The last day of my ‘normal’ life started like any other. My alarm clock had gone off, making me groan and try to hit the snooze button without looking, which failed miserably. The annoying beeps only grew louder, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to fall back asleep past that point, no matter how hard I tried. I opened my eyes angrily, unplugging that damned thing instead, finally ceasing the unforgivable sound. My sleep having been rightfully avenged, I left the bedroom, making my way to the kitchen.

Flipping on a light switch, I turned towards the cupboards, coming face to face with another human, which had surprised me, making me flinch. He was sitting on the counter, his gaze expressionless, sharpening a rather large butcher’s knife. He grinned devilishly as I took notice of him, pointing his knife at me, and drawing a finger across his throat menacingly. Shaking my head and clenching my fists, I took a deep breath and ignored him, trying to relax while I reached for my medication.

This was Greg. One of my many hallucinations, albeit one of the easier ones to deal with as he was so off-putting and out of the ordinary, compared to the creeping shadows at the edges of my vision, the random noises from my closet at night, or even the bird-like shadows that sat on the branches outside of my window, that grew fangs and had glowing red eyes that haunted most of my mornings when I was too tired to reason with myself.

See, I was diagnosed with schizophrenia much later than most people I knew of, having found out at the ripe age of 20. Growing up, I never had any symptoms, nor even a history of mental problems with anyone in my family, but three quarters into my basic training for the army, it hit me hard, and without warning.

After high school, I didn’t have any real aspirations for my future, so I decided to say 'what the hell' and join the military, since I didn’t enjoy my somewhat brief college experience. During basic, my training wasn't necessarily intense, like I had seen in so many movies, but despite that, one morning right before a ruck march, my symptoms came out of nowhere. The instructors found me nearly choking myself to death, while I screamed and lashed out at nothing.

That morning, I woke to hear screaming, saw flashes of lights and shadows, battles of greek gods and men running around in armored robes, fields of injured animals, talking multicolored horses, dragons, and after all of the flashes had seemingly ended, a black mist with green eyes swarmed my vision, and I felt like something was forcing itself into my body, suffocating me as it entered my nose, mouth, eyes, making me go ballistic in fear. They had told me that the experience hadn't lasted long as they had to eventually knock me out before I did serious damage to myself. Yet, to this day, even though I knew what I had experienced wasn't real, and just all in my head, I swear I heard a masculine voice whisper “You’re mine!” before the world went black.

After calming me down, I met with a psychiatrist where I told them everything, still shaken from what had happened, and through various tests, where I was still seeing things that weren't there, they diagnosed me with schizophrenia, and sadly told me that I was unfit to serve.

Three months later, here I was, living with my dad, who I barely ever saw. I had to wonder some nights on whether or not he was real too, as I never actually heard him come home at night, nor...could I remember how to describe him.

After slamming my meds down, scattering dark thoughts about a missing father, I glared at Greg the butcher, reminding myself that he wasn’t real, until he faded away, and I felt a slight buzz, likely the effects of the drugs finally kicking in. That done, I grabbed an apple from the fridge and lounged on the couch, turning the T.V. on, the local news being the first channel I came across.

“…and while the handlers are still searching, the pup from the Wolf sanctuary has still not been found, likely still roaming the nearby area. This wolf is considered friendly, but we’d like to remind our viewers that-“

I rolled my eyes, changing the channel to the HDMI, so I could play the rest of my day away on my Xbox. Who watches the news these days anyway?

--

A few hours later and a phone call from my dad telling me to stop being a couch potato, I found myself walking through the woods behind my house, the snow crunching underneath my feet with every step, and I occupied the silence with the whistling of any song that came to mind. It had been a while since I had taken any of these trailheads near the mountain, and since I was feeling adventurous, I decided to abandon the trail I started on completely, making new tracks in the untouched snow, knowing that I could always just use my phone to find my way back.

Too late, I realized that this decision was a terrible idea, because after about an hour of wandering around, I checked my phone, and realized it was dead. I had one of those shitty phones that lost a charge the colder it got so it had likely died at some point during my walk, with me none the wiser. I growled at it, trying to force it awake by holding down the power button, as if I could revive it through sheer will, not looking where I was going. I proceeded to trip over something, which in turn, launched my phone into the snow. I tried to catch myself from smacking face first into the ground, and while I succeeded in doing so, before I could completely pick myself up, I heard a low growl from where I had tripped. Instinctively I froze, hearing my heartbeat pounding in my ears as I looked back, expecting the worst.

While it wasn't some demon conjured up by my overactive imagination, I did find that I was looking back into the eyes of a predator, a grey wolf. An animal that, while small, still had one of the most devastating jaw strengths in the animal kingdom, able to rip my throat out, break a bone, or tear apart my skin like we did with chicken legs from KFC bowls.

“I’m so fucked.” I whispered to myself, slowly getting up as the wolf began to circle me. Though as I stood and began to tower over it, the wolf gave me more of a curious look than anything, head slightly cocked to the side, and kept a safe distance from me, waiting for something. The memory from the news that morning hit me like a slap to the face and I realized it probably wouldn't just attack me, even if I had just stepped on him.

Not trusting my judgement completely however, I took a chance to look around while the small predator was giving me space. Looking around, through a break in the trees, I saw that I was close to what looked like a small pond, iced over of course, and a small cabin just on the other side. The wolf growled again, making me flinch and look back at it, the animal now closer to me, its nose in the air as if it smelled something...on me. Wondering what it could want, I searched my pockets and realized that I had some jerky in my jacket. I had totally forgotten about it, and no doubt, the wolf could smell the spices and cooked meat from miles away.

Grinning, I took a piece out from the bag, and the wolf sat instinctively, as if it had been trained with treats before. Its amber eyes locked onto the treat as I waved it back and forth, slowly getting closer. When I was only a few feet away, I realized that this wolf didn’t even come up to my waist, so I figured it was too young to do any real damage to me, compared to the full grown wolves that I had learned about.

“That’s a good wolf, now I’m just going to give you this little pi-ARRAAGH!” The wolf sprang forward, ignoring the treat, and biting my wrist with the meat, making me drop it on the ground as I tried desperately to pry the wolf’s fangs off. The wolf growled louder and shook a few times, his teeth going deeper into my skin, and with a pained cry, I felt the tendons there snap and the bone under it splinter. The wolf shook harder and harder, until I punched its muzzle with my other hand. The wolf let go, rearing back to growl at me, teeth bloodied, with its fur bristling in rage.

Hot tears of pain running down my face, I cursed myself, and not really knowing what else to do, I held my wrist close to my chest, and ran with everything I had towards the pond. I looked back as I ran, and the wolf seemed preoccupied with tearing into the jerky bag with a savage hunger, determined to leave nothing behind, but its eyes never left me. I faced forward again, and leaped out past the break in the treeline, sliding onto the frozen pond. I slipped on my second step, and tried to catch myself, but howled in pain as I put pressure onto my injured wrist. The pain was unbearable, almost making me black out.

Before I could completely get up, hindered by the ice and my wrist, the wolf slammed into my side, sending both of us further onto the frozen pond. Shoving the wolf away before it could bite me again, I froze as I heard an evil cackling ringing throughout the area. I was stressed, and likely going to die, so why wouldn't my mind try and mess with me? It was only the icing on the cake to this already bad situation. I shook my head and bit my lip, knowing it was probably just me. The combined pain from my lip and wrist making me more focused, I looked back at the wolf, only to find it was looking around as well.

Well that’s odd…

I narrowed my eyes at it, wondering what was spooking the wolf. It did have the better senses after all. I hoped that it was just another human who would help me even the odds. But of course, I was wrong.

The voice rang out again, louder this time, making the wolf whip around again, and making my blood run cold as I recognized that voice from basic.

“Well, well, well…look at what we have here…” The voice boomed, making the ice crack and splinter from underneath us, the cracks continuing to the edges of the pond. My eyes widened in fear, and the wolf, forgetting about me, raced to the edge behind me, the ice cracking more with every step it took.

“NO!” the disembodied shout rang out, shredding the ice in front of the wolf, who yelped as it dropped into the dark water. The wolf was under for a few moments, but emerged again, swimming towards my chunk of ice, a visible fear in its eyes. Instinctively, I backed away, making the ice crack even more beneath me. Looking back at the wolf, I tried to shoo it away, but as the wolf climbed back onto the ice and ran toward me, the voice cackled in laughter again, an unseen force shredding the rest of the ice, sending us both into the frozen water below, the edges of the pond too far out of reach.

“Now come to me, human.”

My eyes widened as I started to enter full panic mode. I struggled to swim upwards towards the surface, towards air, but the weight of my boots and winter jacket now just added water weight, holding me down. The pond now seemed much deeper than it should have been, and I sank further into the depths. I wasn’t a strong swimmer to begin with and I was running out of air quickly, so I started flailing around at my zippers, wanting to lighten my load, however possible.

Finally ripping off my jacket, I cast it into the darkness and tried to swim upwards again, but was slammed aside as the wolf suddenly flailed into me as if it was thrown into me, and an unseen force pulled us both into the depths, making my whole world go black as I suffocated, the cold water entering my lungs.

--

I woke in a panic, coughing up water from my lungs, gasping for breath, and shivering as I realized how close to death I had been, hoping it was all just a bad dream, keeping my eyes shut a while longer. Eventually opening my eyes, I found myself in an unfamiliar area.

I was still in a forest, but everything looked…different. It was as if the colors of the world were more vibrant and alive. The snow on the ground was almost shining a sparkling white, and the trees were…green with leaves? Shaking my head, I knew I had to be seeing things. Narrowing my eyes and taking a closer look at my surroundings, I realized there was only snow surrounding me, everything a foot away from me was in fall colors, fallen leaves, various wild flowers, and weeds covering every inch of the ground outside of my snow circle. Adding to my amazement, the forest seemed to hum with life, and I could hear insects and birds chirping in the distance.

“Wasn’t it like…winter?” I asked aloud to no one in particular.

“Oh but it’s Autumn my dear boy, surely even the likes of you can see that?”

I whirled around, looking for the new voice that came from seemingly nowhere, the tree branches and bushes empty, carrying only a slight breeze. Laughter erupted in my ear. Instinctively I swatted at my right ear, noticing out of the corner of my eye that something jumped from my shoulder and onto the ground in front of me, making no sound. My jaw went slightly ajar as I looked at what was in front of me.

I took my meds today…right?

What stood in front of me couldn’t have actually existed, and I had never seen anything like it before, so it was hard to immediately chalk it up to my wild imagination. While it was small, just about one or two feet tall, it looked like someone just took the parts of every animal it could find and slammed it all together.

It had a horse head with big yellow eyes, two horns protruding out of it, the body of a chimera, but with the tail of a dragon rather than a snake. All in all…it hurt to look at, i didn't know where to look, everything about the creature just unnerved me.

While I looked it over, it grinned at me and did a little wave, comically large yellow eyes filled with what I assumed was mischief. Seeing that little interaction, I sobered. I shook my head, took a deep breath, and started walking away.

It’s not real. It’s not real. Just walk away, focus on the trees.

“Why look at trees when you could look at me?”

I shook my head in bewilderment as I saw the creature laying across a tree branch ahead of me, blowing a kiss at me with its lion paw. I furrowed my brows and just looked at the ground, only to find the creature looking back at me, grinning. Shocked, I fell back, catching myself with my hands, but an arc of pain from my wrist made me shriek in agony, sending me falling to one side, reminding me of my past injury. Tears flooded my eyes from the pain, I took a closer look at my wrist. It was bleeding again, the skin shredded along the bleeding holes and I swear I could see broken bone protruding from my skin.

“My my, your little friend certainly did a number on you didn’t they?” The creature said, looking at my wound, its paws behind its back. I ignored it, cursing my hallucinations as I took off my shirt, wrapping it around my wrist, and biting my lip hard as the pain coursed through my body again as I wrapped it as tight as possible, trying to keep pressure on it. It wasn’t the best fix but I didn’t exactly have a first aid kit handy. I took a deep breath and growled slightly at the pain becoming more and more apparent with the newfound pressure. I got back up on my feet, looking at the lake I was next to and the ever expansive trees that hid the sunlight from the sky. Shaking my head to focus, I began to walk towards the trees, looking for anything that looked even remotely familiar.

Seeing this, the creature giggled in delight. “Oh what fun this is going to be to watch!” It said, snapping, then clapping its paws together. I glared at it but immediately reared back as a deafening roar erupted from the forest, a giant bear suddenly materializing in front of me. At first glance It looked like a regular brown bear, tall and muscular, but upon closer inspection, it also had a long pair of fangs in its mouth and crimson red eyes. My flight or fight kicking into overdrive, I looked up at it, wondering if it was real or not, and glanced to the creature that was now dancing on my shoulder for some reason.

The bear wasted no time in answering my question as it began to rush me, its paws cracking the earth underneath it, sending pollen from some of the flowers exploding into a cloud between us.

“Fuck fuck f-”

I tried to scramble away, muttering to myself, but it was too late as the bear swiped a paw the second he got close enough, his claws slashing into my arm and sending me into a nearby tree, making me cry out in pain.

The bear seemed to grin at this, watching me closely with its demonic eyes as I ungracefully picked myself up and started to run deeper into the trees, smacking branches out of my way and tripping over weeds in my path.

Why didn’t I just stay home!?

Laughter mixed with the roar of a bear chasing me, both creatures followed me deeper into the forest, getting closer every time I looked over my shoulder as if I was in some bad slasher film.

--

After what seemed like an eternity, I felt I had finally lost the bear, only barely escaping it as I climbed through a small crack in the denser vegetation deeper in the forest, which continued into a beaten path that led to a cave, seemingly unoccupied. At least I hoped so, as there were various animal tracks leading to it, the closer to the entrance i got.

Staying near the entrance to the inside of the cave just to be safe, I sighed in pain as I collapsed, my chest covered in scratches and bruises from my escape from the demon bear, my tank top barely protecting my body. My shirt, still wrapped around my wrist was no longer a light blue but a deep purple as blood continued to pump out of the untreated wound, probably worse for wear with all the pressure I put on it, scrambling through a dense forest for my life. Just looking at the blood-soaked shirt made me feel lightheaded, and I started to feel a little dizzy, my adrenaline starting to wear off. Before I could try and get my shit together, a series of low growls and yelps echoed from deeper in the cave, spiking my adrenaline output once more.

I’m such an idiot.

Stupidly curious and forcing myself to my feet, I took a tentative step towards the darkness of the cave but stopped myself as I saw a familiar grey wolf running towards me.

“Oh just fuck me in the ass.” I muttered out, turning to run again but froze as I realized that the wolf was injured, bleeding in several places, and barely gave me a glance as it raced past me. When I turned toward the darkness again, I understood why.

Emerging from the darkness were wolf-like creatures but instead of fur, they had what looked like wood and branches holding their bodies together, and where their eyes should have been, a dull green energy glowed menacingly. I shivered as they raced after the grey wolf, five in total, all of varying sizes, the smallest coming up to my waist. As they raced past me, I braced myself for an attack, but they didn’t seem to even notice my presence, which made me wonder if they were real.

“Oh they’re as real as you and I, little bird.” A happy voice spoke from my shoulder, coming from the smaller creature from before just sitting there, grinning at me. Giving into this bout of insanity, I took a shaky breath and leaned my back against the wall before speaking to my newest hallucination from hell.

“Okay dude, I’ll bite. If they’re real, then why did they just ignore me?” I glared at it, half expecting the small creature to disappear away as soon as I gave my attention to it. Surprisingly, it didn’t and just grinned even wider.

“Oh it’s simple. I hid you. Seeing how they just want your furry friend over there; you didn’t need to be involved.” The creature leaped to my head, laying down in my hair. “I'm sure you'll be happy to know though, they seem very intent on killing that poor pup. What comes around, goes around am I right?”

My eyes widened and then narrowed, my dazed eyesight becoming more focused as I felt something…primal inside of me awaken, a strange desire to help the wolf.

Choosing instead to agree with the creature's observation, I shook my head. This was karma at her finest, the wolf had attacked me, and no doubt, he went looking for trouble in this cave, and obviously found it. I looked at my wrist, still bleeding through my shirt. Even if I could escape whatever hellhole this place was, I didn't think that I would ever be able to use my hand the same way again. It was my right hand, my dominant hand, used for just about everything in my daily life and that wolf had ripped into my wrist, not giving a damn about how it affected me, even when I was just trying to offer it a treat. This was justice.

Yet I still couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that lingered in the back of my mind. Canines were man’s best friend after all, and even though he bit me, nearly tearing my hand off, I felt an odd kinship to the animal. He, like I, was lost and afraid, chased by creatures that by any right shouldn’t exist. And I was right, he was an animal...surely he didn't know any better. As the intelligent being, the only one who would harbor any regret or anger from the encounter was me. The right thing to do was go back the wolf up. Even if the smart thing to do was run far, far away from this forest, and ensure I didn't lose more than a hand.

Steeling myself, I decided.

I just hope this is a bad dream.

I ran out of the cave in the direction of the wolves, and the creature on my head squealed in delight, saying something, but I ignored him, trying to figure out where they went. A howl and sounds of snarling was much closer than I had hoped. Slowing down and taking cover behind a tree, the scene I witnessed wasn’t pretty.

The grey wolf, much smaller than the wooden abominations, paced slowly, its amber eyes flickering from creature to creature, growling and showing its teeth each time one got closer. The poor thing was certainly worse for wear, its right foreleg flinching every time it touched the ground, its sides with red claw marks, and its coat covered in splinters, blood, and dirt. Looking around more, I noticed that there were only three of these creatures in the small clearing, with two small wooden mounds close to me, unmoving. I looked on, impressed by the grey predator.

Does he even need my help?

With a snarl, the largest of the creatures sprang forward, closing the distance and opened its mouth to bite the wolf. The wolf tried to leap aside, but the other two wolves closed in, each clawing its sides, making it yelp in pain and fall to the ground. The largest of the creatures approached again, looming over the downed prey, baring its wooden fangs in a show of dominance. Despite the pain, I couldn't watch any longer, I had to do something.

With my heartbeat pounding in my ears, I grabbed a nearby fallen branch, hefting it above my head with my good arm and yelled as loud as I could, making the creatures leap away as I slammed my weapon into the rear of one of the creatures, making it spin into the ground with a satisfying yelp. It recovered quickly however, springing back up, barking at its companions, and all three to focused on me, encircling me like a group of vultures.

Looking over at the grey wolf, I saw that it was motionless, but its amber eyes were cracked open, watching me. A rising growl made me whip my head back as all three creatures leaped at me, as if they had coordinated it, all different angles, and as the first wolf reached me, biting into my leg, I knew it was all over. I dropped my now broken branch in pain and went to punch the creature but realized that it wasn't moving. Blinking owlishly, I looked closer, noticing that it was still latched onto my leg. After giving it a shake, I realized that I couldn’t feel any pain. Looking around more, I gasped as I saw the other two frozen in midair, the larger one leaping for my back, and the other just inches away from biting into my hip.

What the h-

“Want to make a deal?” A voice echoed throughout my mind as I looked around, seeing nothing. A talon tapped me on the forehead as the small creature from before peered down from its place on my head, grinning. I stared back at a loss for words, as his touch confirmed that he was real and not just another hallucination. He just chuckled at my expression and leapt off my head, his tiny wings buzzing to life until he was eye to eye with me.

“This situation hardly seems favorable after all, and while I would LOVE to see you try and prove me wrong, I think we can make this more interesting.” He winked at me, making me stare back at him in confusion.

More interesting?

He nodded. I looked at him and then back at the situation I was in. Woodsy creatures about to tear me limb from limb, talking chimeras, unfamiliar forests, demon bears, and fighting for an animal that bit me not even hours ago, ready to tear me apart for some jerky. Looking back at him, I shrugged.

Well if I’m going to die anyway…why not?

He grinned darkly, bringing his talons up in front of me, as if he were about to-

SNAP

--

~Canterlot~

“Sister…do you feel that?” A dark blue horse with wings and a large horn asked her white companion, apprehension in her tone as she lowered her sandwich.

Celestia, the sun goddess of Equestria, glared off into the distance, a feeling of foreboding spreading through her body as she felt a large wave of chaos magic. The only creature even capable of displaying such power was currently in stone, and even then, his magic was never this noticeable unless he wanted to make some grand and flashy appearance. Celestia took a deep breath, rising to her hooves, looking at her sister, a steely gaze in her magenta eyes.

“Ready your armor Luna, let us prepare for the worst Discord has to offer.”

Disembodied laughter echoed throughout the courtyard, the voice all to familiar to the two sisters, confirming their fears.

--

“AAAARRRGGGHH”

The pain coursing through my body became unbearable as time resumed, but the wolves were thrown back from me in a blast of cold air, sending them flying through the air, crashing into low hanging branches. Large white wings suddenly sprouted from my shoulder blades, and a black mist exploded from my chest, then rushed back inside me, and the cold air swirling around me became an inferno of flames, scaring away the wooden creatures. An Obsidian blade sliding into a sheath appeared in front of me, covered in glowing red runes, with a visible aura of darkness encasing it. Another arc of pain shot through my body and the creature laughed evilly as all of my injuries suddenly worsened, blood flowing from them like a river, and a black glow slowly started encasing my body. Numerous voices ran rampant in my head, my vision going dark, and with another loud snap, peace and quiet filled my head, the voices dispersing into fading echoes.

With my vision slowly returning to normal, I panted out; “W-what the hell was that about?” I looked to Discord, his name now a whisper repeated over and over by the new voices in my head. He looked at me smiling, and said;

“All in good time, my caged little bird” he snapped once more, and the wooden wolves, who I thought had been scared away, entered my sight again, circling me, the largest of the trio with a noticeable limp.

“Now, will you survive?”

I looked to the sword in front of me, kneeling to grab it, and readied myself, holding it in my hands, wincing at the weight it put on my injured wrist, well aware of the blood still dropping onto the forest floor. Bringing the blade slowly out of the sheath, I prepared to die. Only for a snap to ring out, ripping me and the grey wolf into a void in the lion palm of Discord.

--

Blinking a few times to try to get the world to stop spinning, I put the blade down in front of me like a cane, slowly coming to a kneel as I felt the need to vomit, feeling the bile climbing my throat. Before I could empty my stomach on the floor, my vision cleared for me to see what I could only hope were delusions.

I appeared to be inside of some kind of court room, marble lining the floor and ceiling, cushions neatly arranged on the floor and in the back of the room, an interesting looking throne seated on an elevated dais. In front of me was my next surprise of the day. Two large horses, decked out in battle armor stood in front of at least a dozen other smaller white and blue horses, also wearing armor, matching their fur coats. The larger of the two horses, was a white Pegasus, but with an added feature, a unicorn horn. She had large magenta eyes that seemed to glare right down into my very soul. Her mane was a sight to behold. It seemed to float on an invisible breeze, a pastel rainbow that flowed down to her back, kept out of her face by a golden crown, which matched her golden armor, adorned by many sun engravings.

While I examined the new crowd in front of me, they only stared back, not making a sound, until the white horse stepped forward and with her piercing glare, spoke. I was shocked that she spoke, but I couldn't understand what she was saying, the language was foreign to me. Noting my silence, she spoke again, louder.

It sounded like…Greek? No...Latin? Unable to understand or begin to comprehend what was happening, I just stared into her eyes, which only continued to narrow at me. There was anger there, but I couldn't understand why, but I figured I was going to pass out soon and die, so I hardly cared after a moment or two. She spoke a few more times, and apparently gave up trying to communicate, creating a deadly silence in the air where Discord decided was a perfect time to speak up, appearing out of thin air, his feet resting on my makeshift cane.

“Why hello there Celestia, and Oh! Dear little Moonie as well! I’m so happy to see you-“ The large blue horse slammed a hoof on the floor, her black armor pulsing slightly as she did so.

“THOU SHALL NOT CALL US THAT, VILE DEMON!”

As she spoke, her voice echoed in my head a few times making me wince back in pain from the set of lungs on this horse. Coming back to my senses, my eyes widened.

Was that English?!

From his perch, Discord just giggled, failing to hide his smile with a lion paw. The white horse, who I assumed was Celestia, shook her head and shifted her glare from me to the chimera of the day. Her voice, speaking now in perfect English was cold and unwavering, chilling my bones.

“Have you not learned anything from your previous conquest? Whatever you’re planning, by now you must realize that these humans are quite fragile.” She paused, giving me a once over, unfazed by my battered body bleeding from various places, before shifting her gaze back to him. “In fact, you seem to already have broken him, even if he is overflowing with dark magic.”

Discord smirked, snapping his fingers, making both horses flinch back, both sets of eyes darting around the room in panic, as if they were expecting an attack. He appeared on Celestia’s head, toying with her ears, which flicked away from him in annoyance.

“Now now my dear friend, what fun would a conquest be? Your brute force is hardly one I’ll test again. I simply want to play a game. Our human friend over there is already interested.” He leaned down to hang in front of her eyes. “What say you?”

Unenthused, she looked at him before shaking her head, flinging him back over to me, where he just floated onto my head, toying with my curls. I looked up, glaring at him, then looked back at the crowd. Celestia narrowed her eyes at Discord, or me, I really couldn’t tell as the blood loss was making me feel rather loopy, with the corners of my vision threatening to darken even further with each passing moment.

“Oh? Now, what kind of game requires you to bring such a being to this world? Again.” She asked, emphasizing that last part. Before I could pipe in, he patted my head and flew to the floor. He stretched, cracking various limbs on his small body before he smiled looking at the two horses.

“Well as the god of chaos, I believe the state of the world is a bit unfair, my lady.” He bowed at Celestia, who just snorted in response, her eyes rolling. He continued, unfazed. “With your pesky elements of harmony, the scale has been tipped for far too long, which has made existence, for a lack of a better word, quite boring.” He paused to look at me, smirking. Celestia cleared her throat, obviously irritated.

“If you could get to the point, there are many of us with actual responsibili-” Discord gasped in mock shock, a lion paw to his chest for dramatic effect.

“I’ll have you know that I take my responsibilities quite serious, thank you, why even as we chat, I’m at work!” He grinned, staring at the guards behind the two horses. Celestia glanced back to see her guards turned pink instead of their natural white color. She sighed, looking back at Discord, unamused.

“Very well, you may…continue.”

He grinned, and I swear I heard him squee.

“Like I said, there is a disturbance in the balance of harmony and as you push back when I go too 'far', I must as well.” He smirked, using air quotes. “That said, our normal interactions are rather dull. I manipulate your enemies, you send your element bearers after them with that dreadful rainbow cannon. I start a war, the whole world hates me for it. I enjoy myself for one day in a small town and I get turned to stone.” Celestia rolled her eyes at that last one, but he continued. “So how about a wager? An end all be all if you will.” Celestia narrowed her eyes, her horn starting to glow a golden hue.

“I’m listening.”

His smirk intensified, waving at me.

“I think it’s time to let this world to decide for itself, a game where neither you nor I will have full control over the end result. Like you said, humans are rather fragile, and to one without magic, well, even this innocent little world can be a dangerous place.” He waved at me again. “That is why I’ve given this poor soul the means to defend himself and perhaps a companion, should he choose to tame her.”

Her? Isn’t that wolf a male? I looked around in confusion, my eyes falling upon the grey wolf, who was watching the chimera with narrowed eyes, as if she could understand him. She turned to glare at me, and then pointed her nose up. I guess that’s what I get for being sexist.

Discord continued, ignoring our interaction.

“The terms are rather simple. If the human can survive for one year in Equestria, you win. I will leave this world forever, leaving it in its disgusting state of harmony. No complaints, no war, no petrification, I will exile myself from the planet entirely.” Celestia brought a hoof to her chin, appearing to be thinking, then moments later looked back at Discord.

“And if you win?” He smiled, then looked at me.

“No offense, to you, little bird, but should you perish,” He teleported in front of Celestia, grabbing her cheeks. “Then you and I will be wed, and you will join me at my side, my beloved queen of chaos, with your element bearers turned to stone, and your adorable little sister…”He winked at Luna, who glared at him. “Will join us in her madness as the once feared Nightmare she once was.” He then teleported to my cheeks, pinching them. “And you will be resurrected, my protégé, a lord of chaos, destined to live for eternity, destroying everything you ever held dear.” He leapt back up to my head, doing a little dance, spreading his arms wide. “We’ll be one big happy family~” My blood ran cold at the realization that there are worse things than death, and I had sold my soul off to this crazy mini devil. Celestia’s eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed again, looking at Discord.

“While that sounds…interesting, I feel there’s something you’re not telling me.”

Discord chuckled, his paws up in a placating manner.

“Sharp as ever, my little sunshine.” Celestia just stared at him. He continued. “There are a few requirements for this wager to work properly, it's no fun if it isn’t fair, as I’m sure you can agree. The first of these rules, is that I can’t kill him, and you can’t immortalize him. That would just be too easy for me, and even worse!” He gasped. “He wouldn’t be able to learn any of your precious friendship lessons.” She scowled at him. I gagged. He just giggled, which was something that was getting rather old. “Second, you can’t use your elements of harmony on him.” She raised her brow at that. “Or at the very least, I wouldn't advise it. You see, the chaos magic he inherited from me is very delicate and is part of what keeps him anchored here.” I smiled at that a little, hope sparking as I began to think of what I believed to be a very easy way home, if I could figure out how the elements worked.

Seemingly omniscient, he turned towards me, cocking his head to the side, then booping me on the nose with a talon. “If removed, and you get sent back home without my assistance…well.” He giggled. “There are worse things than death. For one way, of many ways I may add, it could affect you, is that the rampant chaos magic would tear your body apart slowly, and then repair you, only to repeat the process, over and over again. Atom by atom, century by century, invisible and incurable. The madness you would achieve would rival my very own…” I cringed, sighing internally. He just smiled at my misery and continued. “The last of these terms, is that he,” He pointed at me. “Can call this wager off at any time and choose a side. Chaos.” He pointed at himself. “Or harmony,” He pointed at Celestia. “At the cost of not only his life, but the destruction of his home world.” Celestia and I looked at him in horror. He just giggled. “Don’t act too surprised, after all, his choices are what make this fun!” He clapped his hands together, grinning at Celestia. “So what do you say?” He said, extending a paw out to her.

Before she could answer, a window shattered off to my left, and I barely had the time to look before pain erupted from my shoulder, and I was sent sliding across the room, accompanied by a cyan blur, before it disappeared from my sight as quickly as it had appeared.

Finally coming to a stop against one of the rooms pillars, the world faded in and out of focus as I could faintly make out the sounds of shouting before a bright flashing of various colors took over my sight, blinding me and making me cover my eyes in pain. After the light died down and my vision started to come back, the only thing I could hear was the all too familiar sound of Discord laughing.

The shapes and colors coming clearly into view, I could now see that we were joined by six small new horses, each with some kind of gold jewelry on their bodies. There was a unicorn with a white coat and a purple mane, two pegasi, one a light yellow with pink hair, the other a familiar cyan with what looked like a rainbow mane and tail, two regular horses, one orange with blonde hair, and the other was…too much pink. The last of the newcomers was a purple unicorn with wings, much like the other two horses from before but much smaller. She seemed to be surprised, her mouth hung open, staring at Discord, who was on his back laughing.

“Wha-why didn’t that work?! Surely I couldn’t have done the incantation wrong!” The purple one was now muttering to herself as Discord, with a snap, reappeared upon my head, looking to Celestia, who, to her credit, seemed to be taking what just happened in stride.

“Really now, did you really think that would work on me again?” He cackled madly as the six new arrivals looked to Celestia in confusion and fear. She simply held a hoof up to them. Then she smiled.

“Actually, I understand perfectly, my mischievous little friend. You aren’t actually here. Of course the elements of harmony wouldn’t work on you.” Celestia smirked at Discord, who was smiling back at her, giving her a little clap.

“Indeed. As much as I’d love to be at this little reunion and sprinkle in a little more of my namesake, I am still mostly trapped in that cold stone prison of yours. However, with this human here, I could simply just leave it and possess him. He seems to be producing a very healthy amount of chaos for me to feed off of, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.” He smirked at Celestia. “But I am willing to behave myself…if you play this game with me.”

She shook her head, giving her dark blue companion a look that I couldn’t read, even though these horses seemed to show a lot more human behavior than I would have expected. Of course, I was still getting over the fact that they were talking, pegasi and unicorns existed, along with their weird pegacorn princess offspring, and I had signed my soul off to the devil. She spoke again, delaying my panicking thoughts.

“Very well, I’ll play your little game. After all, you seem to be holding all of the cards…” She glared at him. “If I didn’t know any better, it would seem you have been planning this for a long time.” Discord just chuckled.

“Well, when you’re trapped in stone with only your thoughts to keep you company…you could say I’ve been busy. Or, perhaps, this was all fated to be, even out of my own control.” Before he could continue, Celestia spoke again.

“I have one alteration to this little deal of yours. If this human and I win, you, my chaotic little friend, will not leave. You will be transformed into a earth pony, forced to live a normal life, and will be sending me daily friendship letters every day about your time here in Equestria.” She smiled darkly at him. “You seem to loathe the very idea of it all, so it seems to be a fitting punishment for your actions.” He sniffed at that, throwing a look at her I couldn’t see as he was still on my head.

“Very well Tia. It would seem we have a deal.” He flew forward, holding his lion paw out to her as if to shake on it. She looked at this, then held out her hoof. When the two touched, red glowing chains snaked up the side of their outstretched appendages, coiling around their bodies until it reached their necks. Neither of them seemed phased by it, and let go with ease, and with Discord snapping once more, my body suddenly lit up in the dark glow from before. Before I could brace myself, I was lifted into the air, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see the wolf was being lifted by the dark energy as well, with her amber eyes never leaving Discord.

Without any warning, my body was lit with a green hue, and I could feel my wounds starting to mend. My eyes widened as my shirt came undone, falling to the ground in a bloody heap. The wounded wrist started snapping back into place, and tendons were weaved back together, newborn skin covering it all up, as if nothing had ever happened. It felt surprisingly good, and as I looked over at the wolf, she appeared to be back to her original state that I first met her in, though she seemed much bigger now. I hadn’t noticed before when she was holding off the forest creatures but instead of the pup I first met, she was at least half of my height now, and her thick winter coat was gone.

With another snap, my musings were interrupted as the green glow faded away and I slammed back into the ground, knocking the wind out of me. Looking up from the ground, I could see Discord standing in front of me, smiling a dark grin.

“Oh my precious little bird, we are going to have so much fun together…” After he said that, his eyes flashed blue, and suddenly wore a more serious expression. As if possessed, he glanced at Celestia, his demeanor more rigid, and his tone cold.

"You should know Tia, I'm doing you a favor, and you'll be thanking me at the end of this." He looked back at me. "And so will you, little bird."

And with another snap, he disappeared, leaving me and the wolf alone, surrounded by colorful horses, all prepared for a war that didn’t come, reflecting on his cryptic departure.

--

“I see.” Luna sipped from her white teacup daintily, which was encased in a dark blue glow, matching the color her horn was glowing. After Discord disappeared, the six late arrivals bombarded Celestia with questions and Luna had taken the liberty of escorting me to a side room with a dining table, leaving guards to block the door. She had a smaller grey horse retrieve tea for the both of us and she wasted no time in interrogating me about how I came to be in Equestria, which was apparently the world I was now stuck on.

“Do you have a name, Human? I feel we are going to be in close contact during your stay here. It hardly seems fitting to call you by your species name.” I raised a brow at that last part, setting my water down on the table. I had already gone through the entire pot of tea she had brought out, which tasted heavenly. It reminded me of the chamomile tea from back home my grandma used to give me when I was sick. I cleared my throat, my eyes tentatively leveling with hers. Her blue eyes burned back into mine, making me flinch back a little. Still, there was something that was bothering me about all of this.

“I uh, have a question for you first if you don’t mind?” She nodded at me to continue. “Well, um, when I first got here, the white horse,”

“Alicorn, known as Princess Celestia, my sister.” She interjected, her voice calm.

“Right. Celestia, started speaking what I only assume is Latin, which is a relatively old and outdated language where I’m from. I was kinda hoping you would be able to tell me why? Also, while I’m surprised to see unicorns and pegasi walking around, you don’t seem to be surprised of my existence. Are…there others like me here?” I flashed a hopeful look at her.

Luna narrowed her eyes at my question but composed herself before speaking, looking down at her tea.

“Many years ago, before my banishment, we were at war with Discord. He brought many creatures of chaos and destruction to our world, but humans were the only creatures that truly gave us any cause for worry. While they were fragile and magic-less, they were great tacticians, very organized, resilient, and fearless. ” She raised her head to look at me. “But while they caused the most havoc and destruction out of all of Discords summonings, one human tried to make peace, coming to us,” She caught herself, clearing her throat. “Me with an offer to end the bloodshed.” She looked to the door where we had entered. “He spoke this Latin language you speak of, and taught it to my sister and I so we could attempt to negotiate peace with the rest of his kind.” She suddenly looked pained. “He… was cut down by Discord and his brethren. They were too proud, called him a traitor, and Discord’s influence was too great to reason with them on our own. The army of his humans discarded our offer of peace and attacked my sister, who…well it’s best you don’t know. It was quite gruesome.” She glanced at me sheepishly. “You shouldn’t expect sympathy from my sister, as she was not fond of your kind and the things they did to our ponies.”

I sat back further into my chair, my mind trying to comprehend everything Luna had said. Before I could contemplate further, Luna cleared her throat.

“While my sister is not friendly with the thought, we did learn much from the soldier who wanted peace. I especially, spent much time with him, and during one of our talks, he spoke to me of how one’s namesake is important to every human, much like the ponies that live here in Equestria.” She looked at me curiously, her blue eyes peering into my soul. “In his short time here, he became one I could call a friend, and I hope to call you one as well, even if your time here is short.” She gave me a hopeful smile, leaning across the table slightly. Her eyes seemed to grow slightly larger, similar to puppy dog eyes. It was honestly kind of cute. She didn't ask again, but I knew she wasn't going to let it go.

I took a deep breath, still hoping that I was in some messed up nightmare and spoke.

“My name is Osprey.” I smiled, walking over to her and extending a hand. “ and I hope we can become friends too, Princess Luna.” Her smile grew wider as she reached to shake my hand, hoof steps growing louder outside of the side room doors.

Author's Note

Updates will come as I have time for them. Additionally, this story will mainly focus on Osprey and a OC (who you will meet in the next chapter) so if you're wondering where in the timeline this story exists, you may as well give up now.

Until next time, I hope you enjoy this chapter!