Chapters Prologue
"Rainbow Dash! Get out of my boutique!" screamed the fashionista, her normally beautiful purple hair was frizzed and muddy. A rainbow blur burst out of the front door of Carousel Boutique. Rarity glared at the spot where the rainbow maned pony had been before turning around and trotting into the bathroom. The shower turned on with a hiss of running water and she got in, letting the warm water wash the dirt out of her mane and coat.
Rarity thought of the state Rainbow had been in when she'd crashed through the boutique window. Dirty, messy, and her mane had been a disaster! And then she gotten her filth all over Rarity! The fashion pony shivered at the thought of her mane being so disorderly. She simply could not stand that Rainbow Dash.
As the cyan pegasus raced away from Carousel Boutique, she thought of Rarity's face at the sight of the mud. She sighed. That pony couldn't get her hooves dirty. Rainbow glared at the sky ahead of her. Rarity was so impossibly girly. She couldn't take it! She couldn't stand that prissy Rarity.
"Applejack! Hey, Applejack!" Pinkie Pie called to the farm pony. Applejack looked up from a basket of apples. Pinkie bounced over to her, a grin spread wide over the pink pony's face. "You ready for my best party ever?"
"Aw, shoot, Pinkie. I can't be partying today. I got lots of apples to buck." Pinkie frowned sadly. Suddenly, the party pony had a suspicious look in her eyes. She leaned in close to Applejack and slowly raised an eyebrow.
"Okey dokey lokey...." Pinkie said slowly, walking away with her eyes still locked on Applejack's. Pinkie still remembered the last time Applejack had had an excuse for not coming to her party, and she was suspicious. Her birthday wasn't anytime soon. Why wouldn't Applejack want to come? Did she hate fun? Pinkie gasped. Maybe Applejack really did hate fun. She was always working. Maybe she works all the time because she hates fun. Pinkie bounced away from Sweet Apple Acres as fast as she could. She couldn't stand being around anypony that didn't like fun.
Applejack sighed. Pinkie threw parties everyday. It was tiring and she had work to do. She couldn't go to all Pinkie's parties. It could ruin the farm. The apple bucking would never get done. The thought made her sick, and the thought of a pony that didn't know the meaning of a day's work didn't make her feel to great either. She was glad that Pinkie had left. She couldn't spend another gosh darn minute with a pony who'd never had to work.
Twilight groaned at the sight before her. Animals running wildly around her library home. Fluttershy was trying to stop them, but they didn't pay her whispered words any mind. Twilight was getting tired of Fluttershy's quiet way of doing things. It often didn't work and Fluttershy would normally just give up, but the animals were in the library now, not out around her cottage like they usually would be.
"Stop!" Twilight yelled at the animals. They all ran and huddled in the corner. Fluttershy joined them. "Now then," Twilight began, "All you animals need to go home to the cottage. You can't stay here. I'm done watching you and Fluttershy is going to take you home, now." The animals hurried out the door,and Fluttershy followed.
"What a meanie," she whispered to herself, "Twilight doesn't care about the animals at all, does she?" The thought of Twilight being an animal hater made Fluttershy cringe. She had a friend that hated animals! She couldn't stand being near anyone who hated animals.
"Fluttershy is so unassertive," Twilight said to herself, "and she was willing to let her animals keep tearing up my books! How could she do that?" Twilight used her magic to clean up the mess. It took forever, since Spike wasn't around that day. Twilight wasn't sure where he was, but she wasn't thinking about that at the moment. She was thinking about how Fluttershy let her shyness handicap keep her from controlling the animals that Twilight had spent all morning watching for her. She must not care about her books at all! How could she be friends with a book hater? Sure, Rainbow didn't used to like books, but she never would let anything destroy them if she could stop it, would she? Twilight simply could not stand to be anywhere near someone who would let her books be destroyed.
"What's this?" Discord asked, laughing evilly. He could feel the energy holding him prison waxing and waning. It had happened before, but never to this extent. The energy he regained when the prison energy waned was invigorating, and, after a few calculations, he figured it would be just enough to put his plan into action.
Nopony heard the roar produced the embodiment of chaos as he used all the power her could muster to bring out the most chaotic thing anypony in Equestria had ever seen.
Discord had just enough energy to do it. Bringing life into the world was hard, but he could do it. Six ponies. That's what he needed. He had the perfect designs for them, and the perfect talents.
The first of his creations, a unicorn, had a straight orange mane with two streaks of light and dark green in it. She had a yellowish-orange coat that Discord liked quite a bit. Her eyes were a slightly darker shade of yellowish-orange. Her name, Discord decided, would be Backfire. He smiled to himself as he decided on her cutie mark. An explosion. Pure chaos. He chuckled to himself.
His second creation was another unicorn, with yellow styled hair, though it wouldn't stay that way long. Not if her personality had anything to do with it. Her jet black coat was Discords favorite part of her. Her eyes were orange. The name for this one would be simple. Muddy. Her cutie mark would make the unicorn she was modeled after scream in terror. Dirt. Her cutie mark would be dirt. Lovely dirt.
His next design would be a pegasus. Orange, he believed, would be the right color for the coat. Yellow-green would be correct eye color, if he was going to stay with his color scheme. Her hair would have to be the shades between black and white, it was only fitting without having to remember the colors, and if he did do that it would probably end up looking too similar. The cutie mark would have a sloth with grey fur. Her name would be Grey Sloth. Discord was enjoying his creation game.
The other pegasus design would be a lavender coated mare. Her hair would be green. Her eyes would have to be orange. Discord thought about her name, deciding that the name Soar Brash would have to do. Her cutie mark would be a cloud that often represented somepony running away in cartoons. Not his best design, but she'd do.
The first Earth pony design would be a straight haired Earth pony resembling that element of laughter pony when she gets upset. This design would be all bluish green. He would've done just green, but the blue just seemed to need to be there. The eyes though, they would be orange. What was they opposite of parties? Being lonely? Yes, that would have to do for now. The cutie mark would be...a silhouette? Sure, that would work. Finally, the name. Loner? Kinda dumb for a name, but it would be sufficient for the plan.
The last pony would be the second Earth Pony. Her hair needed to be in ponytails, and it needed to be purple. Her body would be blue. She would have freckles. Her eyes would be pink, because red would seem to sinister and she'd attract attention. Discord couldn't have his creations getting too much attention. Her cutie mark would be three Z's, and her name would be Laze.
It was well into the night when Discord created his mares. They were beautiful, at least to him, and they had something about them that just screamed chaos.
"Where are we?" Backfire asked. Discord laughed and his ponies jumped.
"Do not be afraid, my children. I am your creator. The rulers of this land had me imprisoned in stone, and I need you to help me escape." Discord reached deep down inside himself, finding his strongest chaotic qualities, and created element necklaces for his ponies, with a crown for Backfire. His creations looked confused. "These are your elements. You embody them. Laze," he addressed his latest design, "You are the element of lies. Loner, you are the element of tears. Soar Brash, your represent hatred. Grey Sloth, you represent treachery. Muddy, you represent selfishness. Backfire, you represent anti-magic."
"Anti-magic?" Backfire asked, in a voice exactly like Twilight Sparkle. Discord laughed again.
"Anti-magic is what you are. Your spells always backfire, and never work. Your magic Sometimes works in reverse of what you are trying to do, and your magic is chaotic." Discord stared at his ponies for a while before speaking again. "You must go to Ponyville. The elements of harmony live there, and you must use your elements to defeat them. Be careful though, my children. The ponies that control Harmony's elements are smart. They will know you are up to no good if you cause too much chaos. You need to infiltrate there group and attack from the inside."
"That sounds like a lot of work," Grey Sloth said, "I'd rather not. Can't you find someone else to do it?" Rainbow Dash's voice did not belong to a pony the likes of Grey.
"No, now go to Ponyville before I am forced to destroy you." Discord watched happily as the six chaotic mares ran away in terror. They were going to help him destroy harmony, whether they liked it or not.
"Twilight? Are you here?" Fluttershy called into the library. The purple unicorn came to the door. She looked upset. "Twilight, I'm really sorry that I couldn't control my animals yesterday. They didn't do too much damage, did they?"
Twilight began to smile. "Oh, that's okay Fluttershy. I know animals can be so hard to control sometimes." Twilight was glad that Fluttershy didn't seem to hate her books. She had even made sure they weren't badly damaged. Fluttershy couldn't be a book hater.
"Um, yes. Well, you know Twilight, you didn't have to watch the animals if you didn't want to." Twilight cocked her head to the side in confusion.
"But I wanted to help, Fluttershy," she insisted, "What made you think I didn't want to help with the animals?"
"Oh, um...nothing..."
"Okay, Fluttershy," Twilight said slowly, "I hope you didn't have any trouble getting the animals home."
"Oh, no. They were just perfect."
"That's good. Well, thanks for stopping by, Fluttershy." She smiled.
"No problem, Twilight. I'll see you later."
"Bye, Fluttershy." Twilight said, closing the door.
A very upset Pinke Pie was bouncing sadly through Ponyville. Applejack spotted her friend and quickly went to her, leaving her apple cart unattended. "Hey, Pinkie," she called as she ran over, "Sorry 'bout yesterday, Pinkie. I just had a lot of work to do, livin' on he farm and all." She kicked the ground with a hoof. Pinkie looked at her for a second before breaking into a huge grin.
"Oh, okay, Applejack. Don't worry, I postponed the party until today so you wouldn't miss it. You aren't busy are you?" Applejack smiled.
"Not today, Pinkie," she said, "I can't wait to go to your party."
"Oh good, you're not busy! You work all the time, and I can't believe that you almost always manage to make it to my parties. You do a lot of work. I bet that makes you tired, and then you can come to my party to relax."
"I do like to relax at your parties when I can," Applejack admitted, "Thanks for talkin' with me, Pinkie."
"You're welcome, Applejack. See you at the party!"
"Rarity?" a voice called up to the white unicorn, "Will you please come down here?" It was Rainbow. Rarity armed herself with a perfume bottle, in case Rainbow was muddy again, and slowly went down the stairs. She was surprised to find that Rainbow wasn't muddy. She even looked like she showered that morning. "Rarity, I want to apologize for crashing into the boutique yesterday and getting you all dirty. I know how important it is for you to look nice. I mean, I wouldn't want to buy a dress from somepony covered in mud."
"Um...Thank you Rainbow, for your consideration," Rarity said, slightly shocked, "I am sorry I screamed at you. I know you didn't mean to come crashing through the window. It was just an accident, was it not?" Rainbow nodded sheepishly. "I know how important it is for you to practice. The Wonderbolts don't just let anyone onto their team. You must need to practice all the time."
"Uh, yeah," Rainbow said, equally as shocked as Rarity. "What's with the perfume bottle?" Rarity hid the bottle behind herself with an embarrassed grin.
"Oh, nothing," she said, setting the bottle down. Rainbow cocked her head to the side, a grin playing on her face.
"Okay," she said, "Well, thanks for talking to me, Rarity."
"Oh, anytime dear," Rarity said as Rainbow let herself out of the boutique.
Backfire looked out over the vast expanse of trees as the train chugged slowly onward. She hated the train. The others didn't seem to be bothered by the forward motion, but it was making Backfire feel sick. She laid down on the train seat, closing her eyes and trying to sleep. She drifted into an uneasy slumber.
Muddy looked over at the now sleeping unicorn. She looked at the others chattering about pranks and other meaningless mayhem. She sighed, flopping down on the seat next to Backfire and closing her eyes. This was going to be a long train ride. What were they supposed to do about these Element of Harmony ponies? Who were they? She looked down at the blueish silver necklace around her neck and over at Backfire's crown. The explosive mare had refused to wear it, and they had all agreed that it would attract way too much attention.
"Muddy," Grey called, "When are we gonna get there?" The other four conscious ponies in the train car looked at each other for a second before all eyes turned on Muddy.
"Hey, I don't know!" she said defensively, "It was Backfire's job to know that, but she's sleeping."
Soar spoke up, her Fluttershy voice sounding very odd. "Why can't we just wake her up? She should be able to tell us when the trains going to get to this Ponyville place, and then she can go back to sleep."
"Soar, seriously. I doubt she'll be in the mood to tell us if you wake her up so abruptly," Muddy said, before smiling evilly, "but lets do it anyway." Discord's ponies advanced on the sleeping pony, but just as they were getting close to her, a yellow aura surrounded her and a powerful explosion knocked the other ponies away from her. They shook the soot and burnt bits of rubble out of there fur and glared at the now awake unicorn.
"You guys are really loud," she said plainly, "And we're here by the way." she trotted out of the car and into the station of Ponyville. The other five followed. Ponyville looked like a happy, peaceful place. Backfire grinned. This place would be hit hard by the chaos that was going to ensue, but not yet. Backfired leaned over to Muddy. "Take off the necklaces and put them in the satchel with my crown thingy." Muddy obliged, a little begrudgingly.
"Lets just find these ponies already," Grey moaned, "Then we can be done." A pink blur appeared out of nowhere, knocking the Elements of Chaos over like bowling pins. Loner glared at the pink pony that had knocked them down. Her mane was poofy and her face held the largest grin in existence.
"Ooooooooh! New ponies! New ponies! I'm going to have to throw a party! This is going to be sooooooo great!"
"Who are you?" Laze asked, trying to be polite despite the large amount of dislike the pink pony had already earned from her.
"I'm Pinkie Pie, and I'm going to be your very very very best friend! After all, I am one of the Elements of Friendship!" The six new arrivals froze at those words.
"The Elements of what now?" Laze asked, a slight drawl in her voice. Pinkie Pie laughed.
"Oh, you probably know them as the Elements of Harmony, but Applejack calls them the Elements of Friendship. She's one too, and she's one of my friends. Speaking of Applejack, you sound just like her. Are you part of the Apple family?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm one of the Apple family," Laze lied, "And we really need to get going there soon.
"Yes, we really need to get going, now," Loner said. Pinkie Pie looked at her.
"WHOA. You sound just like me. Isn't that cool. I think it's cool. Wouldn't you agree?" Pinkie asked. Loner took a step away from her.
"Okay, whatever you say Pinkie Pie." The six ponies dashed away. Pinkie hopped back to Sugar Cube Corner to prepare for the party.
Backfire and the others galloped into the library, slamming the door behind them. They gasped for breath. "I don't think she followed us," Backfire panted. A lavender unicorn peeked her head around the corner of the library, looking at the six ponies on the floor.
"Um, hello," she said, "I'm Twilight Sparkle. The library is a mess right now. I doubt you'll be able to find anything."
"We were just hiding from that pink pony," Muddy said, "She was very...excitable."
"I see. Yes, Pinkie Pie is like that. She's throwing you a party, I presume?" They all nodded. She gave a small smile. "You can stay here as long as you want, but please don't disturb Spike. He's categorizing books and then he'll be dusting."
"Okay," Backfire said, walking past Twilight. She stopped and turned around, slightly embarrassed. "Oh, and, uh, thank you?" The six ponies left Twilight and made themselves comfortable in the library. Spike looked at them for a moment before resuming his cleaning. Twilight trotted in.
"There going to be here for a bit, Spike. I'm going out to get groceries. I'll be back soon." Spike did a little salute and continued dusting the bookshelves. Twilight laughed as she left the library.
"So, Spike..." Backfire said, trotting up to him, "Is there a book about the Elements of Harmony in this library?" Spike turned to her.
"Yeah, it's over here," he said, walking over to another bookshelf. Backfire followed him. She leaned close to the shelf, searching for the title.
"These books are so dusty, I can't see their titles!" she commented, squinting at the titles as if it would help her see through the dust. Spike grabbed his feather duster.
"Sorry about that," he said, "Twilight hasn't used this part of the library since she and the other Elements of Harmony defeated Discord about a year ago." Backfire froze at the mention of her creator's name. Spike brushed the feather duster over the books, sending a huge cloud of dust into Backfire's face. She recoiled, holding her hooves over her face. "I'm so sorry!" Spike exclaimed as Backfire waved a hoof in front of her face.
"ah-Ah-..." Backfire breathed, rubbing her snout. She pressed a hoof against her nose, trying to hold back the inevitable. "Ah-AH-..." She buried he head in her hooves as she was unable to hold it in any longer. "Ah-AHTCHEW!!" A few sparks shot from her horn before a huge explosion blasted the rest of the ponies, and dragon, against the wall. Her horn smoked slightly and she sniffled. Spike looked at he from where he'd fallen on the ground.
"Whoa, I've never seen a unicorn do that before!" he exclaimed before he remembered his manners, "Uh, bless you..." He found the tissue box, covered in burn marks, and pulled one out. It looked okay, not burned or anything. He offered it to her, and she took it with her hoof.
"Sorry," Backfire said, not really caring that much. She blew her nose on the tissue and sniffled again. "I can't control my magic. It always explodes. That's why I'm named Backfire." Spike dusted himself off.
"Huh, Backfire, eh? I bet Twilight could help you with your magic problem." Backfire looked at him. Hadn't he said that Twilight was one of the Elements of Harmony? Discord had said to infiltrate their ranks. She groaned internally when she realized that that meant they had to make friends with them. She smiled at the little dragon. "Sure, I'd like that. Thanks." The others stared at her with mixtures of disgust and horror on their faces. A realization struck her. "Uh, Spike, can my friends and I talk alone for a minute?"
"Oh, sure," the little dragon said, quickly leaving the room. Backfire turned to the others.
"As much as I hate to admit it, we need to make friends with these harmony ponies so we can undermine them from the inside." She turned to Laze. "Remember that pink pony? She said you sounded like Applejack. I bet you look like her too, except for the colors. I think that Discord created us in the image of the opposite elements, but inverted the colors. I look like that Twilight pony, except for the colors, right?" They nodded. "I think you are like the pink pony, Loner, but I don't know why you look different. Anyway, this will make it easier to find the rest of the harmony ponies. We do have to make friends with them, though, or at least pretend we're friends with them."
"Okay," the others moaned. Making friends with the harmony ponies is the last thing any of them wanted to do. They talked amongst themselves for a good ten minutes before a slam of the front door made them fall silent.
"Spike, I'm back!" Twilight called. She stopped dead at the sight of the scorched and burned library. "What happened!?"
Backfire looked around the library, feeling sweat begin to form on her face. Twilight looked at the six ponies in the library, searching them for answers. "Twilight, I'm really sorry..." Backfire tried to explain, but Twilight would hear no excuses.
"Sorry? Sorry? You've destroyed the library and all you have to say is SORRY? Why would you destroy a library?" Twilight advanced on Backfire, her horn glowing. Backfire didn't try to defend herself. She didn't want to cause any more explosions. Spike burst through the doorway to another room. He had heard Twilight yelling at Backfire.
"Twilight, stop! It was an accident! She didn't mean to!" Spike jumped in between Twilight and Backfire. Backfire was surprised that the little dragon was trying to help her.
"What do you mean? How could this be an accident?" Twilight asked, glaring at Spike now.
"Well, you see..." Backfire started to say, "I kinda, well, I didn't mean to, but..." The chaotic unicorn didn't know exactly why she felt bad about the library, but she did.
"She sneezed, Twilight. It was involuntary." Spike was still between Twilight and Backfire as he said it. Twilight snorted.
"A sneeze? A sneeze destroyed my library? How would that even be possible, Spike?" Spike looked at Backfire for a second before grabbing the feather duster.
"Sorry," he mumbled, brushing it against Backfire's snout. Her breath hitched and she tried to stop herself, as she had last time, but, again, she failed to stop the inevitable. "Stand back everypony." Backfire sneezed and caused another huge explosion. Twilight, after having picked herself of up off the ground, gaped at the unicorn that was unable to control her magic. "Do you think you could help her, Twilight?"
"I don't know, Spike, but for right now, I need to fix up all the books. Good thing I know them all by heart so I can preform the spells properly." Twilight began to cast spells on the books, and they seemed to fix themselves. Backfire was amazed at Twilight Sparkle's magical abilities. She wished she could do more than just make stuff explode.
"Um, we'll just be going now..." Backfire said, backing towards the door. The others followed suit until they were outside. The others circled Backfire once they were out of the library. "Uh, girls? What are you doing?"
"What is wrong with you?" Laze asked, "Why were you being so nice with that unicorn? Why did you say that you would be okay if she helped you with your magic? That's your special talent! Discord gave it to you!"
"Discord told us to infiltrate their group. I'm trying to trick her into being my friend. I don't actually like her, although I must admit, she is a very powerful unicorn. I wouldn't want to get into a fight with her."
"But we're going to have to eventually." The voice came from Soar Brash. Everyone turned to her. "It's true, you know. I think that each of us should go find our opposite element, and get to know them."
"But what if they don't like us?" Loner asked, "We weren't made to be friendly."
"Fake it," Soar said, "You don't have to act like yourselves."
"But if we have to spend time with our opposites..." Backfire shivered as she spoke, "Does that mean I have to spend more time with Twilight?" The others nodded. "But I don't want to go back in there and see the horrible things I did to her library. Not that it really bothers me, but it might bother her."
"Well, just get her to come out here."
"How?" Backfire regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. Soar whispered something to Muddy and the black unicorn walked up to Backfire, her horn beginning to glow. She touched Backfire's horn with her own, causing the magic to jump to Backfire. The spell that Muddy had been casting, the most powerful one she could do, was building in Backfire's horn. The other ponies ran for it, partly to get away from the blast, and partly to find their counterparts as soon as possible.
Backfire's horn discharged the magical energy in a great explosion. Ponies screamed from their houses, and Twilight Sparkle came out of the library, eyes wide. "What happened? Did you sneeze again?" Backfire could feel a blush creeping into her cheeks.
"Uh, y-yeah. Sorry," she lied, looking down at the charred earth below her. She felt a tug at her mane as Twilight began to drag her with her magic.
"We need to start practicing," she said, "before you hurt somepony. Probably yourself." she dragged Backfire all the way to a large clearing with a tree at its center right outside a large forest.
"Do I have to practice in there?" Backfire asked. Twilight turned to her.
"What? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. That's the Everfree Forest. Don't go it there, Backfire. Not unless you're visiting Zecora, that is."
"Who?"
"Oh, I can take you to meet her later." Twilight cast a force field spell around the two unicorns. Backfire looked around in awe.
"Wow, Twilight. You're amazing," she said politely, though she was secretly terrified of the force field and the other unicorn. Twilight blushed.
"Well, it is my special talent." She circled Backfire, taking in the unicorn's features. She looked to have all the features that would indicate a very powerful unicorn, the exact same features that Twilight had even, but she couldn't control her magic. Why? "I want you to focus on this tree. Can you surround it with your magical aura?" Backfire tried to, and the tree did glow with her aura for a second. A second that ended the moment the tree exploded. The two unicorns were thrown into the force field. It bounced them back to where they were standing. Twilight stared at the smoking and charred wood in front of her. This unicorn had a lot of magical ability, maybe even as much as Twilight herself, but she could not control what it did.
"I'm sorry, Twilight," Backfire apologized, "I just don't think you can help me. You see, my special talent is explosions. Even if you could help me, what would I do? My special talent would mean nothing." Twilight trotted up the Backfire and examined the mark on her flank. She stared at it for a long moment before turning to the tree again.
"Do you want to be like this forever? Unable to use any sort of magic properly? I would die if I couldn't use my magic." Backfire rolled her eyes.
"Might I point out that you special talent is magic, and therefor it would be very understandable that you would be horrified at losing your special ability?" Backfire walked to the edge of the force field. "Now if you don't mind, I'll be leaving now." Twilight lowered the force field. Backfire left, galloping away from the other unicorn as fast as possible. She ran into a dark alleyway, hoping to hide there. A movement behind her made her jump, and she turned to see the rest of the Elements of Chaos sitting behind her.
"Sorry, Backfire. We didn't last long. Those ponies are just so...friendly," Muddy said, magicking up a brick wall between them and the street. In a flash of her horn, Muddy had created some blankets and pillows for them to sleep on. "This brick wall isn't real. You can leave whenever you want and come in whenever you want. Just remember where it is." Muddy laid down on one of the blankets and closed her eyes. The others followed suit. They had had a busy day, and none of them wanted to stay up any longer, despite the fact that the sun was still up.
Twilight had tried to follow her, but she had seemed to disappear. The purple unicorn sighed. They'd only tried once. How was she supposed to teach that mare if she didn't want to be taught? She shivered as a cool autumn breeze whistled through the streets. Why wouldn't a pony want to be taught how to properly control their magic? Twilight had no answer to that question. She had to find Backfire before she exploded something else, but where was she? Where were she and her friends staying?
Twilight searched high and low for Backfire and her friends, but couldn't find them. She wondered if they lived in the Everfree, but she figured that wouldn't be plausible. No pony lived in the Everfree, except Zecora, but she's a zebra, not a pony.
The sky soon grew dark as Luna's night approached, and Twilight had started home at a slow trot. The wind howled as it blew through the streets. It nearly toppled Twilight over. She finished her trip home at a faster gallop, running in through the front door as fast as her legs could carry her. Spike came running down the stairs, looking relieved. "Twilight! Where were you? I've been waiting for hours!" He ran over and threw a blanket over Twilight. "It's freezing out there! You'll be lucky if you don't catch a cold or something!" Twilight pushed the baby dragon away from her with her magic and threw the blanket off of herself.
"Spike! I'm fine. I was just looking for someone," she insisted. Spike picked the blanket off of the ground.
"Who?"
"What?"
"Who were you looking for?"
"Oh, I was looking for those new ponies. I have no idea where they're staying." Spike took a look out the window.
"Well, I hope it's somewhere warm. I'd hate for Backfire to get sick." Twilight gave the purple dragon a quizzical and slightly amused look. Spike blushed a bit before adding, "You know, because of her...magic problem..." Twilight laughed.
"I'm sure she would have a way of stopping it if she had a cold or something, Spike. I mean, it's not like she's never been sick before, right?"
"Yeah," Spike said, uneasily, "That'd be...ridiculous..." He looked at Twilight, and she stared back. She was no longer laughing. She wasn't smiling in the slightest. "I...hope..."
Backfire woke up in the middle of the night. Cold winds blew into their secret hiding place, and her blanket had gotten blow right off of her. She stood, shivering, and tried to locate it, but failed. Where could it have gone? She paused at the entrance to their 'home' for a moment before stepping out into the gale-like winds that were signaling how close to winter it was. She needed to find someplace warm.
After a long while of struggling against the winds, Backfire stopped by a building and huddled by the wall to shield herself from the winds. She shivered and sniffled a little as she looked around. It was almost too dark to see, but she made out the shape of the library. She galloped towards it, desperate for a warm place to sleep. She got inside, quickly pulling the door shut behind her, and collapsed on the floor. She panted, unable to breathe through her snout. She sniffled. Why did her nose feel so clogged?
Backfire trotted into the main room and curled up on the floor, quickly falling asleep. A certain baby dragon had heard the door slam and was groggily coming down the stairs when the sight of the unicorn stopped him dead. What was she doing here? He heard a quiet sniffle come from her and feared for the worst. Twilight would kill her if she accidentally destroyed the books again, but he couldn't kick her out. Twilight would never make him kick out Backfire, would she? Especially not if she was as sick as she looked. Her cheeks and snout were a bright pink.
Spike grabbed a blanket and laid it gently on the yellow unicorn. He looked around the room to see if anyone was watching before planting a soft kiss on her forehead. She stirred slightly and the little dragon ran off back up the stairs. He snuggled back into his bed, a small giggle escaping from him. Twilight turned over on the bed, but didn't make any move to suggest that she'd heard or seen anything. Spike closed his eyes and fell asleep.
When Muddy awoke and saw that Backfire was missing, she panicked. In a rush, she woke the others by pulling the blankets off of them. They groaned and picked themselves up off the cold ground.
"What was that for, Muddy?" Laze asked, yawning, "Give us our blankets back. It's freezing." As if to prove her point, a gust of wind howled through the alley.
"Backfire's gone!" Muddy exclaimed, "She didn't tell any of you where she went, did she?" They all shook their heads. "Well, where is she? What if those harmony ponies got her? We gotta find her before our cover is blown and we have this whole town after us!" The black unicorn put on her saddle bag. "Come on!" They rushed out into the streets. Luckily, no pony was outside at the time, or the whole thing would've looked pretty odd.
"Split up," Soar Brash commanded, "We gotta find her fast!" The five ponies all went separate ways.
"Spike! Get up!" Twilight shouted, pulling the dragon out of bed with her magic. He gasped and stood up.
"What? What's wrong?" he asked with a yawn. He remembered the events of the night before. "Oh, have you been downstairs?"
"Huh? No. Why?" Twilight asked, walking towards the stairs. Spike ran in front of her, racing down the stairs before she could protest. She followed quickly, wondering what had gotten into her baby dragon. "Spike? What is it?" She stopped at the sight of Backfire, who was still sleeping, and gave Spike a quizzical look. He nudged the unicorn gently, trying to rouse her.
"Backfire. Backfire, wake up." The yellow unicorn's eyelashes fluttered and her eyes opened slowly.
"Spike? Where am I?" She asked in a slightly congested voice. Spike put his hand on the unicorn's forehead.
"Backfire, are you feeling alright? You don't look too good." It was true. She looked positively ill. Her cheeks had a red tint to them, and her nose had the same hue. She sniffled softly.
"I'mb fide." Twilight scoffed as she head this. The powerful unicorn floated a bottle towards Backfire. She yellow mare watched it drop to the ground. "What's this stduff?" she asked blankly. Twilight sighed.
"It's called medicine. You sound as if you've never been ill before." Twilight cocked an eyebrow as the same blank stare came from Backfire. She lifted both eyebrows in shock. "Wait, you've really never been sick?"
"We'll, I felt a bit odd on the traid ride to Ponyville, but other thad that, no. I guess I haven't." Twilight and Spike shared a look of horror. "What?"
"Backfire. How have you gone your entire life without getting sick? Wait, that's not even our main problem, is it? What if you start sneezing? My whole library will go up in flames! If the explosions even have flames, that is. I'll need to do my restoration spells all over again!" Backfire mumbled something and covered her head with the blanket. "Oh, sorry..."
"Twilight, couldn't you cast a spell on the books and walls and stuff to keep them safe?" Spike asked, "We really can't let Backfire leave, can we? I mean, she's sick and doesn't have any idea how to deal with it."
"I suppose your right, Spike. I think I do have a spell that could work. Just a moment." A purple aura enveloped the room for a second, before disappearing. Twilight smiled. "That should do it...I think...oh, wait, I know!" The walls glowed with the purple aura again, and then it faded, just like the time before. "There, now your sneezing won't scare anypony. I've put a silencing charm on the walls."
It seemed that Twilight had put the enchantment in place not a moment too soon, because a rather loud sneeze and a louder explosion came from the place where Backfire had been sitting. When the dust had cleared, everyone looked and the walls, and, to Twilight's delight, the books were perfectly fine. They breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Twilight turned to Backfire. "You should take that medicine. I need to head over to Fluttershy's to help her with the animals, but I'll be back. Spike can keep you company. I know he'll enjoy spending time with you." And with that, she left the library. Backfire sneezed again.
"Bless you, Backfire," Spike said. He picked up the medicine bottle off of the ground. "Come on, you need water for this." He helped her up and they walked to the bathroom, where, after a long talk about using medicine, Spike finally got Backfire to take it. She didn't know how anything that tasted so horrible could be helpful in any way, and what's more, she still couldn't breathe through her nose, and her throat still hurt, and not to mention that constant itchy feeling in her snout. This was going to be a long day.
"There you are!" Grey exclaimed as the other four ponies came into sight. "I couldn't find her, but I think we need to find someplace a little warmer to stay. I heard somepony tell me I'd 'catch my death of cold' if I stayed out here to long, whatever that means. I think it might already be happening to me." She sniffled. "Don't any of you guys have a...'runny snout' I believe it's called."
"Yes, Grey. We all do. It's just from being outside. That farmpony, Applejack, says it'll go away once we get inside someplace warm. We need a place to stay." Laze said, shivering from the cool winds.
"We'll, I'm sure those Apples have a place we can stay," Loner said, her teeth chattering, "We were hoping to find Backfire, but I really think we need to get someplace warm." They all agreed and set off at a fast gallop for Sweet Apple Acres.
"So y'all don't have any place to stay?" Applejack inquired. They nodded. "Well, why didn't ya come here earlier? We have plenty of room here at Sweet Apple Acres." She gave the group a wide smile. "Now come on in before y'all catch..."
"Ah-choo!" Loner sneezed rather loudly, her hair poofing out for a second before falling flat again.
"...a cold," Applejack finished with a frown, "Y'all best come out of those cold winds quick." They did as instructed, filing one by one into the house. They stood in the kitchen, shivering and sniffling for a minute before Loner sneezed again. Applejack looked concerned. "Come on, Miss...uh..."
"Loner."
"Loner. Alright, come on Miss Loner. I'd rather we got you warmed up nice and quick so I don't have a sick pony to take care of." She turned to the others. "Y'all can have the rooms on the third floor if'n ya wish. I'll be up in a little bit to tell ya how Miss Loner's doin'." The four other ponies embodying the Elements of Chaos started the walk up the stairs.
"Poor Loner," Muddy said, "I can't imagine how ghastly that sneezing thing must be. It sounds awful." The others nodded.
"At least the Applejack pony seemed nice," Laze said. The others gasped. "What? She is."
"Thing of what she could do to get information out of Loner! Think of the lies she could feed her!" Soar Brash exclaimed. Laze snorted.
"Actually, I'm the one that would tell lies, being the Element of Lies after all, and Applejack is the Element of Honesty." They reached the third floor and found six rooms, which reminded them of their missing pony. They each picked a room and went inside.
Laze hopped up onto the bed. "I wasn't lying that time," she whispered, "She is nice. I wish I was nice like her." Suddenly, an itchy feeling came to her snout and she barely had time to stuff her head in the blankets before she sneezed. She sniffled and looked over at the bedside table. There was a box of tissues on it. She grabbed one out and blew her nose just as Applejack came in.
"I'm sorry. I think your friend has a...aw, shucks, Sugarcube. Don't tell me you're sick too." Applejack approached her slowly.
"What? No, I'm not sick. It's just dusty in here." Even Laze's most perfect lie could be seen through by Applejack, though it took her a moment longer than usual.
"Now, don't you lie to me, Sugarcube. I can tell when your lying." She was right in front of Laze now, looking at her with the same concern she had for Loner. Laze cringed slightly under her gaze before another sneeze forced its way out of her. Applejack cocked an eyebrow. "Come with me, missy, and no more lies, okay?" Laze nodded and followed Applejack down the stairs. "What's yer name, Sugarcube?"
"Laze," she answered. It was odd for them to have a conversation together when their voices were exactly the same.
"Laze, huh? You ponies sure seem to have very different names from the folks 'round here. Where're y'all from, anyway?"
"Canterlot."
"Oh, I see."
"We, uh...ah... Ah-CHOO!" Laze sneezed loudly. A soft moan escaped her. This 'sick' thing was no fun at all. She hoped it would be over soon, and she wondered briefly if the others were feeling sick too.
"Bless you, Miss Laze," Applejack said as they came to a room where Loner was lying in front of a fireplace. Applejack beckoned for Laze to join the rather glum pony on the floor.
"You too?" Loner asked. Laze nodded, laying down in front of the warm fire. She snuggled in for a long day as several odd noises from upstairs caught her attention.
"Uh, oh. That doesn't sound good," Applejack said, heading back up the stairs, "Looks like Sweet Apple Acres is going to be a sick bay fer a while. Y'all get comfy. I expect your friends will be joining ya."
"Ah-chew! Ah-ah-chew!" Backfire had been sneezing all morning. Spike had tried everything he knew to keep her comfortable, but it didn't seem to be doing much good. She just couldn't stop sneezing, and the explosions were a bit difficult to work around. The door opened and closed, revealing that Twilight was back, and she had brought Fluttershy with her. "Ah-chheew!" The resulting explosion was smaller than normal, but still sent everyone else in the room back against the wall.
"Oh, dear," Fluttershy gasped, "You don't sound at all well, and those explosions can't be very helpful to anyone trying to help you."
"Backfire, this is Fluttershy. She's really good at caring for animals and such, so I though maybe she could help you." Twilight cast a spell on herself, Spike, and Fluttershy. "This spell should keep the explosions from bothering us too much." She approached Backfire, levitating a box of tissues. "You're going to need these."
"I can make something to help you feel better, but it will take a while to make. Twilight, is there a kitchen here?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yes, it's through there," Twilight pointed to a doorway, "Thanks for your help." Fluttershy disappeared through it.
"Did you see any of my...friends while you were out?" It felt odd to call them that, but Backfire figured it would be a good thing to do for now. To call them anything else could rouse suspicion. "I'm a little worried about them. What if they're sick too?" She sneezed, delaying Twilight's answer.
"I'm sure they're fine..." Twilight started, "Hmm...I wonder. Do you know if any of them have been sick before either?"
"I'm sure that they haven't," Backfire said, "Why?" Twilight turned to her, looking slightly concerned and an uneasy feeling settled in Backfire's gut. "What is it, Twilight?"
Twilight started pacing as she spoke. "Well, from what I can tell, your body has little to no resistance against this cold virus. If what you say is true, and your friends are as susceptible as you are to the virus, then there is a good chance that they will fall ill as well. I know that the Cake twins have had colds recently. Have you been around them or the Cakes? They live in Sugar Cube corner."
"We weren't around any of them. The only pony besides you that we've come across is the Pinkie Pie pony." Twilight stopped pacing.
"Pinkie Pie is a Cake too, kinda. She lives with them. She probably was carrying the virus from the twins. The cold weather we've been having recently is probably what set off your symptoms." Backfire sneezed again. "Bless you." Twilight magicked the tissue box back over to Backfire. "Here."
"I'm sorry to be such a bother, Twilight, but do you think you could go ask if anyone's seen them? I'm worried that they won't take care of themselves if they're sick." Backfire really was worried, but more about having the Elements of Chaos all in healthy condition for when they had to fight the Elements of Harmony. Something else in her gut made her feel more worried for them, but she wasn't sure exactly what it was.
"I understand, Backfire. I'll go ask Applejack. She knows a lot about what goes on around here, despite the fact that she lives on the edge of town." Twilight looked around the room. "Spike?" The baby dragon was there in an instant. "Stay here with Backfire and help Fluttershy if she needs it. Okay?"
The dragon gave a little salute. "Yes, ma'am!" Twilight giggled at his antics, but stopped when she saw the look he was giving Backfire. Suddenly, she understood that her baby dragon liked Backfire! It seemed that he even liked her more than Rarity.
"I'll be back soon," Twilight said, walking out into the winds, which were absolutely freezing. "Brrr! Backfire and her friends won't be the only sick ponies soon. I think winter is coming early," she muttered to herself as she started off to Applejack's.
Sorry about all the sick ponies. I have a cold right now and I can't think of anything else. Hopefully this will end sometime in the next chapter or two. Sorry, again.
Twilight knew something was up with the Apple family the very minute the farm came into view. She didn't see or hear Applejack doing her usual apple bucking, and be trees were laden with ripe, red apples. Empty baskets lay everywhere, scattered by the wind. Twilight used her magic to pick the fruit for over two dozen of the trees and levitated the buckets over towards the barn where Applejack always put them.
"Where are they? These apples can't pick themselves." Twilight came close to the door of the Apple family's house and hesitated. What if Applejack was sick and Twilight was bothering her? No, if Applejack was sick, surely Big Macintosh would be out bucking the apples. Twilight knocked on the door.
"Come on in," Applejack's voice emanated from the other side of the door. Twilight opened the wooden doors, their hinges creaking slightly. The unicorn was met by an empty kitchen. "We're in the livin' room." She walked into the stated room and found herself face to face with Backfire's fear. All five of the other ponies had bright red cheeks and noses, and the tissues scattered on the floor told her that it hadn't been pleasant for them.
"Oh, you're all here. Backfire asked me to come looking for you because she's sick too and really shouldn't leave the library." The five ponies on the floor perked up at the sound of their "friend's" name.
"She's okay? We were going to look for her, but..." Laze looked around at the odd faces the others were giving her, and Soar Brash was glaring like she was doing something terribly wrong. She fell silent.
"They've all got terrible colds, Twi. I wouldn't come much closer or y'all might get it too," Applejack said. Twilight looked over at her friend. She was wearing a doctor mask.
"I think I'm safe, Applejack. I just spent some of this morning with Backfire, and she's got it too. Futtershy's making something to help her. I can bring some over here when it's ready. I'm gonna go tell Backfire that you're here and being taken care of." Twilight turned around to head for the door.
"Twilight Sparkle, don't you go out there just yet. You've gotta be chilled to the bone. The weather's been unnaturally cold recently. If you go out there now, y'all will freeze."
"I'll just teleport, Applejack."
"Well, fine, but be careful, Twi. That's a mighty long way to go."
"I know. I'll be fine." The unicorn disappeared in a flash, appearing in the library. She was slightly dizzy and disoriented from going such a long way, but managed to stay on her feet. Backfire jumped when she appeared and was staring at her in amazement.
"Twilight? Did you find them?" The purple unicorn looked over at her guest. She looked fine. Her cheeks had lost the pink tint, and she only sniffled once or twice.
"Yes, I did. You seem to be doing much better now." Twilight analyzed the other unicorn's condition. She seemed relatively healthy and a lot more energetic than she had been.
"Yes, I am doing much better. Fluttershy finished her concoction and gave me some. She's such a nice pony. There's a lot of extra though." Twilight smiled slightly.
"Well, that's good. Your friends are in need of something like that." Backfire frowned. "Don't worry. They'll be better in no time now that we've got that potion."
"Okay, Twilight. Thank you," Backfire said. She galloped over into the kitchen, where the potion was, and grabbed it, trotting back over to Twilight. The lavender unicorn picked up the potion and teleported away, leaving Backfire alone. "What is this?" she asked herself aloud, "What is this feeling? Why do I feel this way?" Footsteps behind her made her jump. Spike was coming down the stairs. "Hi, Spike."
"What? Oh, hi," he murmured. Backfire noticed a slight blush in the dragon's face. No way. He couldn't.
"Spike, do...do you like me?" Backfire asked abruptly. Spike blushed deeper.
"Uh, yeah... We're friends, right?" Spike asked. He looked over at the slightly annoyed look Backfire was giving him. "That's not what you meant, is it?" She shook her head slowly. "Oh, well... Yes, I do, actually. I do like you." He stood slightly awkwardly in front of her, the blush creeping across the rest of his face.
"Well," Backfire started. he wasn't sure how she felt about this dragon. He was nice, and she liked him, but she knew Discord would not approve. However... "I...I like you too, Spike." The baby dragon was astounded.
"Really?" he asked. She nodded. If nothing else, she could tell Discord it was a ploy. She did have feelings for the dragon. They were confusing and hard for her to decipher. How did anypony stand this? She had to change the subject.
"Spike, do you know if Twilight has any dresses that might fit me? I'm really bored,and I know she won't mind."
"Uh, yeah. They're upstairs. I'll show you." Backfire followed the baby dragon upstairs and he pulled a dress out of the closet. It was very colorful. "Twilight never wears this one. It's too bright for her taste." Backfire inspected the garment before slipping it on. Spike stared. "Wow, do you mind if I take a picture?"
"Um, you can go ahead if you want." Spike grabbed a camera off of the dresser and started taking pictures.
"Here, I'm going to take a negative picture. I like doing that. They always look so funny." There was the final snap of the camera and the last picture came out. Spike took it in his hand and stared at it expectantly, waiting for the funny colored picture to develop. When it did, he did a double take. "Whoa!"
"What is it, Spike?"
"You look like Twilight! You have the exact opposite colors as Twilight! Backfire, do you know what that means!"
"Know what what means?" Backfire and Spike turned to see Twilight at the top ofthe stairs, staring at them.
"She's your opposite, Twilight!" Backfire saw the other unicorn gasp and stare at her.
"What does that mean? What does he mean, I'm your opposite?"
"A opposite pony of your same species, earth pony, unicorn, pegasus, or alicorn, is very rare, and sometimes can mean that the two ponies share a special bond. Not everypony has an opposite, but those who do are said to be very lucky. They can be bonded forever with their opposite through friendship. This is a very special day for you and me both. You and I will be SABFF's!" Backfire gave her an odd look. "It means Super Awesome Best Friends Forever!" Backfire stared at Twilight, who was giggling like a school filly.
"The others are opposites too. Opposites of your friends, Twilight." Twilight started off on some theory as Backfire stared at the ground. "Exactly opposite," she murmured to herself.
Ooo! Yay, more of my crap. Have fun any of you people out there that actually read what I write.