Chapters The "Gang" as Discord referred to them were laughing so hard. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy had been doing that a lot lately since their get together with Discord. There had been so many jokes that they were able to get. Alas, Twilight Sparkle was not, because she wasn't there at the party, or invited for that matter. As her friends kept laughing with Discord, the more frustrated she became.
"Ugh. But it's still not funny!" Twilight argued.
"It's funny if you were there" Rainbow Dash replied, stifling her laughter.
'It's funny if you were there, it's funny if you were there, that's all I keep hearing from them! And I'm sick and tired of it!' Twilight thought to herself.
"But I wasn't there! I wasn't included! Maybe it's my own fault for staying in and having a book-sort-cation when I could have been making jokes and memories and having a great time with my friends! But I didn't do that, did I?! You all did! You were all there, but…!" Twilight paused and let out a sigh "I wasn't there. I missed out. And seeing you having all these jokes I wasn't a part of and couldn't understand made me..."
"Jealous?" Spike asked, finishing her sentence.
"No. The Princess of Friendship can't get jealous" Twilight argued. "That's not right!"
"Sure you can, Twilight, and none of us begrudge you for it" Applejack spoke, trying to comfort her.
"Really?" Twilight asked back, trying to remain hopeful.
"We're sorry if we made you feel left out" Fluttershy apologized.
"Really?" Twilight asked again, but this time, more annoyed. She turned her back to her friends. Rarity tried to comfort her this time.
"And you're allowed to feel a little jealous about it. You just have to be able to admit that that's what you're feeling so you can let it go" she replied.
Suddenly, Twilight's eyes widened in rage, almost as if she was going crazy.
"Let it go?" she asked, slowly turning around. Rarity decided to walk backwards from her.
"LET IT GO?!" she shouted again. "How can I let something like this go? I was being left out of something! A princess can't feel left out of something, it's just not right!"
"But Applejack said it was ok to feel left out" Pinkie Pie argued, trying to be optimistic.
"But Princess Celestia, Luna and Cadence get invited to things all the time and they don't feel left out! I'm a princess now, why can't I be the same?"
Twilight collapsed on the ground in tears. The rest of the mane 6 didn't know what to do. Was she doing it because she wanted to be like the other princesses? Or something else. They didn't know what to do. They were a bit shocked about this, like their best friend was about to have a mental breakdown.
Finally, Discord had the courage to talk the princess out of her breakdown.
"Good Luck" Fluttershy whispered to him. Discord blushed a little, but then he remembered this was a problematic situation.
"Um, Princess Twilight, I'm sorry that you were unfortunate to be left out. No hard feelings?" he asked, lending his lion paw in friendship. But all he got was an arm wack on his paw.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Twilight cried. She sounded like a maniac. "YOU TOOK MY FRIENDS AWAY FROM ME! I NEVER WANTED YOU TO DO THIS! I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE BLOODLY REFORMED, I DON'T CARE! THIS IS STILL PUNISHABLE! GET OUT!"
Discord didn't talk back to her as he grabbed his fishing gear and quickly left the castle.
"Discord, come back!" Fluttershy called out, but by then, he had already left.
"Twilight, you need to control yourself!" Applejack firmly yelled. "You don't have to be like the princesses. Ya live in Ponyville. And 'ere in Ponyville, sometimes we get left out of things so-"
"That goes for you guys too" Twilight interrupted, her voice lower this time.
"Beg your pardn', sugarcube. What did you just say?"
"You are not welcome here either!" Twilight replied. Her friends were very surprised at what she said.
"But we are. We're the bearers of the elements of harmony, aren't we? We get called by the map to solve friendship missions and we all have our own thrones. And look, there's mine!" Pinkie replied. She was pointing at her throne in delight. Twilight walked silently to her throne. She used her magic to grab it from the ground. It was then when Pinkie's smile dropped.
"What are you doing?" she asked, panicking.
"You call yourself the element of laughter? Well then you should know that laughter causes PAIN for everyone else!" Twilight explained snapping the throne in half. Pinkie felt like her heart had stopped beating.
"What the hay did ya do that for?" Applejack asked, frustrated and terrified. She was even more so when she saw her friend's eyes get smaller and her frown get bigger.
"What's this? The apple horse wants a taste of my medicine?" she asked, picking up Applejack's throne next. "Being honest is good sometimes, but sometimes the truth can HURT!" just like that, another throne was snapped in half. The rest of the mane 5 didn't care to object. Because something had broken Applejack, they didn't have a chance.
Twilight had gotten more powerful and lifted Rarity's, Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy's thrones into the air.
"Generosity; if you can give anything to help others, why didn't you GIVE me information from your party!?" Rarity's throne snapped in half. "Kindness; if you really are that element, why were you not kind enough to INVITE me?!" Fluttershy's throne snapped in half.
Rainbow Dash just stood there in complete and utter shock.
"And Loyalty; that is one thing you don't deserve, Rainbow Dash! Because if you were loyal, you wouldn't have ABANDONED me!"
Finally, Rainbow Dash's throne was destroyed. The mane 5 looked at the ruins of the castle they once hung out at. Where their friendships were put to the test. They were speechless, they couldn't figure out the right words to say to her.
"Get out! Leave this place and never come back! I think I have made that perfectly clear!" Twilight said, slamming the door in their faces. She walked back and saw the mess she created. She wasn't sad at all. She didn't regret her decision. In fact, she was satisfied.
Spike finally came out of the corner, he was scared for his life. Tears were streaming down his scaly face.
"W-why d-did you d-do that?" he asked whilst crying. "You're the princess of friendship!"
"I have no friends Spike" Twilight coldly replied. "Those girls are DEAD to me"
The mane 5 were transported just outside the castle. What they had just seen was rather unsettling. Could Twilight Sparkle have been turning evil?
"She..j-just…d-destroyed…o-our…f-f-friendship" Pinkie tried to say, but she was crying so much it didn't quite make it out.
"It's not just that" Applejack replied, pointing Pinkie's head to Ponyville's direction. Suddenly, all of the ponies started hating each other. Some were fighting, some were even getting badly hurt.
"What's going on?" Fluttershy asked.
"With the elements of harmony destroyed, chaos has risen in Ponyville. Equestria will soon be doomed as well" Applejack replied.
Author's Note
After I watched "What About Discord", I was not entirely satisfied with the ending. So I decided to create my own alternate ending to the episode. There will be more parts coming soon.
Chaos was reigning over Ponyville. Ponies were getting badly injured from fights. Even the fillies and colts weren't getting along as per usual. The Mane 5 realized this could have been caused because the elements of harmony were destroyed. This had never happened before in Equestrian history. Even when Nightmare Moon had taken over for a brief period, Princess Celestia was still able to use the elements.
They still had no idea what had come over Twilight. They had never seen her this upset before. Not since she was a unicorn and she was worried about being tardied by the princess. This was way more extreme. They couldn't go back to the castle, it didn't seem safe there. Their instinct was to check up on the Ponyville Civilians.
They made their way to the middle of town where the majority of the fights were playing out. Before any of them could speak, Mayor Mare fell in front of them, badly injured by Derpy. She just flew away from the scene and decided to attack another pony.
"Are ya ok, Mayor?" Applejack asked, trying to help her up to her feet.
"Oh, it's Twilight's friends. Thank goodness. You can end this madness that has taken over the town" The Mayor replied.
"What happened to you, darling?" Rarity asked.
"Well, I was just in the Town Hall, minding my own business. When suddenly, a brick gets hurdled through one of my windows. I get carried out by the mail mare Derpy and get beaten up for no reason whatsoever. And I look around me, and it's happening everywhere"
"Derpy? beating a pony up? That's ridiculous!" Pinkie Pie argued.
"Well it happened"
"You should go to a hospital. Those wounds look really bad" Fluttershy explained.
"I would, but I heard that the nurses and doctors are not much help either"
"Why not?"
"Because they have also been involved in the fights"
"Really? Even the vets?" Fluttershy gasped. "They haven't been cruel to the animals have they?"
"I don't think they would go that far" Rainbow comforted. "If they did, we'll be sure to pound 'em"
"Although, I feel the sudden urge to hurt Derpy myself" The Mayer replied.
"No don't! Violence is never the answer!" Fluttershy argued, stopping the Mayer in her tracks. She calmed down.
"Where's Princess Twilight Sparkle. Maybe she can handle this situation"
The mares fell silent. They knew that this wasn't something that their friend could fix.
"She can't help us" Applejack bluntly replied.
"Why not?" the mayor asked.
"She's the problem"
"How come?"
"She destroyed the elements of harmony. Because she was jealous of us hanging out with Discord"
"Oh my. That is terrible"
"We're planning to get Princess Celestia and Luna to stop Twilight before things get worse" Rarity explained.
"And Discord" Fluttershy added. The other mares looked at her with annoyance. "What?"
"You think that Discord is going to help us? He wasn't much use when he was scared of Twilight" Rainbow argued.
"Not if I talk him out of it. I'm sure he'd be able to stop her with us. We just need to figure out how. You guys remember why she was jealous, right?"
"Because we were hanging out with Discord?"
"More than that. We were laughing at his jokes. The jokes that Twilight didn't understand herself. Maybe if we explain ourselves, how the day out went, she might calm down"
"We can't do that! it's no fun if we explain jokes! That ruins them for the pony telling them! She just had to have been there" Pinkie objected.
"But that's what's making her so furious. She understands why I got along well with Discord, but not the rest of you. She just wants to be in the fun. She wants to be included"
"Fluttershy's right. Remember when she didn't care for friends? If she was still that same Twilight, she wouldn't have made a big deal about it. She'd just be glad she was doing her own thing" Rarity explained.
"So the only way to set things back to normal is to go back in time and stop her from meeting us?" Pinkie asked, once again dressed up in her time travelling gear.
"Pinkie, that is not what I said" Rarity argued. "And that is a terrible idea. If we stopped her from meeting us, Nightmare Moon and all of the other villains wouldn't have been stopped. It would've been much worse"
"Anyway Y'all, we should probably go to the princesses-" Applejack began.
"And Discord!" Fluttershy interrupted.
"And Discord" Applejack sighed. Fluttershy just smiled. "We should figure out what's going on from them and find a way to stop Twilight"
Suddenly, Applejack felt a slight pain in her stomach. She didn't know what was causing it, but she was close to fainting.
"Applejack, are you ok?" Rarity asked, managing to catch her.
"Yeah, I'm fine" She managed to stand back up.
"You don't look well. Did you eat some bad apples before we came here?" Pinkie asked.
"I don't think so. I just had the strangest feeling"
"What was that?" Fluttershy asked.
"I saw myself, dangling from the edge of a cliff. Twilight was there. But instead of helping me up, she let go of me and let me fall"
"Why does that sound familiar?"
"I don't know"
"Enough with this nonsense! We have to go to the princesses stat!" Rainbow Dash panicked.
"Mayor, ya have to get every pony in town to a saf-" Applejack looked around but the mayor was nowhere to be found. "Mayor?"
Then they saw her, finally getting involved in the fights. It's like they were being controlled. Without balance in the land, they didn't know what was going to happen. Applejack began to feel sick to her stomach again. She was close to throwing up when her cutie mark started to fade away too.
"Whoa. AJ, no wonder why you're feeling unwell. Look at your cutie mark" Rainbow Dash explained. Applejack did just that and saw what was happening. She was even struggling to walk so Rainbow volunteered to carry her to the train station.
"Why is this happening to Applejack?" Fluttershy asked.
"Who knows Fluttershy" Pinkie Pie replied. "She probably denies it, but I think it was a bad apple she ate before she got here"
"I don't think so. Did you see her cutie mark? I don't think it's food poisoning maybe it's-"
Fluttershy was interrupted when she began to feel sick too.
"Fluttershy! did you also eat a bad apple?" Pinkie asked as she helped her up.
"I don't think so. I remember I just had a salad before I came over"
"That's weird"
The ponies made their way onto the train. Rainbow and Rarity looked after Applejack and made sure she didn't get motion sickness. Pinkie and Fluttershy just stared at Applejack in concern. Something was happening to her, but they couldn't figure out what it was. But what they did know was that it could've been connected to Twilight's actions.
"It's so nice of you to come and visit" Princess Celestia said to Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.
It had been nine months since Cadence got pregnant, so she was due in two months. They had no idea what their baby would look like or if it was a colt or filly. Her husband helped her up the stairs of the main area of the castle. It was getting harder and harder for her to walk.
"We heard the news and came right away" Princess Cadence replied. "We have also been noticing strange goings on in the Crystal Kingdom"
"Have the ponies been acting strangely?"
"Yes"
"In what way?"
"Well for starters; they started picking fights with each other. Then they began lying to each other, hurting each other, laughing at their misery, stealing and abandoning the helpless. We've tried to calm the citizens down, but there's not much we could do"
"Do you two know what's causing this destruction?" Shining Armor asked them.
"Yes. Because the same thing as you described is happening in Canterlot and Ponyville. Something is not in balance with the elements of harmony" Princess Celestia replied.
"You mean Twiley and her friends? What could possibly be wrong with them? I thought they were in good hooves"
"I thought so too" Princess Celestia replied as she turned to face the window. "But their friendship is so strong. Even I don't know what could've happened. But I have let them know what is happening via Spike so hopefully they should arrive here soon."
"Princess Celestia!" Rainbow Dash stormed in the castle with Applejack on her back. The others were trying to keep up with her. "We have a major problem!"
"I know. That's why I called you all here via Spike"
The mares looked at her in confusion.
"Spike isn't with us" Rarity replied. "He's with Twilight. We came on our own"
"Where is Twilight?"
"You won't believe it! But we were hanging out with Discord the past couple of days when Twilight gets jealous of us. Mainly because she doesn't get any of the jokes. But because of her jealousy, she destroyed all of the thrones in her castle and banished us out of her castle and Spike is with her!" Pinkie Pie explained in her usual fast paced dialogue.
"Twilight has caused this?" Princess Celestia asked.
"Yep" Rainbow Dash replied. "And also, Applejack isn't feeling too well either. Her cutie mark is fading away"
The princesses and Shining rushed over to the sickly orange pony on top of Rainbow's back. It looked like she was getting worse.
"How did Applejack get this sick?" Princess Cadence asked.
"I don't know. She said she imagined herself falling to her death and it was Twilight's fault" Fluttershy replied.
"That is oddly peculiar"
"That is so true!" Pinkie Pie replied back. "Who would've thought that a work horse who spends all her day farming apples..."
Just then, Fluttershy's vision and hearing began to get blurry.
"...And that's what I think about apples almost every day" Pinkie finished. Fluttershy missed everything she said.
"I'm sorry, but can you speak louder? I can hardly hear you" Fluttershy mentioned.
"IS THIS BETTER?!" Pinkie yelled in Fluttershy's ear with a megaphone.
"That's worse" Fluttershy stuttered. Then, her vision went completely blurry and the scene changed. She was trapped in a cave with the manticore she helped.
"You like animals don't you Fluttershy?" Twilight yelled from outside the cave. "Well go and tame this beast, if you can!" She just laughed as she trapped Fluttershy inside the cave. She didn't know what to do. There wasn't any thorn in it's paw this time. It was just angry. It got closer and closer to the yellow Pegasus. When it was close enough, it stung and scratched her before devouring her.
Reality came into contact with the Pegasus as she fell on top of Pinkie Pie. She was also getting sick but this was worse than Applejack. She felt like she was bleeding intensely. Her cutie mark had started to fade away.
"Fluttershy!" Pinkie cried. "Not you too!"
The attention went to Fluttershy who struggled to get up. It hurt to even breathe for her.
"What is happening to everypony?" Rainbow Dash asked, still in shock. "First Applejack, and now Fluttershy. Why is this happening?"
"She's changing" Princess Luna who hadn't said a word before the disaster finally spoke.
"Who? Applejack or Fluttershy?"
"Twilight"
The remaining three members of the elements of harmony gasped in shock.
"Twilight is changing?" Rarity asked. "What into?"
"Evil" Luna replied.
"Is that true?" Rainbow Dash asked. "But why?"
"Because she has been overcome with jealousy" Luna paused. "Like I was"
"Like you were?" Pinkie asked.
"Remember how I became Nightmare Moon? I was jealous of all the attention going to my sister. She was being praised and honored for raising and lowering the sun. And I didn't get any recognition. Everypony slept through my nights. I was overcome with jealousy and greed. And soon the darkness in myself turned me into Nightmare Moon where I was banished to the moon for a thousand years"
"So you turned evil because you were jealous of your sister?" Pinkie asked. Luna nodded.
"But that doesn't explain why Fluttershy and Applejack are sick" Rainbow Dash argued.
"Being jealous is dangerous to an alicorn" Princess Celestia spoke. "You ponies don't realize it because you don't have as much power as we do. But jealousy is very powerful and can consume us. Whilst an ordinary unicorn, Pegasus or earth pony is safe because they have less power. And the reason why your friends are ill is because there is unbalance in the elements of harmony"
"They've been destroyed" Pinkie gulped.
"This is bad" Princess Celestia replied. "Not just for Ponyville but for you girls as well"
"Why?" the three of them asked.
"If the elements of harmony have been destroyed, then the bearers will cease to exist also"
The entire room was silent in shock.
"So you're saying, if we don't fix the elements then Applejack and Fluttershy would...cease to be?" Rainbow asked. "Like die from their sickness?"
"That is correct. And slowly, so will you three"
"So how do we know who's next?" Rarity asked in a scared tone.
"I believe it goes in the order that you girls rediscovered the elements. First Applejack helped Twilight on a cliff, then Fluttershy tamed the manticore..."
"Then Pinkie Pie made the scary faces on the trees go away" Rarity spoke. Turning her head towards Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash did the same. Pinkie looked at them in confusion.
"What?" Pinkie asked, oblivious and scared.
"Pinkie, you're next" Rainbow Dash stuttered, getting a teary tone in her voice.
And they were right. Pinkie Pie imagined the trees in the forest and how scary they were. Twilight pushed her in one and laughed maniacally. Pinkie tried laughing but it didn't work. Soon she was scared to death as well as the tree swallowed her.
Pinkie's heart was beating faster than it did before. So much that she fell unconscious. Now three of the elements of harmony were sick and had faded cutie marks. Rarity and Rainbow Dash panicked.
"How long until all of us feel sick like this?" Rarity asked Princess Celestia.
"Less than 24 Hours. We will help you get Twilight back"
"What about the elements of harmony? will you find a way to bring them back?" Rainbow Dash asked. The princess was silent.
"I don't know. The elements of harmony have always stayed in tact since their creation. I don't know if there's a way to fix them"
"There has to, otherwise we all will die!"
"We will find a way to help all of you" Princess Cadence calmly replied. "But first we need to find who unintentionally caused this threat...Discord"
Author's Note
I had the theory that if the elements of harmony were destroyed, something would happen to the bearers because they are connected to them physically. It wouldn't have mattered as much when the elements were still in their necklace/tiara form. But since they were restored to the tree of harmony, and used to transform them into Rainbow Power, the elements are connected to them internally. In other words, the elements transported some of their power to the Mane 6 when they transformed and have stayed there. So that's why they would be in even more danger.
Twilight Sparkle was pacing around in the ruins of her castle. Darkness was overcoming her even more since her friends were banished. The walls made of rock became sharper and stuck out from the walls. Instead of it's usual color of indigo, the walls were turning red. Spike didn't know what to do, being her faithful assistant and all, he didn't know what to do. He hadn't spoke another word since she started acting strangely, but he wanted to change that.
"Twilight...I think you should stop!" he spoke. Twilight turned around to the little dragon.
"Stop? Why?" She asked.
"You're really scaring me. This isn't like you"
"Oh poor, poor Spike" Twilight patronized "I'm so sorry for you"
She got annoyed again and stared out the window. Slowly her cutiemark was changing. It wasn't fading like her friends, it was turning black. And her eyes were becoming corrupted. The whites of her eyes were now a light green and her purple eyes were red. Similar to how they were when she was in the crystal kingdom and seeing a bad end for herself. She didn't notice what was happening to her, she was just being engulfed by darkness.
"I've looked outside and all of Ponyville is going bezerk! Do you think that you destroying the thrones had caused that to happen?" Spike asked.
Twilight made her way to the window where the citizens were still fighting. She had little emotion on the situation.
"Well? Are you going to do something? You are the Princess of Friendship! Why don't you go out and stop it!" Spike suggested. But it wasn't likely that Twilight would listen to that suggestion in the state she was in. Her eye began to twitch.
"Me? Put a stop to this? No. This is perfect!" Twilight smiled.
"How could it possibly be perfect?! Ponies are getting seriously hurt out there! Even the fillies and colts! Don't you want to stop them?"
"Not until they apologize"
"They? "
"My 'So called' friends, Spike. They hurt me, so did Discord. Until they apologize for their actions, this continues"
Suddenly, a letter came out of Spike's fire. He hadn't received one of those in a while.
"It's from Princess Celestia" he said.
"Ugh. What does it say?" she asked, unenthusiastically.
"Dear Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. If you hadn't known already, there is a disturbance in the elements of harmony. All of the ponies in Equestria are going crazy and hurting each other. We want you and the others to come right away to try and fix this issue.
Yours Sincerely
Princess Celestia" Spike read. "See? because you destroyed the elements of harmony, this is happening in all of Equestria!"
Twilight began to chuckle in delight.
"What's so funny? This is serious!" Spike yelled. Twilight began to change yet again. The highlights in her mane and tail turned black and white and the main color became gray. Things were starting to get worse. She turned around to him and revealed herself. "Twilight, what's happening to you?"
"Everything Spike! I've never felt so alive before! It's like a new sensation is burning through me!" Just like that, the letter that Spike read turned to ashes. "We won't be needing that letter. I already know what's going on...and I Like it!"
Twilight continued her maniacal laughter and it became more and more unsettling for Spike. He decided to make a run for it, but was stopped by the corrupted alicorn.
"Where do you think you're going? the party has just begun" She replied. "You are going to help me get my friends to finally apologize by staying here!"
Spike thought there was nothing he could do now. He had no choice but to go with the flow.
Meanwhile, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and unconscious Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Applejack had entered Discord's realm. Luckily for them, Princess Celestia knew where he lived. He showed her around the house after he had reformed.
"It's really hard to fly in this realm!" Rainbow Dash complained, carrying Applejack on her back. "Are we almost there?"
"Yes, we are" Princess Celestia replied, carrying Fluttershy on her back. "It shouldn't be too far now"
"It's even harder for the ponies who can't fly!" Rarity objected. She was speaking for both her and Shining Armor. Now that Pinkie Pie and Applejack were unconscious, they were the only ponies who couldn't fly. They struggled with the lack of gravity in the area but tried to stay with the group.
"Hopefully the Lord of Chaos should come to his senses" Princess Luna mentioned. She had volunteered to carry Pinkie Pie on her back because of the weight that Cadence already had with her unborn foal.
"With Fluttershy unconscious, I think he will" Rainbow Dash replied. Princess Luna was confused. She wasn't as familiar with his relationship with Fluttershy.
They arrived at the entrance of his house. It seemed rather small and ordinary in a realm such as this. It was a little wooden house with a yellow roof sitting on top of a floating hill. On that hill, there was also a white picket fence and a pathway to an unsafe wooden bridge. Princess Celestia knocked on his door.
"Just a minute!" he called out. He opened the door, he was in his cleaning gear. "What can I do for you Celestia?"
"Discord, we have a problem"
"Oh, what is it this time?"
"I think you know what it is"
Discord put is paw to his face. He did know what was going on. He caused it.
"Alright, come in...all of you" He was surprised on how many ponies had entered his house. After they settled in, Discord still wanted to know what was going on.
"So, why are you all here?" he asked, awaiting a response.
"The elements of harmony have been...destroyed" Princess Celestia replied. Discord's eyes widened with shock.
"What? How? When? Why?" He asked.
"Twilight Sparkle destroyed the elements after you left"
"Twilight Sparkle?" Discord burst out laughing. "That is ridiculous! She wouldn't do a thing like that!"
"I'm telling the truth, Discord. She was jealous of her friends laughing at your jokes; so she banished them from her castle and destroyed the elements of harmony. Because of what she did, All of the ponies in Equestria besides us are at each other's throats and three of the elements of harmony have fallen gravely ill"
"Pft. Ill shmill! they'll get better, I'm sure!" Discord scoffed, sounding very disinterested.
"One of them is Fluttershy" Rainbow Dash added.
Discord was now shocked as he saw the unconscious pegasus on top of Princess Celestia's back. He carried her gently onto his couch.
"How could she let this happen to my dear Fluttershy?" he asked. "There must be a way to cure her!"
"What about Applejack and Pinkie Pie?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah, yeah. We have to cure them too, but what about Fluttershy!?" He noticed the severe internal bleeding in her neck. "She's even bleeding for Celestia's sake!"
"We think that Twilight Sparkle might be heading down the path I once went down" Princess Luna added. "We have less than 24 hours until all of the bearers get this sick"
"So why did you come to me? Remember I wanted the elements all to myself. But even I couldn't imagine them destroyed"
"We think you can bring Twilight back to her senses and recover the elements of harmony" Princess Celestia replied. "All you have to do is remember why she was jealous. That might be the key to bringing her back to normal"
Discord looked up at Princess Celestia, then down at Fluttershy. He sighed and stood up.
"I'll do it. I'll save the elements of harmony, for Fluttershy's sake!"
"Of course!" Rainbow mumbled sarcastically.
"Now's not the time to be sarcastic, Rainbow. I'm getting rather dizzy!" Rarity replied.
She imagined herself face to face with Steven Magnet. She was about to give him her tail, when Twilight took it instead.
"It's mine now!" she cackled as she ran off.
"I want my mustache!" Steven cried as he grabbed Rarity and started to drown her in the lake.
Reality came back to her as she was struggling for air.
"Rarity!" Rainbow reacted as she caught Rarity. Her cutie mark was fading away as she too fell unconscious. "I'm the only one left!"
"We have to move quickly to Twilight as soon as possible" Princess Cadence spoke.
"I dibs carrying Fluttershy" Discord interrupted as he carried the bleeding pegasus in his arms and out of his door. Princess Celestia rolled her eyes and proceeded in carrying Rarity. Now four of the elements of harmony were gravely sick. It would only be a matter of time until the same thing happened to Rainbow Dash. She was the last to discover her element when she helped her friends over the bridge. She was even scared of how long it would take...
The others were getting worse. Applejack felt the need to vomit every so often, Fluttershy was gasping from loss of blood, Pinkie Pie clenched her chest from her rapid heart attacks and Rarity felt like she was suffocating. Rainbow Dash was the only one who wasn't sick, not yet anyway. It was only a matter of time before she did. Everyone was equally worried about them, but Rainbow Dash was especially.
"Are you scared?" she asked Discord. He soon realized who he was talking to.
"Yes. I want my Fluttershy to be alright" he replied.
"Me too. I want everyone to be ok. I want this whole mess to stop" Rainbow clenched her jaw. "I never thought that the elements of harmony would be destroyed by one of my friends, and in doing so, she would slowly kill us"
"Me neither. But that's another thing I've learnt about alicorns"
"What?"
"That jealousy can overpower them just like it overpowered Princess Luna"
"Oh" Rainbow sighed. "Why didn't we just invite her?"
"Don't you remember, Dashie? she was having a book-sort cation. She didn't want to be disturbed"
"But only if we did, then she wouldn't be corrupted like this" Rainbow began to tear up to her words "And everypony else including Fluttershy wouldn't be sick right now!"
Discord touched Rainbow's face to wipe her flowing tears away.
"I'm sorry, Discord" she sniffed. "I don't usually get this emotional. But I love my friends, I look out for them, especially Fluttershy. She would always look up to me and I would always help her. But this..this is something I can't help her with!"
"Oh Dashie" Discord lovingly patronized. "Crying is not a good look for you. I like you better when you laugh. Those were some good times"
"Yeah" Rainbow Dash agreed. She continued to look at the ground, they were almost in Ponyville again.
"You're..going to get sick too, aren't you?" Discord whispered.
"Yes. I don't want to, but she destroyed all of the elements of harmony. It's only a matter of time"
She choked in tears just thinking about death, or just getting sick. She had so much she wanted to live for. She was already a reserve in the Wonderbolts. She wanted to become one herself, but knowing that she was connected to the element of loyalty made her heart clench.
"I'm sorry this has to happen to all of you. This is all my fault" Discord apologized, he too was beginning to tear up. Rainbow put her hoof on his paw. "I remember when I first tried to corrupt all of you and curse the land in eternal chaos. That was a lot of fun" He looked down at Fluttershy. He heard her breathing, it was getting more and more staggered.
"Hang in there, Fluttershy" he cried. "I swear I'll save you" He got the glare from Rainbow Dash "And every pony else too" Rainbow tried to smile.
"I'm.." she started. "I'm gonna miss your antics, Discord. That time we spent together was fun!"
"Yes. Yes it was" Discord replied. They both gave each other a hug.
"We're here" Princess Celestia spoke. The ponies stood at the castle. It definitely looked less friendly the more they looked at it. The outside was covered in thorns, but they were still able to get in.
The castle was a dark shade of red, almost the color of blood. It creeped every pony out, especially Rainbow Dash.
"Help!" a voice cried out from inside the castle. Rainbow Dash was the first to react. She kept hearing the cries of the voice. When she got to the destination, it was Spike. He was trapped in a cage.
"Spike!" she called out. She tried to set him free using all of her strength, but it didn't seem to work.
"Let me handle this, rainbow hair" Discord said whilst pushing in front of Rainbow. He clicked his fingers and the cage was gone.
"Oh Thank you so much for getting me out!" he cried.
"Why were you in a cage?" Rainbow asked.
"Twilight put me in here, so I wouldn't escape"
"How is she?"
Spike gulped as he pointed in the general direction. Every pony reacted to what they had seen. Twilight wasn't recognizable anymore. Her once purple mane with pink highlights was now grey with black and white highlights covered in thorns. Her purple eyes were red with a green outside. Her cutie mark which was once a pink star with 5 white ones turned black. And her coat color was a darker shade of purple, like Nightmare Moon was. The Twilight they knew and loved was gone.
"Spike. I told you to stay put!" she growled, her voice sounding much lower. Then she noticed the other ponies. "My My. Isn't this a pleasant surprise. You have finally come to apologize!"
"Yes. Yes we have" Rainbow angrily replied. "But before we do, we just want you to know what you're really doing!"
"Oh I don't need that! I already know. I plan to have this chaos continue until you apologize. So spill it!" The room fell silent. She noticed something was wrong. "Wait. Where's everyone else? I need all of the elements of harmony present, not just loyalty"
"If you really want to know, then see for yourself!" Rainbow replied as she backed away to reveal the sick ponies. Twilight's eyes widened in shock.
"I don't understand, why are they like this?"
"Because of you!"
"Me? What have I done to cause this?"
"You destroyed the elements of harmony. Whilst doing that, you've endangered our lives as well! It won't be long until we all die from this"
"This can't be happening! You can't apologize if you die! I will NEVER be satisfied!" Twilight yelled, stamping her hoof on the ground.
"Is that all you care about?" Rainbow Dash yelled back. "Getting us to friggn' apologize? It wasn't our fault!"
Rainbow felt a pain in her stomach, like piercing. She clenched it really hard.
"Dashie, are you ok?" Discord tried to come to her aid. He helped her up to her feet.
"No" she replied, tears coming out of her eyes again. "It's happening"
"What is?"
"My sickness"
Somehow Rainbow still had enough strength to turn to Twilight's direction.
"Are you going to be alright?" Discord asked.
"I'll be fine" Rainbow confirmed, moving closer to Twilight.
"What, what is happening? What are you doing?" Twilight panicked.
"You can get us to apologize all you want, but we won't do it, you know why? Because it isn't our fault!"
"But it is! You were laughing with Discord. You were part of jokes that I didn't understand. I missed out on the fun!"
"But you don't understand!"
"I understand enough! Why bother being the princess of friendship if your own friends don't tell you how they got along with this monster!"
"OK, that is too harsh! You don't have to make such a bloody deal about this!"
"I do. I am a member of royalty, and it's against Equestrian law if a princess isn't invited to something her friends are part of. They get thrown to prison, I researched it!"
"But we did want to invite you!"
Twilight stood there in shock. Rainbow felt more intense pain in her stomach, but she tried to hide it.
"You girls wanted to invite me?" Twilight softened. "Why didn't you?"
"Because Discord thought it would've been funny if you were left out, to symbolize how much you've changed since coming to Ponyville"
"You call this funny?" Twilight pointed outside. "It's because of Discord that you guys are unwell and I..and I..."
Twilight felt her real self coming back to her. But it didn't last for long.
"And I'm glad that my plan is going so well" she coldly replied.
"Twilight no!" Rainbow cried in pain. "You have no idea what you've done!"
Rainbow Dash finally collapsed on the ground. Discord came to her aid.
"Stay with me, Rainbow Dash! Breathe! Remember sneaky snake? Snaking around? Hiss-terical?"
"Twilight Stop!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Don't leave me behind!"
It was too late. Rainbow Dash imagined herself with the shadowbolts. She cried for help because the shadowbolts would kill her with knives if she didn't agree to join them. Twilight left her behind as she called out to her. And just like that, Rainbow felt like she was being stabbed to death.
"Rainbow Dash, you're tougher than this! You can fight it!" Discord yelled.
"D-Discord..." Rainbow began.
"Yes?"
Rainbow struggled to breathe and was constantly coughing.
"You...have...to...take...Twilight...Sparkle...back...in...t-time" Rainbow whispered.
"But why? She even said that going back in time was a bad idea!" Discord sobbed.
"Now's not the time to argue, Discord!" Rainbow coughed some more. "I remember when I didn't tolerate you, so consider yourself lucky"
"But how do I go back in time?"
"Don't play dumb with me!" Rainbow cried. She was too sore to sob. "Didn't you take her back in time when you were evil and show her a flashback of the riddle?"
Discord wiped his eyes and smiled.
"That's right, I did"
"Do it, Discord" Rainbow coughed. "Do it for...Fluttershy"
Rainbow Dash finally fell unconscious like the other ponies. Sooner or later, the ponies wouldn't even be alive. Discord lay Rainbow's body with the others, who were looked after by Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. Discord turned around to the corrupted alicorn with an angry look in his eyes.
"I'm going to do it" Discord said.
"Do what? apologize?" Twilight scoffed.
"I'm going to take you back in time. I'm going to show you how we all got along when you weren't there!"
He ripped a hole in the fabric of time and grabbed Twilight with him. Rainbow Dash still had strength to open her eyes.
"Good luck...Discord"
Author's Note
This is what it has been really leading up to. I really wanted to know how they got along so well, and next chapter will start on that journey. And also, I added Rainbowcord in this chapter. I just figured they got along so well they would be really good friends by then.
Twilight Sparkle found herself floating in empty space. She was still corrupted, and she was still wondering what Discord was planning to do with her.
"Where are we Discord?" she asked, annoyed.
"I'm giving you what you want, remember" he replied.
"What, my apology?"
"No, I'm giving you something much better"
"And what is that?"
"I don't think you heard me before. I'm taking you back in time to when we had our get together"
"Why? Why would you do that?"
"To fix you! to fix the elements! to fix your friends! to fix Fluttershy!"
"I get it" Twilight interrupted. "Are you sure this is better than an apology?"
"Much, much better than any old apology!" Discord smirked.
"Something tells me that this is a bad idea"
"Oh yes, I see your memories from when you weren't corrupted are flowing back. You did mention that after Pinkie Pie suggested it" Discord laughed. "But when I do it, this time it will be different. No pony will be able to see or hear us, so we won't be altering anything. Just like when we revisited the riddle that one time"
"Whatever. This better be satisfying, or else"
"It will, it will. It will answer all of your questions!"
Finally they had arrived a few days earlier to the castle.
"You're sure we've gone back in time?" Twilight asked.
"Oh yes. If you don't believe me, I can prove it" Discord replied. He snapped his fingers. They were inside the library. They saw Twilight and Spike getting ready for the book-sort-cation.
"That's me!" Twilight pointed out. "I look so young!"
"Twilight, this was only three days ago. You haven't changed" Discord replied.
"Didn't we just shelve all the books in the library a few months ago?" Spike asked the other Twilight.
"Yes, but that was because we needed to! This is just because I want to! I call it my 'book-sort-cation'! Three uninterrupted days of reorganizing books. Can you think of anything more relaxing?" The other Twilight asked.
"Well, claw massages, back rubs, bubble baths..." Spike paused. "You weren't really looking for an answer, were you?"
"I've even devised a better system for organizing them. It decreases the amount of time it takes to find a book you're looking for by nearly three quarters of a second!"
Spike just stared at all of the books.
"Whoa. That much?" he asked.
"Look at them all. Why, there must be at least twenty thousand books to organize!"
"That seemed fun at the time, but now I know I should've had better things to do" The current Twilight said to Discord.
"Hoo" Owlowiscious exclaimed at Discord.
"Owlowiscious can see us?" Twilight asked.
"It seems like it" Discord replied. "Go on, shoo, shoo!" He chased the bird away from the view "Animals must be able to see us. Hmm, I didn't really think this through"
"Best long weekend ever! I'm sure we can make some time for a claw massage and a back rub too" The other Twilight added.
"Yes! Best long weekend ever!" Spike replied.
The pair proceeded into organizing books. The current Twilight looked down at herself from three days ago with a sad expression.
"What's wrong Twilight?" Discord asked
"I'm just so mad at myself. I shouldn't have been so anti social"
"Then again, you didn't even know about the gathering"
"You're right" Twilight replied. "Discord, I want to find out how it all went. How everyone got along so well"
"Your wish is my command, Princess"
The pair transported themselves to Fluttershy's cottage next, at around the same time the other Twilight had begun her book-sort-cation.
"Why are we at Fluttershy's house?" Twilight asked.
"This is where it all began, my dear". Discord clicked his fingers and they appeared in the house. Fluttershy was feeding her animals as usual when she heard someone knock. It was Discord. "Ta-da! My grand entrance!" Twilight gave no response. "Alright then, have your fun!"
"Hello Discord! It isn't time for our picnic already is it?" Fluttershy asked.
"Oh no, I know it's not for another hour or so. I've been keeping check of it" the other Discord replied, changing himself into a clock, then changing back. "But I just wanted to ask you something"
"Yes, what is it?"
Discord let out a huge sigh.
"I have the rousing suspicion that your friends don't like me very much"
"Why would you think that? Of course they do"
"Even after that incident at the Grand Galloping Gala? I brought along my friend the Smooze who caused nothing but trouble, I almost sent your plus one to an alternate dimension, and let's not forget all of the ooze getting everywhere!"
"You're still worried about that?" Fluttershy asked. "I'm pretty sure they've forgotten all about it by now"
"I'm not sure about that. Especially Rainbow Dash. She seems to hate me the most"
Fluttershy put her hoof on his lion paw.
"That was in the past, Discord. And she doesn't hate you, she was just concerned for me because of your past actions and so was everypony else. Don't beat yourself up about it"
Discord just laughed at what Fluttershy said.
"I already know that! That's why I have a plan for today's picnic!"
"You do?"
"Why don't we invite all of your friends and I can get along with them better like I got along with you"
"Discord, that's a wonderful idea. I would like it if my friends could get along with you better. Then I wouldn't have to be your only friend"
"Perfect! let's ask them right now! This is going to be a treat!"
Fluttershy grabbed the snacks and headed out the door with Discord. After they left, Twilight stood there wide eyed.
"So that's why you had the get together. You wanted a chance to get to know us better"
"And I did didn't I?"
"Except me, because I wasn't there! And this still doesn't explain the jokes that I don't get"
"Never fear, Twilight my dear. That is in the next chapter of the story, I believe it's chapter 7"
"What are you on about?"
"Oh nothing. Let's just see how this get together works out!"
Author's Note
Discord broke the forth wall! *face palm*
But yeah. I really wanted to explore how the get together worked out. And like Discord mentioned, it will happen in part 7.chapter 7!"
Discord and Twilight had transported to the table where the lunch/picnic took place. Just as Discord described; the table cloth was red that day. The sun was shining brightly. The time travelling pair hid in the bushes. They needed to have a good view of what had happened.
"And you're sure this is where the get together took place?" Twilight asked.
"Absolutely! Too bad you don't remember having this discussion earlier" Discord replied. "Enough chat though, here come your friends"
"So why are we all here exactly?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I was in the middle of flying practice"
"Well, everyone. Discord and I thought it would be a good idea if you came along to our weekly picnics" Fluttershy replied.
"But why? Why does Discord want us to come?"
"He just felt a bit uneasy after what happened at the Grand Galloping Gala. He wants a chance to get to know you all better"
"I don't think this is everypony. Where is Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Good point, darling. Where could she possibly be?" Rarity asked.
"I can answer that" Discord appeared behind them. It gave both of them a fright. "I looked in her castle and it looked like she was busy"
"Busy, busy with what? I had to put my chores on hold. What could she possibly be doing?" Applejack asked.
"It looked like she and Spike were organizing the library. Something about a 'book-sort-cation' or something"
"You were spying on her?" Fluttershy asked. Discord saw the look in Fluttershy's eyes and started to panic.
"No, no, no! I wasn't spying on her. I was merely observing her that's all"
"That's a shame though. I bet Twilight would've liked to be with us in...whatever this is supposed to be" Rainbow replied.
"A lunch date! This is going to be so much fun! I'm going to learn so much about you ponies!"
The majority of the time however was silence. The ponies just finished their soups and the waiter had come to collect their bowls. Rainbow Dash was eyeing Discord. She still didn't like him after all the bad things that he had done. She didn't really tolerate him at all. Twilight was very confused.
"I don't understand. It doesn't look like you guys are having any fun" Twilight sadly said. Discord stroked his beard and squinted his eyes. He turned himself into some binoculars.
"Nothing. Nothing is happening"
"When do you guys laugh and share jokes with each other then?"
"I could've sworn it was now" Discord summoned a watch on his wrist. "I don't know what could've happened". Twilight got something out from her pocket. It was an apple. "Twilight, what are you doing?"
"Making this more interesting, I'm not going to be satisfied until I SEE..THOSE...JOKES!" Twilight threw the apple and that knocked the table a bit, startling the other ponies.
"Twilight, why did you do that? You could alter time! I thought you were worried about that sort of thing!" Discord whispered in rage.
"I told you. Making it more interesting, look"
As the apple violently knocked the table, the two jars of peanut butter fell off and landed on Discord's feet. He felt a rather sticky sensation that smelt of peanuts. He decided to get up and figure out what had happened.
"Ugh, I have peanut butter stuck to my feet!" he shouted in disgust. Pinkie Pie just burst out laughing.
"Oh Discord! You've got a little something on your feet!" she laughed.
"I don't suppose anyone wants peanut butter, stirred the best by draconequus feet! I call it: Peanut butter hoof!"
"Peanut butter hoof? Yuck, not even with jelly!" Applejack objected in disgust.
"Well it looks like you've gotten yourself in a sticky situation!" Pinkie Pie continued.
"Sticky! I get it because his feet are stuck in the peanut butter!" Rainbow cracked. Discord then had an idea.
"Well, if we're going to have entertainment, then I think we shall have entertainment!"
Discord got up onto the top of the table and started tap dancing with the peanut butter jars still stuck to his feet. It was only a matter of time before Fluttershy, Rarity and finally Applejack burst out laughing.
"Well, I guess it happened after all" The current Discord mentioned. "And it was all thanks to your apple" Twilight couldn't reply as she was too busy laughing. "Twilight, are you..laughing?"
"That stunt I pulled was hilarious! you should've seen the look on your face!" she laughed. Discord smiled at her. He was glad that she was finally laughing. But then he gazed in awe at something else. As she was laughing, her coat color had come back to it's normal shade of purple and the thorns around her had disappeared. Whatever happened must have made Twilight slowly go back to her normal self.
"Twilight, you're turning normal again" he mentioned. Twilight looked and saw that she had changed.
"Yeah so? All I did was throw a measly apple at the table for entertainment"
"But because you did that, you created the joke! It's all coming back to me! After the lunch ended, I noticed the apple had come from this bush!"
"I guess"
"Now come on. Let's find the next joke!"
Next, Discord took Twilight to the next day. Applejack was busy helping Applebloom with the garden.
"What joke is this supposed to be?"
"I believe this is the one with the snake"
"This better be good. I still can't get over how funny the peanut butter hoof was!"
"I'm glad you're finally laughing at them"
"All of this gardening is gonna take so much work!" Applebloom complained.
"Oh Applebloom, I can't help ya. I have my own chores to do" Applejack replied.
"But do I have to do the entire garden by myself?"
"I guess it does seem a bit unfair," Applejack looked around before she quietly spoke in Applebloom's ear. "Maybe just this once I can get somepony to help you out"
"Really?" Applebloom asked, excited.
"I'd figure I can do it this once"
"Why the sudden change of heart?"
"I got to know somepony better yesterday. He got himself in a real sticky situation!" Applejack laughed. In the background, so did Twilight Sparkle.
"You're talking about me I presume?" the other Discord asked, magically appearing in front of them. "I guess it was thanks to you that the get together was made more interesting! You dropped that apple and it knocked the peanut butter on my feet!"
Applejack looked at Discord in confusion.
"I didn't have an apple with me" she replied. "In fact, I didn't see anypony with an apple"
"If none of you threw the apple, then who did?" Discord asked.
"It was me! go Twilight! go Twilight!" Twilight shouted out.
"You know that Discord can't hear you, right?" the current Discord mentioned.
"I know"
"Wait Discord!" Rainbow Dash was flying as fast as she could to where Discord was. "Why did you disappear like that? I was looking all over for you!"
"You were looking all over for Discord? Am I hearing this right?" Applejack smirked. Rainbow Dash paused.
"Well, after the get together with the peanut butter. Discord decided he should hang out with me more. We were in the middle of playing hide and seek when he cheated and appeared on your farm"
"How did ya get here so fast?"
"Did you forget who you're talking to? I'm the fastest flier in Ponyville!"
"So I don't just have this goat thing helping me, but I also get Rainbow Dash?" Applebloom asked excitedly. She wasn't a big fan of Rainbow Dash like Scootaloo was, but she owed her for giving her the idea to crusade for her cutie mark.
"Helping you with what?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh, we've just volunteered to help this member of the apple family with the gardening" the other Discord replied.
"What? Why?"
"You guys are gonna help me, aren't you?" Applebloom asked, making her puppy eye look.
"How can you say no to that face?" Discord asked Rainbow Dash. She was hesitant but then she sighed.
"Fine. We can help you with your chores. But in return, you have to help me with something I have to do afterwards"
"What's that?"
"You have to do my laundry" Rainbow added.
"Dashie, Dashie. This is a filly you're talking to." Discord Objected. "Shouldn't you give her something more-"
"I can do it" Applebloom interrupted.
"Really?" Rainbow asked, hopeful.
"You'll be amazed on how many difficult chores I have ta do at Sweet Apple Acres. I think I can handle some laundry"
"Then it's settled. Let's help you with this garden!"
Everything was going quite well. The gardening was in full progress. But Twilight was getting rather bored.
"What's wrong now, Twilight?" the current Discord asked the princess.
"Again, nothing is happening. You and Rainbow Dash are just pulling vegetables from the ground. Why aren't you using your magic to pull them out instead?"
"Well I would've. But I didn't want to. Because I got my one and only chance with hanging out with the pony who despised me the most"
"Rainbow Dash?"
"You despised me too. But Rainbow Dash was just, how do I put this, overprotective?"
"Overprotective?"
"Yes. Because apparently she and Fluttershy have been friends since they were fillies"
"So? then it means you have one thing in common"
"What?"
"You and Rainbow Dash are good friends with Fluttershy"
Discord contemplated.
"You might be onto something"
"What about the snake? when does the snake arrive?"
"Probably now. It must be late like the peanut butter was" Suddenly, Twilight let out a huge scream. "Twilight, what's wrong?"
"S-s-s-s-snake!" she cried. "I'm scared of snakes!"
"The princess of Friendship is scared of snakes?" Discord laughed. "This is priceless! Since when?"
"I got chased by them whilst I was trying to wake up hibernating animals, then I accidentally walked into a cave full of bats, then I got my head stuck in a beehive"
"Winter Wrap up?"
"Yes. And the worse thing about that was the skunk"
"A skunk?" Discord cracked up. "That's even better!"
"But what are we going to do about this snake?"
"I don't know, do something!"
Twilight used her magic to scare the snake away from the bush.
"That was close" Twilight exhaled.
The snake was heading in Rainbow Dash's general direction. It started crawling up her leg. Rainbow immediately freaked out.
"Ahh! There's a snake on me! Get it off! Get it off!" she cried.
"How did that get there?" Applebloom asked.
"Don't worry, I've got it!" the other Discord replied, getting a golf club and sending it to the other side of town. "You ok?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I just got a bit of a shock. I'm not as great with animals as Fluttershy"
"Why did you hit a hose?" Fluttershy asked. She was walking with Applejack.
"A hose?" Rainbow and Discord asked simultaneously.
"Nah, I'm pretty sure it was a stick" Applejack argued.
"A stick?" Rainbow and Discord asked again. Then they cracked up laughing.
"If it wasn't a hose or a stick, then what was it?" Fluttershy asked.
"It was a snake!" Discord and Rainbow jinxed as they kept on laughing.
"You hit a snake?!" Fluttershy sounded very distraught and fainted. Rainbow and Discord continued laughing on how funny the situation was.
"That was priceless!" Twilight giggled. "You just sent that snake to the other side of town!"
"Yep. Pretty much!" the current Discord replied.
Twilight just continued laughing. She began to change again. Her mane and tail reverted back to it's purple and pink color scheme.
"You've changed again! the color is slowly coming back to you" Discord replied. "I wonder how long until you've returned back to normal"
"Who cares? I actually get those jokes now! And I caused them!"
"Uh uh uh. We're not done yet. There's still one more joke that will turn you back to normal"
"What's that?"
"The incident with the oranges"
Author's Note
I know I know. In the actual episode, something different happens with the snake. That will be explained why that is in the next chapter. But this is what I was really leading up to. I wanted to find out why the jokes were so funny in the first place. So then I came up with the idea that Twilight actually created the jokes without knowing it. Pretty creative.
"Something doesn't quite add up" Discord mentioned.
The pair were back in the white space they started. Their voices echoed through the void.
"What might that be?" Twilight asked.
"I don't actually remember hitting the snake with a golf club, or the snake getting on Rainbow Dash's back"
"But you said earlier that you did"
"No, I was merely commenting on my handsome self"
Twilight sighed.
"OK, going back on topic. What do you think actually happened?"
"I told you. Pinkie Pie was also there and we just simply ran away from the snake"
"I do remember you telling me that" Twilight replied. "Then why was it different?"
"Maybe you caused it to be different"
"Are you sure? Because last time I did it went exactly the same as you remembered"
"I have no idea. Maybe something else is interfering with this recovery. Making the situation more funny that it actually was"
"What could that be?"
Discord froze.
"Could it be the elements of harmony are getting weaker?"
"What? I thought they were destroyed"
"No I mean your friends. Something is happening to your friends!"
"We can't leave now, Discord. I still have to find out why the last joke was so funny!"
"But Fluttershy! Her sickness could be getting worse! I have to go to her!"
Twilight grabbed his claw violently.
"We're not going anywhere until you show me the last joke!" she replied coldly. Discord sighed.
"Fine. We'll see the last joke. But if anything happens to your friends whilst we are away, it is your fault!"
Meanwhile, what Discord had said to Twilight was coming true. The mane 5 were getting worse. They were turning gray and their skin was beginning to crack like rusty sculptures. Their pain was getting worse and worse and becoming more and more of a reality.
"What is happening to them?" Princess Cadence asked.
"It seems like, they're almost turning into stone" Princess Celestia said.
"Turning into Stone?!" Spike questioned, terrified. "But why?"
"Because the elements of harmony were destroyed" Princess Luna replied.
"I'm still confused on what is happening to all of them" Cadence queried. "They seem to be suffering from different things"
"You're right" Luna replied back. She took a deep breath. "Maybe I can figure out what is actually killing them"
"You can do that?" Spike asked.
"I can go into pony's dreams. Since they are unconscious, maybe this also counts"
"Be careful Luna, it might be dangerous" Celestia mentioned, concerned of her sister's well-being.
"I'll be fine sister. You just look after the bearers. I'll be right back"
Princess Luna used her magic to try and go into their minds. First she entered Applejack's. She saw that Twilight had let her plummet to her death. The reason for her constant throwing up was because of the flowers she landed in that were poisonous. Luna couldn't do anything to save her, the dream began to get cracked.
Next, she moved onto Fluttershy's mind. She saw that Twilight had abandoned her in a cave where she was trapped with the manticore. She watched as the delicate yellow pegasus got stung, scraped and devoured by the beast. Her dream was also getting cracked.
She saw Twilight push Pinkie Pie into one of the trees with the scary faces and laughed at her. Pinkie was then swallowed by the tree as it scared her. It scared her so much, that she got a constant heart attack that killed her.
Rarity was dragged into the water by Steven Magnet as Twilight took her tail. Rarity was struggling for air but she was being drowned. Lastly, Rainbow Dash. Luna couldn't bare to watch as Rainbow got repeatedly stabbed in the stomach by the shadowbolts, like a bunch of mobsters. One last crack and the dream itself was turning into stone. Luna was grateful to get out alive.
"Oh thank Celestia you're ok!" Spike commented as Luna came back. "We thought you'd be a goner!"
"No, I'm quite alright Spike. But I have seen what they are imagining and it is quite unsettling"
"What is it?" Princess Cadence asked.
"They have bad alternate ends from when they became the elements of harmony, back when they first met and turned me back into Princess Luna. Applejack was killed by poisonous flowers after falling off a cliff, Fluttershy was killed by a manticore, Pinkie Pie got several heart attacks and starved after being trapped in a tree, Rarity drowned in the lake and Rainbow Dash was stabbed repeatedly. It was quite gruesome"
"Of course" Princess Celestia exclaimed. "because the elements of harmony have been destroyed, it must have reverted back to when they found them and killing them from that moment"
"But what was even more gruesome was that Twilight Sparkle would be the one to kill all of them in their dreams" Luna replied. "Twilight would lie to Applejack that the flowers are not poisonous, then drop her. She would lock Fluttershy in a cave. She would push Pinkie in one of the trees, steal Rarity's tail and abandon Rainbow Dash"
"So Twilight is the corrupted versions of all the elements of harmony?" Celestia asked. Luna nodded.
"And I was lucky to get out. It seemed as though that the dreams themselves were turning into stone"
"Well things have been acting strangely for them too" Spike replied. "They haven't been just turning into stone, but they have also been freezing into the shapes they could be dying in"
"They are turning into sculptures themselves?" Princess Cadence asked.
"Hopefully Discord should find a way to get Twilight back to normal" Luna replied "I'll let him know what's going on".
"So this takes place the day before I finish my 'book-sort-cation'?" Twilight asked Discord
"Yes, I believe this is the orange joke. The one with Rarity and Fluttershy" he replied "But it might be altered a bit because I golf clubbed a snake"
"True. I still wonder why it was different. It made me laugh, but it was different"
They had arrived at Sweet Apple Acres again. This time, Rarity was with Fluttershy helping out Applejack with something.
"Discord didn't have to hit that snake!" Fluttershy complained.
"Fluttershy, darling. It's in the past. Wasn't it attacking Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked.
"No. Snakes are more afraid of us than we are of them!"
"Oh, well look we're here" she saw Applejack and gave her a wave.
"Don't try anything funny this time" Discord warned Twilight "Let's just see where it goes without your interference"
"What did you need help with darling?" Rarity asked.
"All of these apples need to be collected for a sale we're doing. And I can't do it by myself. The deadline is tomorrow" Applejack replied.
"So why did you get me to help you? Wouldn't Twilight Sparkle have been a better choice?"
"I wouldn't get your hopes up, girls. She's still organizing books" the other discord mentioned, once again magically appearing in front of the mares.
"Ya really have to stop doin' that, Discord" Applejack objected.
"Oh, but it's so much fun! Especially the snake yesterday. It was priceless!"
He got a hurtful glare from Fluttershy.
"I still can't believe you would do something like that" Fluttershy commented.
"Fluttershy, it's just a snake. I can bring it back if you want. Luckily Dashie isn't here. It appears she has a fear of snakes" Discord replied.
"I'll get more buckets. You guys get started on the apples" Applejack said as she went into the barn.
"Well, we'd better get started on these trees then" Rarity commented.
Twilight observed the group hard at work. She was still bored out of her mind.
"What happened? You guys are just hard at work. Where's the joke?"
"This always happens, doesn't it" Discord complained. "Nothing happens until we interfere with it!"
An apple managed to drop out of a nearby tree and hit Twilight on the head. She picked it up and smirked at Discord.
"What are you planning to do?" he asked. Twilight used her magic to turn the apple into an orange. She had been getting way better at the spell. "You wouldn't". Twilight continued to smirk at him until he gave in. "You're the cause of the jokes. Go ahead, Twilight"
She rolled the orange to the other Discord and he noticed it. He started to giggle.
"Discord, what's so funny?" Fluttershy queried.
"I have the best prank ever!" he mentioned.
"Prank?" Rarity and Fluttershy synced.
"It turns out that we both love pranking; Dashie and I. And I just came up with the perfect prank!"
"Oh Discord" Fluttershy face palmed. "You're not going to do anything terrible to the apples are you?"
"I wouldn't even think of it, my dear Fluttershy!" Discord confessed. "Trust me, Applejack over there is going to love it!"
"Where did you get that orange?" Rarity asked.
"The bushes. I don't know how it got there, but that's the idea for my prank!"
He used his magic, clicked his fingers. Suddenly, the apples in the orchard turned into oranges. He cracked up laughing.
"Are you sure Applejack won't mind?" Rarity asked.
"If she does, I can just change them back, easy peasy!"
"OK, y'all. I've got the rest of the buckets if you want t-" Applejack just stared agape at the orchard. All of the apples were now oranges. She was almost speechless. Almost. "Discord!"
"Fine, I'll turn them back. But orange you glad I didn't turn them into pears?"
Fluttershy and Rarity burst out laughing. Applejack just rolled her eyes and convinced him to turn them back to apples. The four of them proceeded to work on the orchard as usual.
Twilight was fortunate enough to crack up laughing as well. The final part of her transformation began. Her cutie mark turned back to normal and so did her eyes. She was back to being good again. Though all of the bad magic was out of her system, she can still remember having it, just like Luna remembered being Nightmare Moon.
"Thank Goodness, Twilight you're back!" Discord squealed as he hugged Twilight.
"I can't believe I was foolish enough to let jealousy corrupt me" she replied. "But is that what really happened with the oranges, or was it different like last time?"
Discord thought about it.
"Yes actually" he replied. "How it really happened was that Rainbow Dash gave me the idea. She saw the orange that you sent. She thought it would be funny"
"But the rest of it, is that still the same?"
"How the actual joke became funny is still the same, just the presentation is sightly different"
Twilight looked sadly at Discord.
"I'm sorry" she said.
"What?"
"I apologize for my behavior, for putting my friend's lives in danger, for destroying the elements of harmony!"
"It's ok Twilight. All that matters is you know how the jokes were so funny"
"Yeah. The peanut butter hoof was funny because I knocked the table with an apple and the peanut butter landed on your feet. The snake was funny because I scared the snake off using my magic, and the orange pun was funny because I turned the apple into an orange. I'm just happy I get those jokes now" Twilight was crying tears of joy "How ridiculous it was when I thought you put my friends under a spell. I was acting so irrational. Can you ever forgive me?"
Discord just smiled at Twilight.
"Of course I do" he replied. "And it's also my fault that you went down that path. I thought it would've been funny if you didn't participate. But I never realized how life threatening that was for you. If only you were still a unicorn and this wouldn't happen"
"Just be sure to invite me next time you have a get-together"
"Yes, I shall"
"My friends" Twilight gasped. "How are they?"
"Oh crap! I almost forgot because you were still corrupted. We need to restore the elements of harmony before your friends turn to stone"
"What?! turned to stone?!"
"I didn't know either until Luna sent me a message. That's apparently how they're going to die"
"I'm satisfied now. Can we go back to the present? I think I might know how I can fix the elements"
"How?"
"The same way I restored the elements and defeated Nightmare Moon"
Author's Note
Here I explain the orange puns. A bit of it was mentioned in the episode but it was my job to extend it. I also found a way that the mane 6 would "find their fates". Being turned to stone seemed like a good idea to symbolize how the elements once looked like in the Season 1 premier.
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. 