

"Pull!" Sour Sweet chucked a clay frisbee as hard as she could into the grassy field. The arrow launched from her left, flying through the air straight and true into the clay with more than enough force to shatter it into dozens of pieces that rained across the grass. Sour Sweet grinned and pumped her fist as Sonata Dusk leapt to her feet joyously beside her. Their hands met over their heads in an enthusiastic high five.

"Yeesh, Sonata! You are the best archer I've ever seen!"

Sonata hesitated a moment with her hands in front of her, then began to make a sign with her fingers. [Practice]

"I bet, you've had enough time." Sour Sweet held out her hand. "Okay, pro, it's my turn!" Sonata nodded and handed her the bow along with the quiver of arrows. Sour Sweet slung the quiver over her shoulder, then lowered herself to her knee the same way she kept seeing Sonata do. She pulled the arrow from her quiver and knocked it to her bow, aiming it towards the empty sky in front of her. "When you're ready."

There was silence for a moment, and suddenly Sonata's tongue clicked and she flung the frisbee out over the grass. Sour Sweet's arms twitched in the direction of the clay frisbee and let the arrow fly, but the arrow flew several inches wide. Her shoulders slumped with a grunt. "Gah, I guess I still need practice before I get as good as y-" she was cut off as the disc slammed into the side of her head and knocked her to the grass. "Gah! Goddessdamnit!"

[Sorry] Sonata signed quickly. [Okay]

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay..." Sour Sweet rubbed the side of her head and sat up. "What the... did that thing really turn around and come back to us?" Sonata nodded with a quizzical look on her face. "Geeze, of all the rotten luck... let's try that again." She sat up on one knee and raised the next arrow to her bow, lifting it to the sky.

This one missed the disc in flight, and this time she saw it come back. It spiraled towards Sonata Dusk, who took it on the thigh despite trying to jump back away from it with a panicked yelp.

"Holy crap! Are you okay!?" Sour Sweet jumped up to put a hand on her hip to examine the damage. Sonata was rubbing the smacked area, but nodded. "Do you want to try another one? I don't want you to get hurt." Sonata smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "Alright, let's do it."

The next clay frisbee actually met with Sour Sweet's arrow in mid-air, but the arrow smacked the far tip and sent it spinning end over end back towards them, where it slammed straight into Sour Sweet's face and knocked her to her back on the grass.

When the blur lifted from the world she saw Sonata Dusk standing over her with her hands clasped over her mouth. "Let's call it a day..."

***

A more relaxing day Sunny Flare could scarcely imagine. Perhaps it was a sexist cliche, but she did love a nice dedicated day of shopping, and the multiple bags that swung from her fingers as she marched down the sidewalk had given her plenty of reason to chill out. She didn't even care if she looked like a silly girly-girl, she was just too happy and content... well, aside from the growing ache in her belly, which was quickly reminding her that she had forgotten to eat lunch.

She stopped in her tracks and glanced around. It took a moment for her to realize she had somehow wandered off-course, moving away from the usual market she spent her time in and into a somewhat shadier looking area. It didn't look dangerous, the people were still milling about the streets exchanging pleasantries on their way to continue their lives, but it still looked different. There were more risqué billboards, and more neon in the signs.

With a shrug Sunny turned towards the first building she saw that advertised itself as a restaurant, the Happy Cat Diner. It looked clean enough, and it specialized in steak, which was a bonus in her book. So she made her way across the street and pushed her way inside, where she was greeted by a smiling man in a formal tuxedo at the front door.

"Excuse me miss, may I see an ID?"

"Uh, ID?" Sunny blinked. "For steak?"

"Yes ma'am, it's the law, I'm afraid."

"Uh... okay..." Dubious, Sunny flashed her ID card without letting go of it. "Table for one, please."

"Right this way." The man led her into the main restaurant, where Sunny immediately understood why she had been carded. All of the waitresses were topless girls, though thankfully their shameless display ended there. They were also wearing blue-jeans and cowboy boots, with a few even sporting wide-rimmed cowboy hats. She had half a mind to storm out in protest anyway, but the mouth-watering smells from the kitchen changed her stomach's mind immediately.

The man handed her a menu and she slid into one of the booths near the kitchen. It wasn't long before a girl approached with a notepad and pen in one hand. She reached behind her to pull out a small white flag with a message written on it in neat script. I'm Adagio, and I'll be your waitress today. What can I get you? She flipped the flag around. And no, I don't speak.

"Oh, that's okay." Sunny smiled. "It's actually good to see that this place doesn't discriminate. You'd think a place like this would only hire girls with breasts. I mean, um... no offense..."

Adagio's eye twitched as she replaced the flag with another from her back pocket. If you harass me I can legally hurt you.

"No harassment! I'm sorry!" Sunny held up her hands disarmingly. Adagio put this flag away and took out the first flag again. "I'll take the barbeque simmered steak, well done." She held the menu out to Adagio, who took it with a nod and went straight into the kitchen.

"I'm on it already!" A familiar voice preceded a familiar face emerging from the back, pushing the door open with her hip as she carried two large trays out into the restaurant on her fingertips. She froze when she saw Sunny, staring straight at her as Sunny looked her over with a stunned look on her face.

Sunset Shimmer cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, shit... what are the odds of this...?"

***

The Happy Burger was fairly busy at this time on a Saturday, with lots of loud chatter and clamor from the kitchens. It was easy for Sugarcoat to sit quietly in her booth with her dark sunglasses and pitch-black wig, tapping a pen on her small notebook while she discreetly examined the booth on the other side of the room. Their old nemesis from Crystal Prep, Sunset Shimmer, was speaking to another girl she didn't know, who had dark skin and snow-white hair cut into a bowl-shape around her head. It was the first time Sugarcoat had caught her talking to someone outside of school... at last, progress was being made.

Unfortunately, the clamor also made it impossible to hear what they were saying, and soon Sunset Shimmer and the second girl tossed their garbage into the can and left. With a grunt Sugarcoat whipped the sunglasses off of her face to replace them with her normal glasses. It was alright, a real detective was nothing if not patient. For now, she had a meal she had purchased to blend in that had gone to no use so far.

She pulled the wrapper off of her hamburger and took a bite of the cardboard-like substance within. She had been eating burgers like this since she was a kid, though, so she didn't mind it too much. As she chewed she noticed there was a small sticker on her wrapper that said 'Pull Me And Win A Free Meal' in bold letters. Even coming here as long as she could remember, Sugarcoat had never won such a promotion.

That didn't stop her from trying though. She ripped the small tag off of the paper wrapper and found with an amused smile that she had finally won.

Holding the torn tag in front of her like a precious relic, she approached the employee at the register. "Excuse me good sir, I seem to have won something."

"Ah, congratulations!" The man gave her a broad smile after examining the tag. "Here you go, enjoy your free burger, and remember to tell everyone where you got it!"

"Considering it's written on the wrapper I don't think it'll be hard for them to tell." Sugarcoat noticed that this burger too had the contest tag on it. She tugged this one off, and almost fell over when this one, too, was a winner. "I'll take one more!"

"Wow! Nice!" The man handed her another burger. "This must be your lucky day."

The tag came easily off of this wrapper as well. "Yes... yes it is." She turned the tag around to show the employee that this one, too, was a winner.

"Okay, that... that's just getting weird now. Heh... but congratulations, though." The man handed her the next burger.

Sugarcoat handed the winning tag back again. "Keep 'em coming."

The man squinted at her. "Are you sure you're not cheating?"

"What? You saw me rip the tag off right in front of you. If I was that good at sleight of hand I'd be in Las Pegasus making the big bucks."

"You realize this crap will kill you, right?"

"We all die someday," Sugarcoat countered. "And if I choose to die full of cardboard burgers, you have no right to judge me for it. Now you have a prize to give me."

***

Twilight Sparkle opened the door moments after the bell rang and Lemon Zest sprang inside before it was even all the way open, knocking Twilight into the living room. "Gah!"

"Twilight! Oh my Goddess Twilight, I can't believe it!" Lemon Zest twirled in place, then held Mina out to her with a bright grin. "Say hello!"

"Um... hello?" Twilight wiggled her fingers in greeting.

"Hello!" Mina exclaimed back.

"What the... but she can't..."

"She can now!" Lemon Zest squealed. "Maybe Spike's magic is rubbing off on her!"

"I didn't rub anything off on her! Honest!" Spike skidded into the room from the back hallway, his expression full of panic. He turned bright red when he saw the looks of confusion on the two girls. "Oh... o-oh... I... what's going on?"

"Spike!" Mina squirmed in Lemon's arms until she plopped to the floor and ran to Spike, licking at his face eagerly. "Hi Spike! Hi!"

"Mina!?" Spike exclaimed in shock. "Y-you... you're talking?"

"Isn't it wonderful!?" Lemon Zest squealed. "When I heard that I just couldn't resist bringing her to our get-together! I hope you don't mind, Twi."

"Of course not. This is... this is remarkable." Twilight approached the two dogs and knelt down to scratch Mina behind the ears. Her mind was working quickly, sorting through variables that may have changed recently... and in the end she reached only one key variable. "Discord... he must have brought more magic with him from Equestria than I realized..."

"Who?" Lemon Zest cocked her head. Their conversation was completely derailed however when a pair of large white bags plopped down on Twilight's coffee table, seemingly full of burgers. "Holy cow, Sugarcoat!" Lemon gasped. "Why would you buy that many burgers!? It would take less than half of that to feed all of us!"

"I didn't." Sugarcoat shrugged. "For today, at least, a winner is me. I just couldn't stop winning burgers after I stopped for lunch."

"That's... frighteningly unlikely." Twilight noted.

"Speaking of unlikely, you should've seen what happened to me before Mina started talking to me." Lemon whirled on Twilight. "I was being attacked by one of my stress balls! It kept bouncing off of things and flying at my head! Over and over and over! It was completely ridiculous!"

Indigo Zap walked in just then, one of her eyes twitching and her arms hanging limp at her sides. "Oh no, not you too!" Twilight exclaimed. "What happened to you?"

"I was almost run off the road by bug corpses..." Indigo shook her head blankly. "It was like a mass suicide. Colonies and colonies of flies."

"Do flies have colonies?" Lemon asked curiously.

"You can find out with the new invention of the internet." Sugarcoat approached Indigo and held out a burger to her. "Here, something to help calm you down."

"Ugh, I'd rather eat the flies..." Indigo recoiled from the burger with her hands on her stomach.

Sour Sweet was grumbling darkly as she marched into the living room with her hand on her head. "Are we having a party in here? Why wasn't I invited?"

"You were. Isn't that why you're here?" Sugarcoat pointed out.

"Oh... right." Sour Sweet shook her head. "Ugh, sorry, this has just been-"

"A weird day?" Twilight asked. "What happened?"

"I kept getting hit with clay pigeons. It was like they were divebombing me on purpose! And I got hit with three baseballs, two soccer balls, and an acorn from a fucking tree on the way over here!" She groaned with a hand on her head. "I have such a headache right now..."

"There, there." Sugarcoat patted her shoulder and held a burger under her nose. "Have a bite and try to relax."

Sour Sweet glared at the burger for a moment like it had wronged her before suddenly snatching it out of her hands, ripping the wrapper off, and tearing into it hungrily.

"Oh geeze..." Indigo looked up as Sunny Flare entered the room with a strangely distant look on her face. "What's your story of the day?"

"I... don't really want to talk about it." Sunny's cheeks flushed pink.

Twilight put a hand to her chin as her eyes wandered back to the dogs who had taken to cuddling on the floor. Spike looked positively ecstatic, mumbling quietly into Mina's ear, and actually having her able to respond. She wasn't sure she had ever seen him so happy. But regardless, one thing was crystal clear...

Something weird was going on here.

To Be Continued

Chapter 02: Chaos and Order

Something was wrong here. Princess Twilight Sparkle looked back and forth in the main throne room of her friendship castle. The incredibly, disturbingly quiet friendship castle. There wasn't a creak anywhere to be heard, even the usual noise from Ponyville outside was strangely absent. Her hooves click-clacking across the polished diamond was the only sound she heard as she approached the door, using her magic to fling it open.

Everypony was there. All going about their daily business with sunshine and smiles, but there was still something creepy about it all. There was a stillness and silence in the almost picturesque town of Ponyville. The clouds were all lined up perfectly high in the sky with only the barest cooling breeze to be felt, and not a single pony so much as bumped into another. Quiet mutterings of greeting passed from pony to pony as each went about their day. Quiet, serene, perfect.

"Twilight?" Spike's quizzical voice came from behind. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's perfect. Like... creepy perfect." Twilight turned back towards her number one assistant. "Doesn't anything feel off to you? Like there's something missing..."

Spike shrugged his draconic shoulders. "Not really, it's a nice day." He smiled. "I think you may be overworking yourself a little, maybe you should take the rest of the day off. With all of the friendship problems you've been facing and Starlight Glimmer's whole time-travel plan, you've been a little on-edge. Let's go out and hang with some of our friends. I bet you'll relax if you do."

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck with one hoof, unable to keep a soft blush from spreading across her cheeks. "Yeah, you may be right, Spike. Come on, let's go see how the rest of Ponyville is doing today."

Spike exclaimed excitedly, "we can check on Rarity first! You know... because she's our friend..."

Twilight gave her assistant a knowing, but accepting smile. "Sure, of course we can do that." Twilight's horn lit up, floating her favorite dragon from the floor to set him on her back as she set out across town. The peaceful day remained bright and cheery, as she made her way through town towards Carousel Boutique. She pushed her way inside to find her friend in the front room humming to herself as she set up a few new mannequins near the windows.

Twilight called out to let her know they were there. "Good afternoon, Rarity."

"Oh, Twilight, good afternoon. It is quite a lovely day, isn't it? I don't think I've ever gotten so much done!" Rarity's horn pulsed with light and two mannequins in dresses began to dance around in front of her. "I managed to finish these two pieces just today!"

"Wow, that's amazing Rarity!" Twilight grinned. "And they're beautiful, too!"

"Yeah, they sure are," Spike agreed with a goofy smile. "Those might be the most amazing dresses in Equestria."

"Oh I don't know about all that, Spike," Rarity replied with a modest blush. "But I do thank you for the lovely compliment. I don't know what came over me while I was working. It was as if my head cleared up and any worry of mistakes just... vanished from my mind. They turned out exactly the way I intended with minimal effort. I don't know if I've ever felt anything like it before."

"So you feel strange, too?" Twilight pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I've been feeling the same way. Like I have this complete focus I've never had before. Isn't that strange?"

Spike just laughed it off. "Come on, so it's a good day! How could you see that as something suspicious?"

Twilight laughed along with him. "Yeah, you're right. I really am overworking myself, I think."

"If you need to relax I believe Fluttershy is at the edge of the forest having a picnic with all of her animal friends," Rarity suggested. "I would offer to join you but the inspiration simply won't stop flowing today! And I'm afraid if I don't at least get it down on paper I'll lose it."

"Okay, we won't take up any more of your inspiration time." Twilight turned away from her. "Come on, Spike."

"Oh, er, right!" Spike sounded almost disappointed as she marched back out of Carousel Boutique with him still on her back. "I'll see you later Rarity!"

"Have a lovely day!" Rarity called out to them.

They made their way through Ponyville, sliding through the thin crowds without interruption until they reached the edge of the Everfree Forest, where they caught sight of Fluttershy sitting atop a red-and-white checkered picnic blanket. She was surrounded by animals and, to Twilight's surprise, Rainbow Dash sitting across from her. They both spoke in low companionable voices, as if nothing could interfere with their relaxation.

"My job's actually been really easy." Rainbow Dash plopped to her back on the picnic blanket with a wide yawn, putting her hooves behind her head. "The clouds have been staying put right where I leave them. Usually I have to chase around at least a few stragglers throughout the day."

"Oh, that's wonderful to hear." Fluttershy smiled brightly. "It lets you spend more time with your friends, which I'm very grateful for."

"Yep." Rainbow Dash opened her mouth expectantly, until Fluttershy flipped a grape through the air straight into her waiting lips. Rainbow munched as she spoke. "I wish every day was like this. I could totally stand to get paid for not doing anything."

"As nice as that sounds, I think Mayor Mare would catch on eventually and you'd be out of a job," Twilight pointed out with a wry smile as she approached the blanket.

"Eh, I still got the Wonderbolts." Rainbow Dash shrugged carelessly.

"Would you like to join us, Twilight?" Fluttershy patted the blanket beside her, where Angel Bunny and a blue jay Twilight didn't know scampered out of the way to make space. "We have plenty of tea and sandwiches."

Twilight held up one hoof. "I would love to, but I couldn't help but hear what you were saying about having a strangely good day..."

"Twilight..." Spike groaned. "I thought you were going to relax."

Fluttershy giggled. "Oh, Twilight, it's nothing to be concerned about. Rainbow Dash was just telling me about how the clouds have been really cooperative with her today. Though I suppose my day has been going really good too. Angel Bunny has been a perfect angel all day, and even Opalescence was really calm when I gave her a bath earlier." Fluttershy leaned close to Twilight. "Do you know how she usually behaves when she gets near water?"

"I think I can imagine." Twilight stroked her chin with ne hoof. "So everypony I know is having a really good day... I think this officially warrants an investigation, don't you think so, Spike?" She turned her head to look back only to see her assistant giving her a sharp glare with his arms crossed over his chest. "Oh don't give me that look. We all relax in our own ways, and this does give me an excuse to talk to the rest of my friends."

"You don't need an excuse to say hi, Twilight. You're welcome any time," Fluttershy reminded her with a bright smile. "And if you stay, you can get to know Tree Hugger better too."

"Yeah?" Twilight mused. "You've been spending a lot of time with her lately, haven't you?"

Fluttershy blushed shyly. "Yes... it's been... nice."

"Of course, you're even more welcome if you keep the grapes coming." Rainbow Dash jerked a hoof at her butterfly-marked friend. Fluttershy blushed softly and flicked another grape at her, which flew straight between her lips without even touching her cheek.

"Two perfect shots in a row..." Twilight mused. "That is suspicious..." She ignored Spike's groan and the sound of his palm slapping his forehead as she turned to trot away from the pegasus pair. "I'll catch up with you girls later."

"Take care!" Fluttershy waved after her while Rainbow jerked a dismissive hoof after her.

"Seriously, Twilight?" Spike demanded. "How hard is it to sit down and not do anything? I know it's been a while with all of your princess duties, but you've got to learn to relax. Go with the flow, at least occasionally."

"I will... right after I get to the bottom of this." Twilight ignored the dragon's sigh as she took to the sky, clearing the distance to Sweet Apple Acres at a swift, but easygoing pace thanks to her wings. Even before approaching the ground they could see dozens of wicker baskets dotting the farm, each packed with ripe juicy red apples. Even as they watched Applejack approached one tree, reared up on her hindlegs, and with one kick brought down dozens of the fruits neatly into the baskets. Not only did every single apple come down in one buck, but every single apple fell neatly into the baskets. Not even the ones piled over the rim of the basket started to roll.

"See, Spike?" Twilight insisted. "That simply doesn't look natural."

Spike sighed. "It looks about as natural as it did the other hundreds of times we've watched her buck trees. She's a pro, Twilight."

"But what if this isn't normal? What if it's-"

"Completely harmless?" Spike asked. Twilight looked back at him. "No offense, Twi, but I think you're looking for something to worry about on a day where everything's fine." He put a gentle claw on her shoulder. "We haven't had much time to relax lately. If the Cutie Map's not acting up we're getting pulled into Bugbear attacks, rushing to the human world and meeting dopplegangers, or time loops or something. It's been a busy couple of months. Please, for your own sake, and because I'm worried about you... let's go home and relax."

Twilight gave him a long, searching look, then sighed with one more glance down at Applejack. "Okay, Spike. Let's go home. I'm sure we can find a book we can read together."

"Power Ponies?" Spike's eyes lit up.

"We'll see." Twilight gave him a smirk as she turned in mid-air to head back towards her glittering diamond castle that towered over Ponyville. She swooped down to land on her front porch and approach the door, but was surprised to see that it was already open. "Hello? Is anypony in here?" She walked inside with a suspicious squint.

"Twilight!" Starlight Gimmer, her newest Friendship Intern, rushed out of the library with a look of concern on her face. "Oh I'm glad you're back, something's wrong with Pinkie Pie!"

"I knew something was wrong!" Twilight stamped her hoof down before rushing down the hallway with her newest friend, speaking as they ran. "What's wrong? Was she attacked? Is there a friendship problem? Does she need emotional support?"

"No, she's..." Starlight Glimmer trailed off when they reached the library. Inside Pinkie Pie was seated quietly on one of the fluffy cushions, leaning down over a pad of paper with a pencil propped between her lips. The lipwriting on the paper was surprisingly neat and tidy, almost as neat and tidy as the long, flowing mane that hung down around her body in a waterfall of bright pink strands. "... Incredibly boring."

"Pinkie Pie?" Twilight approached the pink pony cautiously. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, good afternoon, Twilight." Pinkie greeted her with a warm, but subdued smile. "I'm fine. Perfect, in fact. I feel so perfect I feel like I can think really well now. So I decided to take the opportunity to write my memoir, The Life Of Pie. It's longer and less delicious than it sounds." She looked down at the paper in front of her. "So far I've only written fifty-seven pages, but I'm hoping to have a hundred by the end of the day."

Spike's mouth opened and closed a couple of times in shock before letting out a resigned sigh and settling back with his arms over his chest. "Okay, things have officially gotten weird."

"O... 'kay." Twilight cleared her throat into one hoof. "Well, I'm glad you feel good, Pinkie, but uh... are you sure you're feeling okay? I mean, this isn't really like you..."

"I know." Pinkie nodded solemnly. "But I don't feel hurt or anything. I just feel..." Pinkie pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I don't know how to describe it... some way I've never felt before... like I can control my energy."

"Calm?" Spike suggested helpfully.

"Ah, yes, that's a very good word. Thank you, Spike." Pinkie Pie turned back to Twilight with a smile. "Anyway, Twilight, I was hoping you would help me out. I feel like I can focus real well... but I'm still not so good with words." She blushed. "Do you think you could help me figure out how to say what I want to say?"

"You want me to help you write?" Twilight blinked in surprise.

"It's okay if you're busy, I understand. You are a big important princess and all."

"Pinkie..." Twilight's lips curled into a wide smile. "I would love nothing more! Starlight Glimmer, hold my calls."

"Your calls? On what?" Starlight Glimmer rubbed her head in confusion.

Twilight blushed. "It's an expression I picked up in the human world. It means I don't want to be disturbed for a while."

"Then why not say that?" Starlight Glimmer retorted grumpily. "Besides, don't you think this is weird? Something weird is happening, right?"

"Oh, absolutely. And I'll try to figure out the cause later..." Twilight approached her pink party friend. "But for now, I think I should take the opportunity to help my friend with something important to her."

Pinkie grinned happily. "Oh, thank you, Twilight."

Starlight Glimmer exchanged a brief glance with Spike before turning to leave the room. "Whatever you say, Twilight. You're the friendship expert... I just hope this isn't a silver lining to a dark cloud..."

***

"Is it me..." Sunny Flare stared out the window at the end of the hallway on Twilight Sparkle's second floor. The streets outside were almost pitch black, illuminated only by the street lights despite her phone telling her it was only 2 PM. "Or are those the darkest clouds you've ever seen in your life that came up in the last five minutes?"

"Maybe global warming is finally catching up with us." Sugarcoat shrugged. "That or you better make peace with your deity of choice."

"Come on, Discord is in here." Twilight gripped the handle of her bedroom door. "Just be warned. He looks a bit... strange, but he doesn't seem to be dangerous. We should try not to do anything to provoke him." All eyes turned towards Sour Sweet.

Sour Sweet raised her eyebrow. "What, you think I'm going to provoke him?" There was silence for a few moments before she sighed. "Yeah, okay, I'll wait out here."

"I'll wait with you." Sugarcoat put a hand on her shoulder. "We can watch the clouds of darkness consume the world together."

"How romantic." Sour Sweet smirked.

"Yeah, I'll stay with you too." Lemon Zest offered with a warm smile as she slipped an arm around her shoulders.

Sour Sweet blushed. "Ah c'mon, you're getting too sappy now..." She didn't move away, however.

"We shouldn't be long. I'm sure he'll be completely reasonable about this..." Twilight slowly turned the doorknob and pushed her way inside. Sunny Flare and Indigo Zap followed her into the bedroom, which was quiet and empty once she flipped on the light. "E-excuse me? Discord? Are you here?" The three girls made their way into the center of the room slowly.

The door suddenly slammed shut behind them. Sunny and Indigo yelped and jumped to the other side of the room as Discord seemed to melt out of the solid wood door, his eyes flaring. "I told you not to tell anybody about me!"

"Uh..." Twilight cleared her throat as she pushed her glasses back into place. "No you didn't."

Discord was silent for a moment, then shrugged and melted back into his usual carefree self. "Oh, I could've sworn I did. No harm done, then." An apple appeared in his claw in a flash of light only to vanish just as quickly into his jaws. Apple juices sprayed from his teeth as he spoke. "It's nice to meet you... I'm guessing Rarity and Rainbow Dash?"

Twilight blushed. "Uh, no, these are-"

"Well I don't really care all that much. You humans all look the same to me." Discord flitted past the three girls over to the window, peering out into the darkness. "Funny weather we're having, isn't it?"

Indigo leaned closer to Twilight to mutter, "he's not exactly the freshest battery in the flashlight, is he?"

Sunny Flare approached the draconequus cautiously. "Yes, it is very funny weather. It's actually unnatural weather, for our world. In fact a lot of unnatural things have been happening lately, and the only variable that has changed is your presence."

Discord's head flopped over to fix her with an almost amused gaze. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"Not at all." Sunny shook her head. "We're just here to ask you about it. Do you know anything?"

Discord shrugged. "How am I supposed to know how Equestrian Magic will affect this world of yours? There might be some side-effects to my presence, it's true, but it's nothing the people can't deal with during my vacation."

"I'm not so sure about that. That level of light could blind people." Sunny Flare pointed to the window, where some time during the last five minutes the wall of cloud-induced darkness had given way to a level of light that made the window look like a layer of white paint spread across the glass.

"Oh, that's not light, I just transported the bedroom to another dimension so we could speak in peace." Discord chuckled. "Honestly, assuming it's light... that's just silly..."

"We're in a-" Indigo blinked in shock. "Take us home right now!"

"When we're done." Discord waved off her concern. "You know, if you dislike my presence here you could take my place in Equestria. I wonder how things are going, there..."

"You could go home and find out," Indigo Zap suggested. "I bet they miss you there and we wouldn't miss you here."

"Indigo!" Twilight hissed between her teeth.

Discord's lips curled into a toothy grin. "You know Twilight, a thing occurs to me." He vanished suddenly, and moments later his head appeared on her shoulder, with his body floating behind her. "You can't use friendship magic, can you? The elements of harmony? Petrifying rainbow rays of rainbow doom? You have no magic at all."

"Uh... n-no...?" Twilight stuttered.

Discord's grin widened. "Well then, I think this vacation may have just gotten extended..." Discord lifted one claw to her other shoulder. "As long as nobody knows I'm here, nobody can stop me from doing whatever I want."

Twilight gulped. "Uh, I-I mean..."

"Discord, please. You came peacefully, I'm sure we can resolve this peacefully." Sunny Flare moved close quickly. "Let's talk. Calmly."

"See, the thing is I'm already bored with talking. You'll just try to make friends with me or something, and I've been there, done that." Discord squeezed Twilight's shoulder. "My, my, you're so very tense. I think you could use a vacation too."

"Discord, please, just let us go..." Twilight shivered.

"Oh I will!" Discord flung his arms out around the three girls, pushing them helplessly towards the bedroom door. "I wouldn't dream of harming you, in fact I want to return the favor! You invited me into your home... I hope you enjoy your stay in mine." The door opened itself in front of them, revealing a vortex of swirling space and colors that Twilight couldn't even recognize spinning in the air just beyond a hunk of rock floating in the seemingly infinite abyss. "I'll come get you when my vacation is over! For now relax and enjoy yours! Toodles!"

Twilight yelped in protest as she was suddenly flung forward by the strong pair of arms, tumbling through the door to the ground beyond. She landed hard on her chest, her hooves spreading out across the ground in front of her. "W-wait! Please! We can talk this out!" Twilight leapt to her hooves and raced back to the door, but it closed before she could get to it. Twilight smacked the doorknob with her hoof and it swung open, but it opened into a dirty, but cozy little house that floated serenely by itself through the chaotic maelstrom that surrounded them.

Indigo Zap's voice quaked as she spoke from behind her. "What just happened...?"

"You provoked him." Sunny grunted. "Thanks, Indigo."

"I wasn't trying to..." Indigo's pony cheeks were blushing as Twilight turned to face her friends. Indigo Zap was sitting on the ground, looking a lot like the other ponies Twilight had seen, but with neither horns nor wings. She looked like a normal pony from Earth, just... tinier. Sunny Flare, on the other hand, looked like Indigo in shape, but her body was just slightly reflective, beaming the light from the vortex beyond her in every direction in a crystalline rainbow of color.

Twilight approached her two friends. "I am so sorry, he seemed harmless when he showed up earlier. I didn't expect this at all..."

"Don't blame yourself for his actions." Sunny stumbled slightly as she climbed to her hooves, taking a few extra moments to get her balance. "What we need to worry about now is figuring out how to get home."

"Oh yeah, that sounds easy." Indigo Zap marched up to them stiffly. Somehow despite the rest of her clothes vanishing, she kept her goggles on top of her head, perched behind her long pony ears. "Let's just pick a random direction and fling ourselves into the infinite void that makes no sense!"

Sunny Flare glared. "I never said it would be easy."

"Well good! Because it won't! And oh yeah, since nobody else is saying it, I will! We're freaking ponies now!" Indigo Zap's breath was coming in quick, deep, almost panicked gasps.

"I think we all noticed." Sunny Flare glared. "Do you have any other helpful information to share with us? Would you like to inform us that ponies are quadrupeds?"

"Oh shut up, smartass!"

"Girls, please..." Twilight stepped between them. "I know this is weird... but let's try to relax." She turned back to the small house. "At least we have a place we can rest and collect our thoughts. Maybe there's even something we can eat. It'll be much easier to think on a full stomach."

"I almost wish I filled up on Sugarcoat's burgers..." Indigo Zap grumbled as she walked toward the house, stepping stiffly and carefully on her sudden four hooves.

Twilight turned to Sunny. "You're already working on a plan... aren't you?"

Sunny stared at her for a moment, then blushed and moved past her stiffly towards the house. "Let's focus on calming down for now..."

***

"It's quiet..." Sugarcoat stared at the door to Twilight Sparkle's bedroom with her hands on her hips. "I have too much self-respect to finish that quote, but it is quiet."

"What do you think the odds are that that's a good sign?" Lemon Zest asked.

Sour Sweet grinned. "Aw, I'm sure everything is just peachy! Nothing could possibly be wrong with being trapped in a small room with a Godlike entity for almost half an hour!"

"That's it! I'm going in!" Lemon Zest marched up to the door determinedly and gripped the doorknob. "We need to make sure our friends are okay."

"Or not okay," Sugarcoat pointed out.

Lemon Zest ignored her and gripped the doorknob, flinging it inward. The darkness on the other side of the door almost seemed to be sucking at them. A furious wind tore at their bodies as if trying to drag them into the room as bloodcurdling cries emanated from the milky, almost palpable blackness before them. They could see nothing, but the strange sensation of eyes on them could be felt, a sensation that soon grew to the point of sending a shivering chill down each of their spines.

Lemon Zest closed the door slowly, then turned to her friends with a blank gaze. "Let's... let's not open that door."

"Good call!" Sour Sweet gave her a double thumbs up. "I couldn't have said it better myself!"

"But if we can't open the door, what are we supposed to do? I think that means our friends are in trouble! We have to help them!"

"The logical thing to do is go find Sunset Shimmer," Sugarcoat pointed out simply. "She's the one with any kind of experience dealing with creatures like this."

"Is it safe to go outside?" Lemon asked. "It looks like those clouds aren't going anywhere any time soon."

"We could sit here and do absolutely nothing if you prefer," Sugarcoat pointed out. Lemon Zest bit her lip and shook her head. "I agree. Come on, let's get out of here."

As they made their way downstairs Sugarcoat pulled out her cell phone. As she'd expected, the ridiculous cloudcover overhead had managed to knock out cell phone reception, probably as far as the clouds were spread. Was this an intentional takeover, or was Twilight right and this was just all some kind of accident? The eldritch abyss that was Twilight Sparkle's bedroom now wasn't encouraging, but rushing to judgment wouldn't make things any easier.

"I'll drive," Sugarcoat approached Indigo Zap's car outside next to the curb. It was so dark out that she had to take out her cell phone to lead the way with a flashlight. The street lamps must be on a timer, she realized. Maybe someone would wise up and turn them on soon so things didn't get really dangerous.

She plopped down in the driver's seat and plucked the keys out of the compartment in the armrest. "For once I'm glad she can be so irresponsible."

"Geeze, it is so dark out here I can't even see across the street." Sour Sweet squinted out the window. "Do you think it's really safe to drive?"

"It's safer than the bus, no doubt." Sugarcoat cranked the engine and turned on the headlights. "Trust me, I've driven five whole times in my life. I can handle this."

Sour Sweet and Lemon Zest exchanged a quick glance as the car pulled out of the driveway, jerking to a stop on the street before taking off down the road with its tires squealing in protest. She knew where Sunset Shimmer lived, hopefully they would be able to wait there for her to get home. She would have to know a way to deal with Discord. He was from her homeworld after all, there had to be a way...

To Be Continued

Chapter 03: Into the Dark

The street lights had finally flared to life, casting their gentle glow across the streets. They could finally see, and... strangely, nothing seemed to have changed. The cars moving past them had turned on their own headlights, but otherwise the people around them were trekking back and forth on their merry way as if nothing had happened, as if nothing was even wrong. Sugarcoat had to admit though, at least the air was nice and cool. She even put the top down as they rode down the street.

"Does anyone else think it's really weird that everyone's so calm right now?" Lemon Zest asked.

"It's 2016, people aren't going to let Armageddon clouds get in the way of their daily lives." Sugarcoat scolded her friend as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "They have smoothies to drink and yoga classes to get to."

Indigo Zap's car soon approached Sunset Shimmer's home, pulling in and taking one of the parking spots right in front of the ground-floor apartment. They approached the front door quickly, where Sugarcoat reached out to pound her fist on the top of the door. The three of them yelped as the door slowly toppled inward, landing on the floor with an oddly squishy sound, like a pickle being dropped in a jar.

"Are things getting weirder?" Lemon Zest asked.

Sour Sweet approached the house and knocked firmly on one of the outer walls. Each knock made a different noise, including a cat's meow, the brief sound of a saw cutting through a tin can, and a bullet ricocheting off of something hard and metal. "Nope, I don't hear anything weird." Sour Sweet smirked back at her friends.

"Sunset Shimmer?" Sugarcoat was already heading inside, looking around the house curiously. "We're not breaking in, the door just fell off. Hello?"

"Of course she's not here!" Sour Sweet squeaked. "That would be way too easy!"

"She's probably at work." Sugarcoat turned back to her friends. "Let's just settle in and wait for her, I'm sure she'll understand our position when she gets home. In the meantime I brought lunch if either of you are hungry." Sugarcoat dropped her giant bag of burgers on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

"Are you going to be dragging those around all day?" Sour Sweet asked curiously.

"I may never win anything again with all the fortune I used up winning this." Sugarcoat retorted. "I intend to enjoy my winnings."

"I could think of worse things to drag around with us." Lemon Zest plopped down on the couch and snatched up a burger.

"Yeah, I guess it could be worse." Sour Sweet sat down on Lemon's right side.

Sugarcoat smiled slightly. "In the meantime, I'll be right back. I need to pee."

"Thanks for sharing, we totally needed to know that!" Sour Sweet exclaimed. "It's not like there's such a thing as oversharing!"

Sugarcoat smirked. "Hey, it could be worse. I could have said I'm going to masturbate."

Sour Sweet paused. "... Are you?"

"And now you get to wonder." Sugarcoat waved farewell over her shoulder as she made her way into Sunset Shimmer's bedroom.

She did her business in the small bathroom just beyond and came back out, but she stopped halfway through the bedroom when she heard an odd rapid knocking noise in the bedroom. She turned slowly around the room until she pinpointed that the odd sound was coming from the small nightstand beside Sunset Shimmer's bed. She approached the nightstand curiously and pulled open one of the drawers.

Inside was a tome with a strange yellow and orange symbol etched on the front cover. The symbol almost seemed to be squirming before her eyes, writhing and sparkling like a two-dimensional flame. Sugarcoat opened the book to the first page, but found it covered in strange symbols that also seemed to be dancing back and forth before her eyes. She spent a few moments trying to find any kind of pattern in it, but gave up and closed the book after a moment.

She whirled towards the living room when the light suddenly turned off, and panicked yells could be heard from within. "Yaaargh! Ow! Hey, stop!" Lemon Zest yowled. "It's us! It's us! Guh..." She fell silent as a thump echoed from the shadows.

"Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you aaaaaahhhhh!" Sour Sweet's voice came from the darkness.

Sugarcoat felt her way to the bedroom lightswitch and flipped it on, revealing a tall girl with a mess of curly hair sitting on Sour Sweet's back in the living room, pinning her arm behind her. Lemon Zest was already laid out on the sofa with a dazed look on her face.

"Holy crap, Adagio stop!" Sunset Shimmer rushed in through the front door. "I know these girls! They're friends!" Adagio looked back at her, then squinted down at Sour Sweet suspiciously before climbing off of her back.

"Fuck you!" Sour Sweet growled, but didn't push any further confrontation.

"Oohhhh..." Lemon Zest rubbed her head with one hand. "Ninja-attack..."

"We're sorry for the intrusion, Sunset Shimmer." Sugarcoat stepped out of the bedroom with an apologetic smile. "We weren't sure where else we could go for help... then your door fell off."

"It's alright, I could've investigated better before sending Adagio in..." Sunset Shimmer rubbed the back of her neck. "I guess I've been a little on-edge about intruders since Sour Sweet almost killed me."

Sour Sweet grumbled as she rubbed her wrist. "I said I was sorry..."

Sugarcoat approached the two newcomers. "We wouldn't be here if the situation wasn't pretty bad. I'm sure you've noticed the pitch black clouds outside by now."

"It would be kind of hard not to." Sunset Shimmer turned towards her, her eyes flicking down towards the book clutched in her arms. "I guess you've really made yourself at home..."

"Oh?" Sugarcoat looked down, then blushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snoop... it was vibrating, and kind of drew my attention."

"It was? Let me see." Sunset Shimmer took the book from her and opened it to the first page, then started flipping through pages curiously. "Hmmm... this isn't right..." she mumbled to herself, flipping through page after page.

Sugarcoat turned to Sunset's companion in the meantime, who was looking down at the book curiously with one hand on her hip. "Hello, I don't believe we've met." Sugarcoat held out her hand. "I'm Sugarcoat. The girls you laid out across the room are Lemon Zest and Sour Sweet."

Adagio glanced up at her, then slipped a hand behind her to pull a small flag out of her blue jeans. Adagio Dazzle. She reached out to return the shake with her free hand.

Sugarcoat nodded appreciatively. "I can appreciate a girl with neat handwriting."

Sour Sweet rushed up behind Sugarcoat. "Did that flag thingy say Adagio Dazzle? Sonata has told me so much about you guys! Well, maybe not told me, but you know what I mean! Written fun little notes to me about you guys."

Adagio smirked and rolled her eyes before putting a finger on Sour Sweet's forehead and pushing her out to arm's length.

Sour Sweet's eyes narrowed. "You did not just finger me..."

"Is that what fingering means?" Lemon Zest walked up curiously. "I always thought it meant-"

Sunset Shimmer cut in at the perfect time, still running a finger over the pages of her book. "I think there's some kind of interference happening. But what in the world could cause magical interference in a world without magic?" Sunset Shimmer looked up at Sugarcoat in confusion.

"I don't suppose an Equestrian Lord of Chaos could do the trick, could it?" Sugarcoat asked. Sunset Shimmer and Adagio Dazzle both gave her a long, piercing look.

Sunset closed her book in both hands with a serious look on her face. "You might want to start from the beginning."

Sunset Shimmer listened to her story with an intense look on her face, tapping her fingers on the tome in her lap on the sofa. When the story finished she continued to stare down at the book for several minutes before speaking.

"I've read books that described Discord's actions in the past, but I've never dealt with him myself. Though Princess Twilight has told me she dealt with him. If we can get to her I'm sure she'll know a way to reign him in."

Adagio blinked in surprise, then pulled out her notepad to scribble quickly on it. You have a way back to Equestria?

"Yeah, there's a portal that links our two worlds now." Sunset nodded. "It's actually not far from here. We can hop across and tell Princess Twilight what has happened. I have no doubt she'll be able to bring this to a stop in a jiffy."

Adagio stared down at her notebook while Lemon Zest spoke up. "Oh yay! I get to have wings again!"

Sugarcoat stood up. "Well if we have a plan, no more sitting around. Let's go. Who knows what's happening to Twilight, Indigo, and Sunny right now?"

"Hopefully not much." Sunset stood with her. "Honestly, given his reputation, what I've seen here so far is pretty tame. I hope that means Twilight can still knock some sense into him."

"Tame?" Sour Sweet's eyes bulged. "Falling doors, Armageddon clouds, bedrooms replaced by the black pits of tartarus, and dog barks for knocks are tame?"

Sunset smirked. "According to Princess Twilight, the last time he took over Equestria, chocolate milk rained in checkerboard patterns, the sun and the moon were doing the tango, entire buildings started spinning around like clocks, and everypony in Equestria went completely and utterly insane. Yes, this is tame."

The others all turned to leave, but Adagio gripped her sleeve to get her attention before scribbling quickly on her notepad again. I'm not going anywhere without Aria and Sonata.

"I understand." Sunset took her hand and yanked her into a brief half-hug. "Take care of yourselves. We'll get this all sorted out as soon as we can." Adagio nodded and left the building with them, taking off at a brisk jog while the others made their way to Indigo Zap's car.

Sugarcoat threw her bag of burgers in the back seat beside Sunset Shimmer and Lemon Zest as they buckled their seatbelts. "Please don't make me throw those out."

***

The carrots were good. Better than any Twilight Sparkle could remember having, at least. Or perhaps it was these new pony tastebuds that made them taste so delicious. They didn't do much to ease the tension in the room, though, as she, Sunny Flare, and Indigo Zap sat around an unfamiliar living room munching on carrots they had found in a small icebox in what appeared to be the dirtiest kitchen in any universe.

"Hmm..." Sunny Flare mused as she curiously balanced the carrot on the end of her hoof. "I wonder how ponies here usually do things without thumbs."

"Magic, I guess," Twilight answered. "Sunset Shimmer gave me a brief rundown of how to levitate things last time we went through the portal. I never thought I'd be back again to use any of it, though..."

"Do you think you could do it again if you had to?"

"Maybe. Let me try..." Twilight looked down at the carrot in her hoof. her eyes narrowed and her mind raced, trying to dig up the memories of what her friend had taught her. Her horn glowed with a gentle light, and after a few moments the carrot began to lift from her hoof, turned around a couple times, then settled back down. "Yes, yes I can. Barely."

"Well it's something." Sunny nibbled on the end of her carrot for a moment with her eyes glassing over in intense thought. "Maybe if we can get your levitation working well enough we can least get off this rock and find some help getting home."

"You want me to carry around three ponies?" Twilight gulped. "I don't know if I could do that. I've only done it three times in my life, for a total of thirty seconds. If I lost hold of one of you while we were going..."

"You wouldn't, Twi," Indigo Zap interrupted her.

"How can you say that?"

"Because I believe in you." Indigo slapped one hoof down on the floor. "If anybody could master magic and fly us all out of here, it's you."

Twilight Sparkle felt like her face was about to explode, especially because Sunny was nodding in agreement and giving her a kind smile. "Oh my gosh... girls..." Twilight shook her head, returning their smile with a more nervous one of her own. "I-I don't know how quickly I can master it, but I can most definitely try."

"That's all we would ever ask of you," Sunny assured her.

Indigo shoved the rest of her carrot into her mouth and climbed to her feet. "Well, if you need a guinea pig to practice on, I'm your girl! Fly me around the room!"

Twilight finished off her own carrot and climbed to her hooves, giving Indigo a long stare. "Okay, this shouldn't hurt at all unless I mess up."

"Mess up? You? Pfft." Indigo waved off the possibility, though one hoof did knock her goggles from the top of her head into place on her face. "Let's do this!"

Twilight took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. She tried to think back to what Sunset Shimmer had taught her about focusing. Just know what you want to do, and flex that special muscle in your mind to make it happen. She could do anything, she just needed to know how to focus on it properly. She tried and tried, and the light from her horn began to shine out across the cozy living room. She had the magic, now she just needed to reach out with it.

The glow enveloped Indigo Zap, whose body remained stiff as it moved around her. Twilight tilted her head upward, trying to lift her friend, but she felt much heavier than she remembered Lemon Zest being. Maybe it was because she wasn't a pegasus, but Twilight was only able to lift her a few feet off the ground before having to set her down again, and even then she was almost panting with her exertion.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I can do it." Twilight rubbed her forehead. "Lifting just one of you is exhausting, lifting all three of us may be out of the question."

"I don't know if we should quit now, though," Sunny pointed out. "This is a muscle you haven't used before, but that doesn't mean you can't get it strong enough to do what we need you to. Try lifting me this time."

"Okay, I'll try." Twilight turned to Sunny, and her horn began to glow. It was easier to summon the magic this time, she had to admit. Maybe she really did just need to practice a bit. The glow reached out, enveloping Sunny from head to toe. Slowly Twilight lifted her head, trying to lift the pony from the ground.

Without warning, in a burst of rainbow light Sunny slammed into the ceiling with a chilling crack. Twilight yelped in shock and lost focus, bringing her friend plummeting back to the ground in a shower of ceiling bits as Twilight's magic faded.

"Holy crap! Sunny! Are you okay!?" Twilight and Indigo rushed to their friend's side, kneeling beside her.

"Say something!" Indigo pressed a hoof against the top of her head to push it aside. Sunny's eyes were spinning, but she seemed to be breathing. Indigo raised a hoof in front of her face. "Quick, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"I'm okaaaaaay..." Sunny's assured them in a wobbly voice as one hoof swatted Indigo's away. "What happened...?"

Twilight blushed. "I don't know, I did exactly what I did with Indigo Zap, but it was... well, a lot more effective."

"That must've been some workout." Indigo Zap quipped.

Sunny sat up with one hoof rubbing her head. "Do you have any idea why your magic would affect me differently? I mean, we look the same, right?"

"Almost..." Twilight cocked her head curiously. She looked up slightly as she tried to focus. A tiny pinpoint of purple laser light shot from her horn at the ceiling. She took a few moments to make sure she could turn it on and off and maintain it before bringing it down to point it at Sunny Flare's side.

The light hit Sunny's crystalline flank and continued straight through her body, emerging from the other side of her in a dazzling array of colors that coated the far wall in shades of all kinds. Twilight turned the light on and off a few times, but with the same results. She even pointed the light at Indigo, but the laser pointer just hit her chest and stayed there like one would expect. It spread again when she pointed it at Sunny.

"Well that was groovy." Indigo turned to Twilight. "But what does it mean?"

Twilight's scientific mind was already spinning, taking in this new information. "I don't have much actual experience with magic, but it looks to me like somehow Sunny Flare's body is acting as some kind of magic enhancer. All of the magic I put into her is being put back out several times over."

Sunny rubbed her chin curiously. "So I'm a walking magic amplifier?"

Indigo chattered excitedly. "Does that mean you can pump your juice into her and use that to make us fly?"

Sunny gave her a sour squint. "Please think before you speak."

"I can certainly give it a try." Twilight's horn sprang to life once again, and the world faded away somewhat as she focused. Her spell enveloped Sunny's body, than flared back out to Indigo and Twilight. It was so easy now, it only took the slightest nudge to lift the three of them from the floor. It was only a couple of moments before they were floating freely in the center of the room.

"Alright! I knew you could do it, Twilight!" Indigo pumped her hooves in front of her. "We're getting outta here!"

"Alright! Here we go!" Excitedly Twilight pointed her hoof at the door, and suddenly the three ponies found themselves embedded in the wall right above it with a sickening crunch. The entire building shook just before the three of them collapsed to the floor in a tangled heap of legs, fur, and moans.

Sunny Flare grunted. "Ugh... maybe... a bit more practice first..."

"Yeah... I'll get right on it..." Twilight grinned sheepishly.

***

"Come on! Things are starting to get worse!" Sunset Shimmer charged up the front lawn of Canterlot High school. The inky black clouds had finally rescinded, but the sight that lay behind them boggled even her mind, and she was used to powerful magic. The sky looked like it was contained behind a veil of roses loosely scattered across the open air, through which they could now see that the stars and moon were out. A glance at her phone told Sunset it was almost seven PM, so at least that part was natural. It was possible even that people didn't notice if they didn't bother looking too closely into the dark sky... but how much longer would they be able to trust the people of this world not to panic with the entire natural order slowly dissolving?

"You know, I kind of like this Discord guy's style," Sugarcoat quipped as they jogged.

"Excuse me?" Sour Sweet shot back.

"I can appreciate a creative psychopath."

"No! Psychopath is bad! Very bad!" Lemon Zest ran up to the statue in front of the school. "Alright! Let's go! Me first!" Lemon Zest got down on all fours and walked on her knees through the mirror, vanishing in a portal of light that materialized before her.

"Do we really have to crawl through?" Sugarcoat asked.

"Crawling is optional, just be ready to become a quadruped on the other side." Sunset Shimmer winked and walked forward with confidence. She sank smoothly to her four hooves once she was inside Princess Twilight's crystal palace, turning to the mirror to wait for their final two guests.

Sour Sweet came through first with a flourish of wings, though not the wings Sunset Shimmer would have expected. The leathery membranes spread out between long fingerlike bones, and her sharp, vertical pupils retracted even in the fairly dim light of the mirror room.

"Ow! Why's it so bright in here?" Sour Sweet's voice shrieked unusually shrilly as she covered her eyes with one hoof.

"Hey, quiet down!" Sunset Shimmer rushed over to her. "Do you want to scare everybody in the palace?" Sunset pulled her away from the portal with a comforting half-embrace. "You're a bat pony, so things might look a bit bright to you. I'll see if I can find you some glasses or something, okay?"

"Ugh, just my luck..." Sour Sweet grumbled.

Sunset Shimmer blinked in surprise when there was a thud back near the portal. The three ponies all turned to see their final friend lying on the floor flopping around as if trying to move forward, though her sea pony fins refused to cooperate.

"Well... you're luckier than her." Sunset Shimmer couldn't help a short quip.

Lemon Zest cackled as she approached Sugarcoat. "I always knew there was something fishy about you."

Sugarcoat glared up at the pegasus through her glasses with her chin on the ground. "I hate you all right now."

"Okay, enough kidding around." Sunset Shimmer's horn levitated Sugarcoat over to her, where she let the sea pony rest comfortably across her back. "This is Princess Twilight's palace, so she has to be around somewhere."

"Like right here?" Twilight marched into the room. "Honestly, how could I not hear a shriek like that in an empty castle like this?"

"Twilight!" Sunset whirled on her. "We have an emergency! Discord is loose in the human world and he's... kinda sort of messing things up? Maybe accidentally, maybe not? I don't even know."

"Discord is in the human world?" Twilight blinked in surprise. "But why would he go there? Things have been going so well for him here. He has all the love and friendship he could ever want. Ugh, I'll never figure that guy out..."

Sunset Shimmer was almost yelling. "It's only a matter of time before there's a panic in the human world. Please, we've got to get him to come home!"

"So he..." Twilight blinked slowly. "But if this started today, that means he left today, at the same time..." She trailed off and turned back toward the door at the sound of hoofsteps approaching. The face of a pink pony that could only belong to one pushed its way into the room with a patient smile.

Pinkie Pie's hair was almost distressingly straight as she approached. "Is everything okay Twilight? We still have six more chapters to go."

"Twilight?" A more unfamiliar voice approached the door as another mare poked her head in. "Is everything okay in here?"

"And who are you?" Sunset Shimmer demanded.

"Excuse me, I live here now." The mare pushed her way inside. "I'm Starlight Glimmer, Princess Twilight's personal pupil."

"A princess' pupil huh?" Sunset looked her up and down. "Well, I guess someone needs to be. Nice mane."

Sugarcoat spoke from right next to her ear. "Are we going to have a pony catfight while our world is sinking into chaos? Because I could go sell tickets. Well, if I could walk."

"Of course we're not." Sunset Shimmer marched back up to Twilight again. "I can take you to him, he's still staying at our Twilight's place, as far as we know."

"I..." Princess Twilight hesitated, casting an unsure glance at Pinkie Pie, who had a confused look on her face. After a moment Twilight sighed and turned toward her. "Pinkie, we'll have to finish your memoir later, okay?"

"Oh, okay." Pinkie smiled. "It's no big deal, I have a lot of life left, maybe more to put in the book!"

"Yeah, I'm sure there will be more." Twilight smiled, then turned back to Sunset, suddenly all business. "Unfortunately, I'm not the one who can get through to Discord. I'll have to go get Fluttershy. I think she's still out in the field having her picnic with Rainbow Dash."

"Thank you." Sunset Shimmer smiled. "We'll wait here, if that's okay. My friends aren't exactly used to being ponies, and this isn't the time to get used to it."

Twilight nodded. "Agreed. Starlight Glimmer, please see to our guests until I return."

"I'd love nothing more." Starlight Glimmer's teeth were clenched so tightly they could use her as a wrench, but Twilight didn't seem to notice.

"Great, I shouldn't be too long!" Twilight whirled to rush away from the other ponies, leaving the others all facing Starlight Glimmer and Pinkie Pie. The silence was thick enough to stab with a horn until Pinkie Pie spoke.

"Does anypony want cake?" Pinkie suggested.

Lemon Zest pursed her lips in thought. "If we gorge ourselves on sugar here, will we carry it over to our real bodies?"

Sugarcoat raised one fin. "I can think of one way to find out. For science!"

To Be Continued

Chapter 04: Friendship Is Something Or Other

The city of Canterlot passed by the convertible as it rode back into the city proper with its new guests. Sugarcoat was driving with Sunset Shimmer and Princess Twilight beside her, while Sour Sweet, Lemon Zest, and Fluttershy sat in the back. Fluttershy was leaning against the door with wide, bulging eyes examining the approaching city.

"Oh my goodness..." Fluttershy's voice was an awed whisper. "I think this place might be even bigger than Manehattan..."

"Well we're quite a bit bigger than you ponies." Sugarcoat smirked into her rearview mirror. "We just need more room in general."

"We should try not to be here too long." Princess Twilight pointed out. "I agree with Celestia when she says that having two of us in one world could just get confusing."

"Yeah, I think that's safe to say at this point." Sunset Shimmer smirked. "I've been confused with my other-self a couple of times now." Sour Sweet grunted from the back seat, but said nothing.

Sugarcoat called into the back of the car. "Hey, thanks for coming with us to another dimension to help us out. There's some food back there if you're hungry."

"Oh?" Fluttershy looked down curiously, spotting the plastic bag of burgers at her feet. "Oh thank you, but it's really not necessary. I'm happy to help, and Discord is sort of my responsibility anyway."

Sugarcoat waved a hand behind her. "I have plenty to go around, and I really don't want them to go to waste. Please, I insist."

"Well, if you insist, thank you very much." Fluttershy leaned down to pull a burger out of the bag and unwrap it, bringing it to her lips for a dainty nibble.

"Uh, Fluttershy, I don't know if..." Princess Twilight trailed off, looking back from the front seat worriedly as her friend thoroughly chewed her food before swallowing. "Um... are you... okay?"

"Of course, it's just food." Fluttershy smiled. "It tastes a little bland, but it's not bad. What is it?"

"They're hamburgers." Lemon Zest replied helpfully. "Mostly made from cow meat."

"Oh." Fluttershy took another dainty bite and looked out at the approaching city again as she chewed.

Princess Twilight seemed a bit dumbstruck as she spoke. "You're okay with eating... you know, animals?"

"Huh?" Fluttershy looked at her friend. "Sure, I know what carnivores are, and I know they're an important part of our ecosystem. If humans are carnivores then eating meat while I'm human is just natural."

"Oh... I... guess that's true." Princess Twilight blushed.

Sugarcoat sighed. "Man, rational people can be so boring."

"Were you hoping she would freak out?" Princess Twilight frowned.

"Yep." Sugarcoat turned the radio on as they made their way into the city proper.

The former eerie calmness was beginning to give way to an air of nervousness from those who were still out on the streets this late at night. Thankfully, though, the city hadn't yet begun to break out into a full panic, but it was definitely on the way there. If things got much weirder they could crack at any moment. In all likelihood if things didn't get better by sunrise, this city was screwed. So Sugarcoat pressed the gas just a little bit harder as she navigated the city streets to Twilight Sparkle's house.

They climbed out of the car and rushed inside, where they found Spike and Mina curled up on the carpet in the living room together. Princess Twilight seemed surprised by this. "Spike? There's a Spike here too?"

"Huh? Twilight! You're back!" Spike leapt to his paws.

"And he talks!?"

"It's a long story." Sugarcoat explained. "He was exposed to magic from your world and gained the ability to talk." She scratched her chin. "Actually it wasn't a very long story, was it?"

"Girls, we're on a timer." Sunset Shimmer pointed to the stairs. "Twilight's bedroom is up here, Fluttershy. That's where we think Discord is holed up."

"Okay, let's go." Fluttershy led the way up to the second floor, stopping at the bedroom door that Sunset Shimmer gestured to. "So you're sure he's in here?"

"Pretty sure," Lemon Zest replied. "At least I've never seen demons from Tartarus in Twilight's bedroom before."

"Aw, I'm sure it can't be that bad." Fluttershy reached out and fumbled for a moment to push the door open with her newly-acquired fingers.

The door opened into the inky blackness, and a bitter wind instantly ripped through the hallway. The sound of wailing could be heard from inside, a sickening warning cry that made their stomachs churn and a chill run up their spines. Deep in the room a pair of blood red pools opened, as if staring at them and waiting for the first one to dare enter the abyss. Even as they watched several more pairs of crimson eyes opened, each swirling around the others, waiting and hungry.

"Yeah... as we were saying..." Sour Sweet gulped.

"Hmph." Fluttershy crossed her arms over her chest and stepped into the darkness.

"Hey, wait! Are you sure...?" Princess Twilight reached her arm out, but it was already too late.

Fluttershy marched on without fear, her body the only thing visible in the darkness aside from the dozen pairs of eyes that were all watching her approach. As she moved closer the eyes seemed to open wider, and a bloodcurdling screech split the air. The wind that had been trying to suck them in suddenly blew them back. Lemon Zest and Sour Sweet actually stumbled into the far wall, holding their ears against the vicious assault.

"Don't you roar at me, mister." Fluttershy lifted her fist to waggle it at the eyes. "I am so mad at you right now that I should be the one screaming!"

The eyes all widened in surprise. "Fluttershy?" The darkness instantly receded, as if allowing the light to flood into the perfectly normal bedroom, occupied by the perfectly abnormal creature Twilight had described. "Well fancy meeting you here..." Discord turned away from her, crossing his arms over his own chest. "To what do I owe the honor?"

"I want to know what you think you're doing," Fluttershy demanded. "You must notice the effect your magic is having on this world! If you stay here, people could start getting hurt."

"If they get hurt because of a little incidental weirdness that's not exactly my fault." Discord held out his claw, as if inspecting the nails with a discerning eye. "Besides, it's not as if it's your place to talk about caring about strangers when you neglect your friend..."

"Neglect?" Fluttershy blinked. "You feel like I've been neglecting you? Again? Discord, I..." She put her fist against her head for a moment. "I don't mean to dismiss your feelings, quite the opposite in fact. This is the second time you've run off and fumed at me instead of bringing what I did to my attention!"

"Well what am I supposed to say?" Discord's head morphed into her normal pony face. "Hey Fluttershy, I'm really angry at you for spending so much time with Tree Hugger! You blow off our tea times, you're never around for my surprise visits, and you never come visit me anymore! I feel like there's nothing left in Equestria for me! Is that what I'm supposed to say?"

Fluttershy took a deep breath. "If that's how you really feel... then yes, that's exactly what you should say." Fluttershy stepped closer as Discord's eyes turned away from her, but a gentle touch on his lion's paw brought her gaze to her eyes again. "Friends aren't perfect, Discord... I'm not perfect... which is why if I do something to upset you, I need you to bring it to my attention, so we can talk about it." She blushed. "Maybe I am spending more and more time with Tree Hugger, but that doesn't mean I'm intentionally cutting you off."

Discord looked down at her searchingly. "Just be brutally honest about it? Isn't that hurtful?"

"Pfft..." Sugarcoat scoffed, but got slapped in the back of the head by Sunset Shimmer in return.

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes... yes it can be... but it's necessary sometimes, and it's certainly better than trying to run away where none of us can find you without even trying to make things better with me, isn't it?"

"I..." Discord sighed. "Perhaps you're right. I knew you wouldn't let me send Tree Hugger to another dimension, so I thought if I came to one I wouldn't have to deal with the whole thing anymore..."

"You shouldn't be afraid to face your problems head on... that's something all of my wonderful friends have taught me over the years." Fluttershy placed her hand on Discord's claw with a smile. "It can be hard, but a true friend will never push you away for speaking your mind, no matter how much they don't want to hear what you're saying."

Discord finally turned toward her. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy..."

"It's okay... I'm sorry for making you feel unappreciated." Fluttershy stepped into a tight, warm hug with the massive creature.

Sugarcoat gave the scene a slow clap while Sour Sweet cooed cutely. "Awwww isn't that just the most adorable thing? It almost makes you forget our friends are still missing!"

"Discord?" Fluttershy pulled back to give the taller creature a stern glare.

Discord held up both claws defensively. "Save your stare, Fluttershy, I promise I didn't harm a hair on their primitive primate heads. They're at my house safe and sound like a couple of newborns in momma's belly. See?" Discord snapped his fingers and suddenly the group of them were standing in a small dirty-looking house. They gasped as they collapsed to all four hooves, aside from Sugarcoat, who just plopped face-first onto the floor.

"Screw the universe and everything in it," Sugarcoat grumped against the floor.

"Perfectly safe and snug and-oh." Discord turned around with a flourish when he saw that the house was empty. There were strange craters in the ceiling and the wall over the door, but otherwise it looked like a normal, empty, house. "It appears they've run off. Boy, was that the wrong idea or what? A couple of mortals floating around this place? I sure wouldn't want to be them right now." He turned back toward the ponies to find every pair of eyes giving him a vicious death-glare. "I mean they're perfectly fine, clearly. Wherever they are, they are one hundred percent okay."

Fluttershy's voice was as soft as a butterfly's flapping, but as sharp as a sword as she spoke. "Discord, if anything happens to those innocent girls I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you!"

"Now Fluttershy don't get all dramatic!" Discord forced a laugh as he slipped smoothly to her side and wrapped a paw around her torso to lift her against his side. "Of course I wouldn't let anything happen to the little darlings! Just give me a few minutes to catch up to them, it'll be a snap!" Discord snapped his fingers and suddenly vanished, leaving Fluttershy to open her wings and flutter back down to the ground.

"Well this is fantastic!" Sour Sweet exclaimed. "Do we get some kind of compensation if our friends are dead?"

"Now Discord may have his issues..." Fluttershy turned toward them with a blush. "But I trust that he'll bring them back safe and sound. He's really very sweet."

"Technically we do get some compensation, anyway..." Sugarcoat mused with a flipper on her chin. "I call dibs on Sunny Flare's CD collection."

***

This was a place of wonders, Sunny Flare thought to herself as she and her two friends floated through the void. There were colors here that she had never imagined existed, and couldn't even describe if someone asked. There were landmasses floating through the void as well, each of different sizes, and some were in shapes that her mind couldn't even interpret. So she shook her head and tried to focus on the nonexistent path ahead, but her attention was drawn to Twilight, whose jaws were tightly clenched.

"Twilight? Are you okay?" Sunny asked worriedly.

"I... I'm okay, just getting a little tired." Twilight's return smile was forced and awkward. "Keeping the magic going like this is exhausting..."

"Then let's try to land somewhere so you can catch your breath. You shouldn't push yourself too hard, we have no idea what the consequences might be." Sunny pointed to one of the less mystifying landmasses floating in the odd void. "That seems like a good place to set down."

"Okay..." The three pony girls turned toward the landmass, and landed on the outer edge with a slightly harder impact than Sunny would have expected. Twilight stumbled and collapsed to the ground panting. "Ugh, sorry... didn't mean to do that..."

"Don't sweat it Twi, you did great." Indigo Zap patted her friend's mane. "At this rate we'll be out of here in no time!"

Sunny looked at her curiously. "What rate? I can't even tell we're moving aside from moving past the land, and I'm pretty sure these are moving too."

Indigo glared back at her. "You know, sometimes pragmatism gets in the way of making people feel better."

Sunny blushed. "Right, sorry..."

Twilight pushed herself up to her legs and stretched out her back, blinking in surprise as she turned in towards the center of the small island. "There's a cave...? But the island is only ten feet wide..."

"Huh?" Sunny and Indigo followed her gaze. Indeed, sitting in the middle of the tiny floating island was a small cave only slightly taller than them, that looked like it opened into a massive dark cavern that stretched further than what passed for 'light' in this realm could reach. "That is... odd."

"But hardly surprising, in this place." Indigo smirked. "I vote we do the smart thing and stay right here until Twilight's strong enough to get us out of here."

"Oh, agreed." Sunny nodded. "Wandering into a dark cave in a strange chaos-dimension is something only an idiot would think to do."

"Mmhmm!" Twilight nodded. "Staying right here! So... how are things going with Shining Armor, Sunny?"

Sunny blushed. "Are you sure you want me to talk about that...?"

The three pony girls sat on the edge of the island talking in light tones about the gossip from their lives. Despite the chaos and strangeness around them, it was easy to relax, but it didn't last long. They drifted into silence when a strange... not exactly a sound, but more of a feeling began to waft from the cavern like a ripple in a pond. They fell silent as their eyes turned to the darkness, which itself felt like it was beginning to writhe before them.

"Twi?" Indigo asked. "Do you think you're strong enough to get us out of here, yet?"

"I can certainly..." Twilight's voice drifted off.

Sunny could feel it too, the strange sensation tugging at her mind. She saw flashes of light, and the feeling of joy dominated her thoughts. She didn't know why, she didn't understand... and yet it was as if she couldn't feel afraid.

"Wh-who are you?" Twilight's voice wavered as she spoke. "What are you? Are you... something?"

A soft red haze filtered over her mind. She swore she could see something emerging from the cavern, but even looking directly at it, she had no idea what it even looked like. The only thing she was certain of, somehow, was that it was alive, and that there was a strange sense of happiness washing over her. A sense that, perhaps, might have been coming from the creature.

"Um..." Sunny Flare shook her head. "I'm sorry, we... don't know what's happening right now."

"Can you help us get home, by any chance?" Indigo asked. Suddenly a flare of frustration swept through Sunny's mind, so intense it made her wince. Sunny had half a mind to get away, to run, but she couldn't make her body move. A quick glance beside her showed that her friends' faces were similarly pained, each staring blankly ahead into the living void before them.

Suddenly in a flash of light Discord appeared before them. "Aha! There you are! I've come to take you home! Let's-oh!" He whirled in surprise. Pure, seething rage raced through Sunny Flare's mind. Not even rage, it was beyond rage. And yet there was also sadness buried deep within it.

"Um, toodles!" Suddenly Sunny Flare's knees wobbled as she found herself standing in the living room of the small shack she and the others had been trapped in before. Discord swept in front of them grandly. "See? What did I tell you? Completely unharmed." Discord licked both of his paws before running them down each of the three girls' hair, smoothing them out into their normal hairstyles. "And looking fabulous, if I say so myself."

"Twilight! Sunny! Indigo!" Lemon Zest leapt forward with flapping wings to throw her hooves around each of them dragging them all into one giant hug. "I was so worried there for a while!"

"Yeah, it's so great to see you all okay!" Sour Sweet rushed forward with a relieved smile. "For a while I was afraid I was gonna have to figure out how to kill a God."

Sugarcoat came flopping forward across the ground, using her fins to inch her way forward. "Are you three okay? You... hughn... don't really... uhn... look so good."

Sunny finally snapped out of her daze to peer down at her bespectacled friend. "... Are you a seal?"

Sugarcoat's eyes narrowed. Slowly she lifted her front section up a bit to slap her fins together three times, speaking on each slap. "Arf. Arf. Bitch."

"Thank you, Discord." A pony with pink hair and yellow fur, who Sunny surmised was Fluttershy from her voice, hovered up to Discord on feathery wings to pat him on the head. "You saved our friends! Thank you so much!"

"Hmhm, yes, well, I do have my moments I suppose..." Discord coughed.

Indigo glared up at him. "And no offense or nothing... but next time you have a moment, please do it in your own universe, okay?"

"Indigo..." Sunny slapped her forehead. "Did you learn nothing from this?"

"Don't worry, I'm done throwing temper tantrums and running away from my problems." Discord held up one claw with a brown uniform appearing on his body. "Fillyscouts honor."

"Well, this all could have gone better, but I guess all's well that ends well." Sunset Shimmer approached her six friends with a ghost of a smile on her lips. "But it's getting really late in our world, and tomorrow is a school day, so we really should try to get home and get some rest."

"Of course." Princess Twilight approached the Shadowbolts. This was the first time Sunny had seen her before... she really did look just like Twilight, well her pony form at least. Twilight Sparkle looked like she had a deep blush on her cheeks as she took in her royal counterpart. "Please accept my apologies on behalf of Equestria for this incident. The last thing we want is for our problems to come barging into your world... again."

"Ahehe..." Sunset Shimmer blushed.

"It's alright, we know you didn't mean for it to happen." Twilight smiled and adjusted her glasses on the end of her nose. "And if someone wants to take a vacation in our world we certainly wouldn't object... you know, as long as our world doesn't start falling apart as a result of it."

"And I extend the same invitation to you. If you ever wish to visit Equestria, we can certainly arrange it. Just let Sunset Shimmer know. She can contact me at any time." Princess Twilight nodded authoritatively, then turned back to Discord. "Okay Discord, we've had enough fun for one day. Send everybody home so we can all get some rest."

Discord bowed with a trace of a smirk on his lips. "Yes, oh mighty and respectable princess Twilight... your command is my wish." He raised one claw and snapped his fingers.

***

The evening sun was just peeking over the horizon as Princess Twilight marched into her friendship palace. "Pinkie Pie? Are you still here? We can finish those chapters now."

Pinkie bounced into the main hallway with her mane and tail flapping behind her. "Twilight? Who has time for that!? Do you know whose birthday party is coming up!? Everypony's! I need to make plans for the entire next year! I'll catch up with you later!" Pinkie zoomed past her out of the palace in a blur of pink and deeper pink.

"Pinkie! Wait! But..." Twilight sighed as she looked after her. "Your memoir..."

"Maybe she'll settle down for real someday." Starlight Glimmer walked up behind her, watching Pinkie bound through Ponyville outside. "She's still buzzing with youth. Time will catch up to her eventually, even if nothing else can."

Twilight sighed. "I guess so. It was just nice to be able to sit down and spend some real time with her for once." Twilight turned to walk toward the library.

"All in good time..." Starlight closed the door behind her. "Sssoooo.... another student, huh? Were you ever going to tell me about her?"

"Huh? Excuse me?" Twilight looked back in surprise.

"I mean I'm not mad, but I think having another protégé you're not telling me about is kind of a big deal, isn't it?" Starlight Glimmer's hoof was waving carelessly through the air even as she fixed a sharp gaze on Twilight's eyes. "It's not like there's a reason you would keep her hidden from me, is there?"

"Uh..." Twilight coughed into one hoof. It looked like this was going to be a long evening...

***

Twilight Sparkle reached up and touched her head with her fingers. Her normal, human fingers. She had only been a pony for a short time, but she almost couldn't believe how much of a relief it was to be back in her body, and back in her bedroom. She almost let out a squeal, but restrained herself modestly when she realized she wasn't alone. All six of her friends had joined her, each wobbling slightly as they suddenly found themselves on two legs instead of four.

"Does anyone else kind of feel like Bimbo Baggins right now?" Indigo Zap mused. "I mean... do we really just go home and go to bed after all that crap? We were just magic ponies for crying out loud!"

"Eh, you start to get used to this sort of thing after a while." Sunset Shimmer winked at Twilight. "Isn't that right?"

"Heh, yeah, I think I've been through worse." Twilight adjusted her glasses into place on her normal human nose now. "But you can all stay at my place for the night, if you'd like. The sooner we can get to bed the better, with school coming up so soon."

"I hope we get to go back to Equestria soon though!" Lemon Zest giggled. "Next time I want to learn to fly for real! Being a pony is awesome!"

"Speak for yourself," Sugarcoat grumped.

"Come on girls, settle down." Sunny Flare insisted. "Let's just take Twilight up on her offer. It would be rude not to anyway." There was a chorus of mumbles of acceptance, and soon they had enough spare blankets and sleeping bags laid out across the room.

Twilight laid in the darkness on the edge of her bed, pulling her blankets snugly up around her neck. The sound of her friends' breath was the only thing she could hear... but no matter how long she laid there, sleep proved elusive. She found her mind going back. Back to that moment, back to that... thing. She didn't even have a name for what it was, nor could she bring up a picture in her mind's eye. She just thought about its existence, and it kind of made her shiver.

With a grunt of forfeit, Twilight carefully slipped out of her bed so as not to awaken her two partners, Lemon Zest and Sour Sweet, and tiptoed her way out toward the living room. As she hobbled in sleepily, she caught sight of Spike and Mina huddled up together in the corner of the sofa. Mina was whimpering in her sleep, while Spike's eyes were open, looking down at her, but they flicked up to Twilight as she entered.

"Hey." Spike smiled. "I guess you got everything taken care of?"

"Yeah, I think so." Twilight tilted her head. "How did you know?"

"'Mina... she can't talk anymore." Spike sighed.

"Awww, I'm sorry Spike." Twilight ran her fingers over his head in a gentle scratch as she approached the front of the house. "But it's not like she's going anywhere. You can still be together as long as you want."

"Yeah, I know..." Spike watched her approach the window at the front of the house curiously. "Are you okay?"

Twilight stared out into the night, clasping her hands in front of her. "I..."

"You can't sleep." Twilight and Spike both turned when Indigo Zap spoke from the hallway. "I can't either."

"Are you thinking about... it?"

Indigo nodded as she moved to join Twilight in front of the window. "It's hard not to. I don't know if I've ever felt anything like that in my life. I never even imagined anything like that."

"What do you think it would have done to us if Discord hadn't shown up?" Twilight asked.

Sunny Flare spoke from behind them this time. "I think we should probably try to avoid thinking about that too hard. We could lose a lot of sleep for a long time." She approached her two friends with her arms crossed over her chest. "I recommend you forget the whole thing, lay down, and try to never think about it again."

"Really?" Indigo asked lightly. "I notice you're not taking your own advice."

"I never claimed not to be a hypocrite," Sunny pointed out with a wry smile, which soon faded. "Seriously though, we shouldn't dwell on it. It's over, it's done, and we'll never see that thing again. Or... er... experience, that thing... whatever it was."

"Yeah, you're right." Twilight nodded. "As always, Sunny. I'll try to forget about it..." She stared out into the blissfully clear midnight sky, devoid of all signs of Discord's chaotic clouds. "Might not be that easy, though..."

"I never claimed it would be." Sunny slipped an arm around Twilight's shoulders, pulling her into a firm half-embrace. "But we'll be fine as long as we work on it together."