Return of Disharmony

Chapter 7

“Is she waking up, oh I hope she isn’t dead.” Pinkie Pie worried.

“She’s not dead Pinkie, At least ah think so.” Applejack replied.

“Quiet Pony folk look at her eyes. Twilight recover from your daze, arise.” Said a familiar voice.

Twilight wearily looked up at her four concerned friends. She then turned to her side and saw one giant eye looking in through a small window. She didn’t have to think hard to know the last pony to talk was Zecora since it was in rhyme. She slowly sat up and looked around. She was lying on what she assumed was Zecora’s bed. She could see a pot of mysterious liquid in the other room, probably responsible for her revival.

“H-how long was I out?” Twilight stammered.

“Only a few minutes darling.” Rarity replied “We found you knocked out at Zecora’s door and she made a revival potion to wake you up.”

“Yes,” Zecora began “It might have been me who hit you on the head, so I brought you in here to my bed. I fixed up a potion because for that I have a knack. It was strong enough to quickly bring you back.”

“But, why did you hit me in the first place?” Twilight asked.

“I saw the invasion of Ponyville and I did mourn, I thought you were a changeling because you had no horn. But when I heard that you were morphed by that trickster flower, I knew you had not fallen to Chrysalis’ power.” Zecora said happily.

“That’s why we’re here Zecora; we need the cure for poison joke.” Applejack said.

Zecora turned and thought about the ingredients she would need to make another batch of the antidote for a minute then she turned again and faced the group.

“I cannot make a potion to change you back, for a main ingredient I do lack.” She said walking over to the main room in search of her recipe book.

“You can’t?” Fluttershy said from outside of the hut.

“Well we can get it for you.” Rainbow Dash said. “What is it?”

Zecora then motioned the ponies to the main room. Fluttershy of course just stepped over the hut and looked through the door. Zecora then flipped open the book to the picture of a rock.

“The ingredient I need is called the sunlight stone, it shines brightly in sunlight and but is dark when left alone. It dissolves in the potion so its effects can spread out. For the potion will not work if it is without."

“Great, where do we find this stone?” Twilight asked.

“I do not think you will like this answer, no you will not. I receive this stone monthly from the royal vault at Canterlot." Zecora said shaking her head.

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“For the last time Luna you can’t get out.” Celestia said to her sister.

“How would you know if you haven’t even tried?” Luna shouted back.

The two alicorns had been locked up for hours now and even though they were only being held by chains their mysterious captor was right when he said they were unbreakable by magic. For the last few hours Luna had been trying to use her magic but all of the power was being stopped at the base of her horn not even able to break that chain. So she had been failing for hours now and her anger and frustration were beginning to show.

“Luna stop this. Twilight and her friends will soon come to save us.” Celestia said calmly.

“How do you know?” Luna asked angrily.

“Because I know Twilight; although smart and good with magic she is also one of the most stubborn ponies I have ever met. We saved them and I know they will come for us.” Celestia said, still trying to calm Luna.

“What if they fail?” Luna asked.

“They won’t.” Celestia replied.

“But what if they do?” Luna retorted back.

“Why can’t you just hope they do come instead of worrying?” Celestia questioned.

“I can’t.” Luna said quietly.

“Why not?!” Celestia said now raising her voice.

“Because I was just imprisoned for a thousand years and I’m not going to go through it again!!!!” Luna shouted in her royal Canterlot voice with tears forming in her eyes.

After she finished shouting she fell to the ground and began to sob uncontrollably.

“I’m not going back to being a prisoner it-t was d-dark… and c-cold… and l-lone-ly” Luna said while sobbing into her hooves.

Celestia had never seen her sister like this. Not only had Luna never used the royal Canterlot voice so harshly toward her before but she had never seen this sad, scared, child-like weakness in Luna before. Luna always tried to be strong in the midst of others time of weakness. So to see her bawling her eyes out Celestia knew she had been scared on a whole new level. Celestia knew that Luna wasn’t upset about being sent to the moon by Celestia. They had already talked over why it happened and why it was a hard choice for Celestia to make. After that talk they never spoke of it again. So Luna bringing it up now showed that she had been scared because of being trapped on the moon for that long lonely millennium. Seeing Luna like this almost brought tears to Celestia's eyes. However she knew she had to stay strong for Luna's sake.

"Don't worry Luna," Celestia said in a very calming and peaceful voice. "They'll find us...they'll find us."

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"Bye Zecora! Be safe!" Twilight shouted as they left her small hut.

"Goodbye my pony friends, be careful on your way. Defeat the evil villains, free your friends and save the day!" Zecora shouted triumphantly as she shut her door again.

Hearing her say that rhyme so passionately brought out a small chuckle in their group as they walked away. Along this journey there were only a few moments where the group was happy and felt secure. The first time seeing spike save them from the timberwolves, this was the second time. Twilight knew that she wouldn't want to be a changeling fighting Zecora. She laughed at the numerous painful things Zecora would to a changeling. All of her happiness seemed to die when she looked at the distant city of Canterlot. It looked more like a hive than a city and Twilight knew inside that getting that stone would not be easy. At least they only had to drink the potion rather than prepare a bath. The sun was high in the sky and the mane six hurried through the Everfree forest, hoping to reach the edge of the city by nightfall. They were rather far in their journey when suddenly there was a flash of light. When they looked up there were large force fields separating each of them.

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA." A voice laughed out of nowhere.

None of them even had to look up to know who the one laughing was.

"Discord." Twilight said.

"Hello once again my little ponies." Discord began. "Ready for some more fun?" He said with a twisted grin.

"Haven't you caused enough harm?" Rarity asked angrily.

Discord thought for a moment then said "Nope!" in a mocking tone.

The mane six simply stood and glared at Discord as he continued. "Now listen my little ponies this next obstacle I put before you is a challenge. You see Chrysalis doesn't think that you can function with your new disabilities. She thinks that the poison joke will be enough to stop you. But I know you all better than that. So I've issued a little challenge, that hopefully should stop you once and for all. You will be rejoined at the end of this path if you succeed, but you have to complete your challenge in your new form. If one of you doesn't finish then all of you fail. If you fail, then I win. Good luck, or not."

"BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!" Discord chortled as he vanished.

Discord one again left the ponies very confused and rather angry.

"Come on girls," Twilight said. "The princesses need our help just go forward until we meet up again."

"Good Luck!" Applejack said.

"Let's go!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

And with that the mane six split up running head first into Discord's maze of trouble.

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Rainbow Dash ran through the forest weaving in between trees and straight though the force field walls.

If only I had my wings I could get through this faster she thought to herself.

All of a sudden she heard a loud roar coming from under the rocky area in front of her.

Oh great, a dragon just what I need. She thought.

She however, never saw a dragon she just saw a large pile of boulders in front of her. They were too large for her to jump up and she couldn't fly over them without her wings. Then she saw a smaller rock that seemed to be holding up the pile. She ran over to it and tried to kick it out of place, but it wouldn't budge. Then she remembered what discord said.

"You will be rejoined at the end of this path but you have to complete on task in your new form."

She looked up at her horn then took a step back. She concentrated all she had on moving the stone.

C'mon Dash move the stone it's one of the easiest things a unicorn can do. She said, trying to encourage herself.

Just then the stone moved and the boulders tumbled to the ground, as did Rainbow Dash. She was sweating and panting; she lied on the ground for a few minutes then shakily rose to her feet. She then jogged off the end of her path.

One down she thought five to go. She smiled.

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Fluttershy walked slowly though the forest toward the end of her path. She came across a canyon and hopped over it. The canyon seemed to be about 30 feet deep into a stream and 20 feet across.

Well, that must be my challenge She thought to herself.

She began to walk a little faster and a smile came on her face. Her smile than faded when she reached a giant cave almost 200 feet high. She nervously backed away when she realized that she had to continue on for her friends. She looked back in the cave a saw a light at the end. She took a deep breath then ran into the cave at full speed. She got about 500 feet into the cave when she ran into something. It was cold and rough and seemed to go up forever.

She heard a low rumbling sound and thought one thing... dragon.

The beast blew a large beam of fire in the cave lighting it up instantly. Fluttershy didn't waste any time and ran toward the exit. The dragon had. Not yet seen her in daylight so it knew nothing of her size. She kept running and then realized that the exit she thought was big enough to escape ended up being half her size. Then she knew her challenge. She closed her eyes, picked up speed, and rammed right through the wall. The explosion of dirt and rock was amazing and she landed on the ground unharmed. The dragon was blinded by the sudden flash of daylight and crept back into its cave. Fluttershy looked back for a second, brushed the dirt and rock out of her mane and continued walking.

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Pinkie pie hopped along the path with only happy thoughts.

I wonder what my challenge is. Oh, I hope I do well. Oh, wait! I hope I get to use my wings. She thought happily to herself.

Within the next few moments Pinkie Pie realized she’d get her wish. She came to the edge of a deep canyon with a raging river below and it was far too wide across to jump.

Okie-dokie-lokie, let’s do this. She thought, getting ready.

She fluttered her new wings a few times to prepare for the flight then ran of to the edge. As her foot left the edge she realized that instead of flying she started falling to the ground. She was about to hit the rushing waters when her wings flung open. The wind created from her falling lifted her up into the air and then over the small canyon. She had a bit of a problem landing and ended up face first into the ground; but she got up brushed herself off and continued on her way. As she went on her way she continued having happy thoughts.

Whee! That was fun I hope I can fly some more, or was that gliding, or was it extended jumping or…

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As Applejack walked on her way she hated the fact she wasn’t in her old body; Rarity’s thinner less athletic figure had made the walking harder and tired Applejack. She was about to take a rest when she heard a rumbling coming from the cave nearby. She went to investigate but couldn’t continue because of the darkness of the cave. She looked to see if there was another way around it when she saw a sign on the entrance to the cave. On the sign it read:

Applejack, I see you have made it to your challenge. Inside this cave there are two paths one which leads to a gem on the other side which is also where your friends will be; or a pit that falls deep into the caves of Equestria and you will never be seen again, if you survive the fall that is. I would advise you choose wisely.
Love, Discord

“Discord.” Applejack muttered under her breath. "Doesn't he just get a kick out of watching ponies suffer and then have the nerve to upright insult 'em to."

Once again the rumbling sound echoed from inside the cave. It sounded as if someone was hitting something against the cave wall. Then it stopped so Applejack continued. She was about to go into the cave without a plan when she remembered Rarity’s horn could find gems. So rather than take a guess as to where the safe path was Applejack voted to use her horn. Applejack bent down and concentrated on finding the gem. Finally her horn pulled her up and lead her into the cave. She took many twists and turns but couldn’t see where she was going. Just then rocks began to fall from the roof of the cave she was in. Suddenly, she could see light and the pile of gems on the other side of the cave she ran out into the sunlight just as the cave collapsed in behind her. She took a moment to wipe the sweat off of her brow before going to meet her friends. She just hoped they were just as lucky as she was.

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Rarity trotted along through the forest following the path that the force fields lead her down.

These hooves are filthy. She complained. Applejack clearly does not care about personal appearance, although I already knew that.

She stopped suddenly when she was lead to the entrance of a cave.

Oh no! I am not setting one hoof inside of that dark, damp, and disgusting cave. She resisted.

Just then she heard a rumbling and saw many large boulders falling off of the side of the mountain right above her.

On second thought how bad could it be?

Using Applejack’s strong legs she sprinted into the cave dodging falling rocks along the way. She barely slid into the cave before the final rock crashed to the ground blocking her only know exit.

Well, I do have to give it to Applejack, that mare is strong. Then a wave of panic hit her. OH NO! How do I get out of here?

Just then she saw a small speck of light coming through a hole in the side of one of the cave walls. She walked over to it and looked through. Although she couldn’t see much, she knew that it was the way she wanted to go. Rarity dug at the wall with her hooves and hit it a few times but it didn’t break away. Then she realized what she needed to do. Rarity backed up, turned around, raised her back legs and with a powerful blow bucked the wall down. Rarity quickly got out of the cave and looked at the forest around her. Suddenly, the cave collapsed behind her and gave her quite a shock.

Wow, I would not want to have to have been in there while that was collapsing. She thought to herself, unaware of the irony that occurred.

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Twilight walked cautiously through the forest awaiting her challenge. She was going over the possibilities in her head and was rejecting most of them. She was about to stop and think when she heard some laughter coming from down the stream she was passing. She walked back a bit and saw Pinkie Pie through the force field. Twilight tried to follow her but she got separated by trees. Just then she heard the sound of falling rocks and saw Rainbow Dash on the top of the nearby mountain. Just then a loud roar came from inside and Twilight saw Fluttershy burst through the side followed by a dragon. As the dragon crept back inside, Rarity kicked a cave wall out and came outside, followed by Applejack coming out of a nearby opening. Twilight then realized what her challenge was. She had to meet up with her friends without magic. Teleporting would have made this task many times easier but since she was only an earth pony she had to cover the ground on foot. First Twilight ran toward Pinkie Pie whom had seemed to have vanished. Just then Twilight heard some faint humming and saw Pinkie Pie bouncing by.

“Pinkie!!!” Twilight called out.

Pinkie turned and acknowledged her friend with a smile and a wave.

“Follow me! We have to meet up with the others!” Twilight shouted out.

“Okay!” Pinkie said as she ran toward Twilight.

Twilight knew that she was running out of time to meet up with her friends but she had a plan. Twilight found a giant clearing in front of the side of the mountain her friends came out of and stood there with Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy was the first to notice them and joined them by their side. Applejack and Rarity followed and they stood waiting for Rainbow Dash. Just then Fluttershy turned her head and gasped.

“I can see Rainbow Dash, and it looks like she’s in trouble!” She said. “Here hop on.” She added extending a wing.

As Fluttershy ran through the forest Twilight saw what she meant. Rainbow Dash was running toward the bottom of the mountain that Canterlot rested on, followed by at least a dozen changelings. Fluttershy began to pick up speed as they got closer. Rainbow reached the end of the mountain and turned around to see her pursuers surrounding her. Just then Fluttershy jumped out through the trees causing a decent sized quake in the ground when she landed. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie jumped to the ground and charged toward the changelings. Just before Twilight Sparkle gained her balance from the drop she saw her friends running at the small pack of changelings on the ground, and a few hundred more flying over the mountain.