Badlands

by Yip

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Spike, Adventure, Discord
Length: 9404

Twilight has been living in a fantasy world; one with Discord in stone. But fantasies can't last forever, and Twilight has to get accustomed to the new, twisted reality—even if it doesn't seem like it's real.

Twilight has been living in a fantasy world; one with Discord in stone, one where everything appears to be peaceful. But fantasies can't last forever, and Twilight has to get accustomed to the new, twisted reality—even if it doesn't seem so real.

But there's no time to adapt when the clock is ticking. And when time runs out, everything that was real will never come back.

Featured On Equestria Daily February 5th, 2013

Published 2013-01-24 19:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-31 01:11:57 UTC

Prologue

 A leaf fluttered above Ponyville.

Gusting winds howled above the surfaces of sun-kissed rooftops, guiding the leaf along its way across town. Slowly but surely, along with the forces of nature, the pull of gravity made its impact on the leaf’s path, bringing it down closer to ground level with every flutter. Its origin was unknown, its purpose unclear; but the one thing that anypony watching would know about it—if there were any in the first place—was where it was heading.

Straight towards a wide open window of a homely little tree-library, where the resident unicorn was busy brightening up her living space.

‘Ah, finally some fresh air!’ Twilight Sparkle said as she leaned her head out the window, allowing brushes of air to smooth past her purple cheeks. ‘I should’ve known better than to leave the window open. It’s not like it was going to rain or anything...’

‘Twilight, did you finally take a break from your book?’ Spike questioned from the second floor, stretching his arms as high as he could. Taking in a deep breath, he let out a bellowing yawn that nearly startled himself in his half-asleep, eyelid-drooping state. ‘I heard the creaking of the window and figured it was time to get out of bed.’

‘No, it’s fine Spike. You can go back to sleep if you need to; I was just opening the window to let a bit of fresh air come in.’ Craning her head upwards, Twilight stared at the sky, bemused. ‘I can’t believe we have had perfectly clear weather for over a month now. Spike, how long has it been exactly?’

Lifting his claws up to his face, Spike rubbed his eyes as he stumbled down the stairs. ‘Ah... how am I supposed to know that?’

‘We recorded the weather every day to make sure something like “chocolate rain” doesn’t go unrecorded like it did last month, Spike. Is your memory escaping you?’ After a slow nod from the young dragon, a quick motion of Twilight’s hoof towards a simplistic wooden desk directed Spike’s attention. The desk, while undecorated and uncoloured, held several notes and quills placed in neat order. ‘When you get there—if you manage to get there, that is—' Twilight recoiled at Spike's groggy demeanor, 'mark down “few clouds, no precipitation”.’

A sudden sense of attentiveness filled up in Spike's expression as he listened to the request, raising an eyebrow while he slowly began to grasp the situation. 'Wait, I remember that now... another day without funky weather? That's really weird, let me write it down here...' Spike trailed off, making his way towards a thin white quill. In mere moments, its small point was covered in a shining liquid stemming from a half-empty glass inkwell beside the note.

'Great, thank you Spike. Now—'

A quiet whistle sounded through the window, interrupting Twilight mid-sentence. As her horn began glowing a raspberry colour to close the window, she found that it was too late; a burst of wind thrashed its way inside, forcing Twilight’s mane to fly back and nearly knocking her off of her own hooves. As quickly as the burst had begun, a peaceful silence filled the library as her initial surprise began to fade away.

Both Spike and Twilight stood blankly, the dragon staring at the ruffled mess that his friend's mane had become. It took all of his effort to keep his laughter held in at the comedic sight.

'Well, that was quite odd.’ Twilight looked to her friend’s struggle. ‘Is something the matter, Spike? You look like you're about to sneeze or something!'

A quick gesture to her head was all that Spike could give behind his cooped-up laughter.

'I don't know what you're trying to say. What is it—oh, what's this?' Twilight's wandering eyes caught a small, indiscernible object lying on the base of her window's wooden frame. 'Ah, it looks like it came from the gust. Let's see what it is!'

Enveloping the curious item with her magic, it slowly hovered over to a purple, stuck-out hoof. The window was soon enveloped in the same glow as the object had been in and, after a quick movement inwards, the window panes were shut, blocking out any further sound.

Twilight took a look at the pink, blue-veined and almost papery article that was held on her hoof, furrowing her brow as she deepened her fascination into the recent discovery.

‘Uh, Twilight?’ Spike piped in, walking over to the unicorn to take a glimpse for himself. ‘What’s gotten you so focused? The wind is gone, you know.’

‘Yes, I know. But I can’t tell exactly what this is...’ Twilight brought her hoof right up to her eyes, ‘...it looks something similar to a leaf. It’s as if it was a teardrop and it has veins like most leaves would.’

‘So what’s the matter—oh, what is that? Pink and blue do not look good together.’ Spike was now leaning his head right over Twilight’s shoulder with curiosity etched all over his face, prompting a slight jump of surprise.

‘Don’t do that! I’m really focused on this; the surprise doesn’t help.’ Twilight pondered for a moment and took a quick glance at the rows of neat, organized books. ‘But it would help if you could find some catalogues or something for plants. Maybe one of them will have an entry on whatever this... thing is.’

A quick nod of his head and Spike set to work with his ladder, peering over every book’s spine as he passed by each one. Spike muttering several words to himself and shaking his head repeatedly was a common sight for the ensuing minutes. ‘It might just be a painted leaf or something, maybe a prank by Pinkie or somepony else,’ Spike eventually said, turning his head from his search for a brief moment.

‘That would be quite petty, even for Pinkie.’ Twilight shook her head. ‘Besides, even if it was a prank, I want to make sure of that. These veins look too authentic anyway.’

‘Yeah, but—oh, I think I found something!’ Spike pulled out a green-coloured tome from the top shelf, keeping one claw on the ladder for stability. The text proved difficult for the young dragon to grab with just one claw, however, and soon found his balance failing him; falling to the floor was, needless to say, the result.

Still clutching the book, Spike’s descent was halted immediately as he found himself surrounded by a warm, sparkling glow he had already seen several times that day. Twilight was looking straight back at him with a half-smiling, eyebrow-raised expression, and soon after released her magical grip softly enough for him to land safely.

‘Thanks, Twilight.’ Spike held out the book still clutched in his grip. ‘I think this might be what you need.’

Twilight peered over at the book’s cover, keeping the leaf in her hoof steady as she did so. The text on the front readFarmer Green’s 100 Plants! in big yellow writing, but besides that, only green covered the rest of the book.

‘Not much of a fun book, if you ask me,’ Spike inputted.

‘It’s not actually all that much fun to find plants though, is it? Let’s give this a read.’ As the book opened its contents to the two readers, a distinct cracking sound came from its pages, crying out as if from pain. ‘Wow, I’m not sure this book has ever been opened. It’s supposed to have a pleasant sound when it’s opened for the first time, so this must be quite old!’

‘Alright, where should we start?’

‘Well, we have no idea what this would be classified as,’ Twilight said, setting down the leaf in front of the book, ‘so I think looking in the index for “pink” is the best choice.’

With a few more creaks from the paper, pages were flipped from various sorts of green, brown and yellow leaves and plants ready to be analyzed. As the images of different colours and sizes were no longer present, long lists of words took their places.

‘And... here! This is the “p” index, so we should be able to find it if... ah...’

‘Twilight? Is something the matter?’

‘Well, it seems that pink isn’t even in the index, so this leaf is one of either two things; an anomaly like you thought originally, or it could be a new species of plant that nopony has ever discovered. I’d wager that it’s not some new plant, judging by its oddity, but either way we should go tell someone about this and see what they think.’

‘But whom would you ask, Twilight?’

‘I know somepony with a love for wildlife! Maybe she’ll be able to help!’

***

Twilight looked up at the flowery surface covering the majority of the structure in front of her, nearly encompassing everything save a few wooden doors and glass windows scattered here and there. Had a path not been set out towards it, it might have proved difficult to track if Twilight had not been familiar with it beforehand.

‘Look at all of that greenery, Spike. The entire roof—and more, even—is just surrounded by moss and grass or whatnot. Imagine if it was encased in pink like the leaf! That’d look pretty silly, huh?’

Spike looked flatly at Twilight. ‘You’re really curious to find out what that leaf means, don’t you?’

Twilight nodded shyly and turned towards the front door, giving it a few quick knocks before backing away a couple of paces.

‘I was ranting?’ Twilight let out an exasperated sigh. ‘Well, it doesn’t actually matter. Let’s just get this over with so I don’t have to wonder about it.

‘He...hello?’ a calm, quiet voice creeped out from the front door, just barely edging out of the slightly ajar entrance. The sliver of an opening in the door didn’t reveal much, but once a wary eye took a peep out and noticed its visitors, the door swung open. The yellow pony waiting at the front door smiled in delight as her eyes met her guests’ own. ‘Oh, hello Twilight! How are you today—oh! What happened to your mane?'

‘Huh?' A quick movement of the unicorn's hoof and her mangled mane was partially visible in front of her. Spike giggled, but was quickly silenced as a sharp glare was shot in his direction. 'Never mind that. Fluttershy, there was something I wanted you to check out—if you have the time, of course. I wouldn’t want to be a burden.’ Twilight looked to Spike’s bag sheepishly, thinking of the anomaly lying inside and how somepony else would react to it.

‘Oooh, what is it? I’ve got the whole day free, so I’d be glad to help however I can!’ Fluttershy said, smiling brightly and abandoning any hint of shyness from her tone of voice.

‘Well,’ Twilight motioned her hoof to Spike, who promptly dug into his bag and pulled out the pink leaf, ‘I was wondering if you had any idea what this thing is. We looked through a catalogue, and we couldn’t find anything even remotely similar to it—other than the fact that it’s shaped just like a leaf.’

‘Hmm, could you hold it out a little closer? I can’t get a good look at it.’’

Twilight thrust out her hoof to give a curious Fluttershy a better look. As she peered over it, her eyebrows furrowed and narrowed inward just as Twilight had done before, but this time there was no sign of interest or any emotion at all.

‘...Fluttershy?’ Twilight looked worriedly to her friend. ‘Is something the matter?’

No response.

‘Fluttershy? I know the pink might seem a little weird, but I need to know if you—’

‘BREEEEEEEEEE!’

Fluttershy’s sudden eruption came as a large surprise to Twilight, who was nearly startled away from the cottage. The leaf, however, remained perched on her outstretched hoof, unaware of the events surrounding it. Fluttershy didn’t seem too aware of herself either; her face was blank and ever-staring, gazing directly in front of her with no sign of life or movement.

‘Fluttershy!’ Twilight exclaimed, putting her hooves on her friend’s shoulder. After a few rigid shakes, still no response came from the mare.‘’Fluttershy, what happened? Why did you cry out like that?’

As quickly as it had arrived, the trance left and Fluttershy’s expression was back to its normal self. Tilting her head to the side, Fluttershy looked straight ahead with an innocent stare. ‘Huh? What are you talking about, Twilight?’ Fluttershy lowered her gaze and withdrew her eyes. ‘...Did I do something wrong?’

Twilight’s eyes opened in shock, with Spike’s own soon following suit. The leaf was all but forgotten, but it still rested neatly on the unicorn’s hoof nonetheless. ‘You didn’t know you just cried out loud like that?! Spike, don’t tell me you didn’t see that!’

‘I most definitely did, and I’m as shocked as you are!’

‘Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with me! Maybe it was just your imagination getting a little excited! Anypony can have active imaginations, you know!’ Fluttershy said, offering a friendly smile in place of her earlier stagnation.

‘That’s an amusing thought, but—’ Twilight stopped for a moment as a sight in the distance caught her eye. A pink, fluffy image that left just as quickly as it had arrived; but its identity was unmistakable.

A chocolate rain cloud.

‘Wait, did either of you see that?’ The only response she was met with were two shrugs followed by a subsequent head shake. ‘I haven’t seen a chocolate rain cloud since...’

‘Since when, Twilight? I didn’t see it, but I still believe you, even though that seems pretty unlikely. We see plenty of unlikely stuff every day, eh?’ Spike said empathetically, reaching out his claw to pat his friend on the back. ‘Don’t worry about it too much, chocolate rain sounds like a good thing!’

‘...since Discord.’ Twilight turned around and stuffed the leaf in Spike’s bag. ‘Spike, let’s go to the Canterlot Labyrinth!’

‘The... the Canterlot Labyrinth? I haven’t been there in ages!’ Spike recalled, racking his brain for memories he spent the big city. ‘Have you visited that place recently?’

‘Yes, when we were hunting down the elements to fight off Discord.’ Fluttershy nodded her head in agreement. ‘I can’t believe he’s back, I thought we sealed him in stone! How is any of this possible?’ Twilight shook her head to dispel her confusion. ‘We have to stop him. Fluttershy, I’ll come back soon with more details!’

‘Take care, Twilight!’ Fluttershy, acting as she normally would and oblivious of the events that transpired, called out. ‘I would suggest some rest later, you seem a little tired if anything!’

Twilight took no notice of the gesture and lowered herself for Spike, who promptly hopped on her back with his bag held securely on his shoulders. With a quick burst of speed, the unicorn galloped down the path fast enough to nearly jostle Spike off her back.

‘Hey, where are we really going? You aren’t actually going to go all the way to Canterlot right now, are you?' Spike raised an eyebrow.

'No, I'm going to try and teleport,' Twilight said between breaths. 'Some weird things are going on, and I have a sneaking suspicion it's Discord. I know you didn't see him much—if at all—but I have to warn you that he's dangerous. Crazy, but clever and dangerous.'

'Now you really are acting crazy!' Spike exclaimed. 'I mean, seriously? You think you can just teleport all the way to Canterlot from here?'

'Well, I figured with the other odd things that happened today, something weird should go in my favour. Discord is probably watching and would want me to teleport straight to him anyway. Besides, this could all just be a massive hoax! I won't be able to teleport if things are just a coincidence, so there's no harm done!'

A deep sigh and Spike gave up, defeated. ‘'Alright, I trust you. But where are we going to teleport?'

Twilight came to a sudden stop in front of City Hall. After a few moments of circling around in thought, she nodded her head and took in a deep breath.

'I just needed to run around to gather my thoughts and rationalize this crazy thing I'm trying.' A deep breath out, and a few sparks of magic erupted from her horn, sizzling before hitting the ground and fading to nothingness. 'Well, here goes nothing. Stay close, Spike.'

'Will do.' Twilight winced as she felt a forceful tug on her mane. 'I hope you know what you're doing. For both of our sakes.'

A deep breath in, a deep breath out. Twilight continued this rhythm until she dropped into a state of complete relaxation—a state where she forgot all about the weird pink leaf and Discord—that flowed through her body; all that was left was a mental image of the Canterlot Labyrinth. As her thoughts built up the picture, a glow began surrounding her horn, slowly strengthening into a brilliant shade of raspberry.

And, in a sudden puff of magic, the horn’s glow vanished along with its owner.

***

Canterlot Labyrinth was just how Twilight remembered it: a classically simple hedge pathway with a few passages that all led to the same location and without dead-ends or enclosed spaces as it had been under Discord. Even most of the statues were placed just as they were supposed to be, staring down the freshly-teleported duo in their stone representations.

Save one glaring entry, that is.

'I can't believe that worked!’ Spike exclaimed, reeling with shock as he dismounted his companion in favour of the well-trodden soil beneath them. 'I mean, I didn't think you were wrong, Twilight, but it's still cool that you can do that!'

Twilight’s expression did not echo Spike’s sentiments, only concerned about completing their plan.

'Let's not celebrate yet. That chocolate rain cloud and this leaf are still pointing towards Discord's mischief... and now that I think about it, he may be behind the clear skies too. I figured since he should be in stone that this would be the best place to look for him.'

Spike's mind chose to wander off. 'So this is the labyrinth after all this time, huh?' Spike said, looking around with wide open eyes and keen interest etched all over his face. 'Doesn't look a touch different.’ Spike pointed a claw to a tall, intimidating statue looking down at them with stone eyes. ‘Even the draconequus statue is still here.'

'Draconequus? Spike, don’t you know that this statue is Discord?' Twilight reeled in shock. 'Wow, I didn't realize that you hadn't seen him yet. Wait a second, why is he here?'

'Hasn't he always been here?'

'No, he was imprisoned. If he's still in stone, he'd be up in Princess Celestia's castle most likely.’

Spike shrugged nonchalantly. 'Well, that's how I remember him to be. Memories stick with you, I guess.'

The word “memories” rang through Twilight’s thoughts like a sudden alarm.

Twilight’s mind whirled as her own memories traced back to the last time she met Discord. The fluttering pink leaf, the inexplicable weather, chocolate rain falling from pink clouds, Discord’s statue in the wrong place. Some of these facts are chaotic in nature, some the villain’s own trademark. Her eyes widened in shock as the realization hit her.

‘Spike,’ Twilight breathed, a rapidly growing feeling of dread creeping up on her, ‘do you remember what the sky looked like the day Celestia called us up to confront Discord?'

'It was a mostly clear sky with a few clouds, I think?' Spike muttered, looking to the clouds as if they held the answers he was looking for.

'Memories—Fluttershy, the sky, the rain—they’re just memories. They’ve all happened before we fought Discord!'

Spike narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, looking to Twilight as if waiting for a response. After a few moments, he broke the momentary silence. ‘Twilight, you're acting crazy. What about me? They weren't my memories, and I'm here. You even said yourself that you've never seen the leaf before!'

'I might be able to explain that for you, young dragon.'

The deep, bellowing voice came seemingly from nowhere, accompanied by some approaching thunderclouds. A slight chuckle from the voice prompted a frantic Twilight and Spike to look everywhere they could, searching for the speaker’s source.

'Is that Discord?’ Twilight waited for another word to boom out, anxious to track it down. Her head darted from the hedges, to the sky and back at another hedge to try and catch a glimpse of the villain.‘Where are you? Show yourself!'

'Now, that won't be necessary for now. Let's take a look about what's going on though, shall we?' the voice said, amused. 'Based on what I've heard, these are memories, hmm? Now, the leaf seemed to be my own fault when I was being chaotic or something, but never mind silly details like that. Now, we’ve finally come to the best part. If this is a memory, then where are you right now?'

'I'm not going to play games with you!’ Twilight thundered, snorting and stomping in anger. ‘How did you escape, and where are you?'

Another crack of laughter came from the voice, followed by the further movement of the thunderclouds. 'I must say, these clouds look vicious. I'd suggest answering me before they get too close if I were you.’

'Fine,’ Twilight said, looking down in defeat. ‘I'm in... the Canterlot Labyrinth, I guess?'

'Close.' The clouds continued to roll in. Twilight’s eyes looked up and a slight shake began shuddering through her body, growing more and more violent as the clouds made their way inwards.

Twilight pondered for a few moments, with the insistence of Spike's prodding urging her to finally answer. 'My... my memories?'

'Closer, you're almost there!' The crack of thunder made its way all around them, nearly enveloping everything in its piercing screeches.

Twilight looked again with horror up at the sky as she realized the true nature of the situation. Spike followed suit with her subsequent downcast expression, aware of the implications the truth would bring.

'I... I'm in my head. I have been for the last month.'

'Yes, and?'

'The last month of memories, all the times I thought me and my friends shared...' Twilight's thoughts flickered to saving Canterlot at the Royal Wedding, to the adventures with time, to the day she got Rainbow Dash into reading and even the times when she and her friends just got together at Sugarcube Corner and had some cake. She looked back at the moments and smiled, but as the cackling voice reminded her, the smile was a lie too. '...it was all my head just making a reality for me.'

'Exactly, Twilight Sparkle! I'm so glad you were able to accept this so quickly! Now, let's talk in the real world so we can speak face-to-face, mm?'

A snap from the clouds and Twilight saw only black, rendering her unconscious as her senses slowly faded away. There was no impact on the ground, though, as far as she could tell.

She knew it wasn't a real spot of ground anyway.

***

Small slivers of light poked through Twilight's partially-opened eyelids as life began entering her body. Her every move was a creaky, stiff one, and soon she began calling out in a creaky voice for water to quench her dried-out throat. Slowly but surely, her eyes shook away the crust that had accumulated around the sides, revealing a blinding light too bright to bear as she remained lying down on a cold surface. As her eyes began making vague sense of objects when they came into relative focus, her hooves began stretch and wrench away the seized-up feelings held in for so long.

When the dust settled, Twilight was on her hooves; but just barely. It took all of her half-conscious effort not to fall, but she soon found her strength returning to her as her hunger and thirst left.

'N... no water needed. Ah, S-Spike? Where are you?'

'Remember? He was just a memory like everypony else in your head, right?' the same voice called out in front of her, albeit in a casual, amused voice instead of a bellowing one. 'He's somewhere around Equestria, I'm sure you'll find him some time in the future. Now, have your eyes adjusted? I kept you fed and watered while you were down—watered!’ it said, giving a slight chuckle. ‘Silly me, I'm treating you like a household plant now!'

A few moments went by and Twilight's surroundings were in discernible view, showcasing upside-down buildings, zigging and zagging checkerboard pathways and—to her complete lack of surprise—pink clouds sputtering out torrents of chocolate rain wherever they went.

And in front of her, sitting in a throne on the top of a marble-stone hill, was a familiar draconequus that forced her to shut her eyes firmly in disbelief, horror and sadness.

'Welcome to Equestria, Twilight Sparkle.'

I - Let The Games Begin!

Disbelief, horror, distress: all emotions that flowed through Twilight Sparkle as she turned to her surroundings, seeing sights she had not seen in some time. Upturned buildings, pathways made of butter and other slippery surfaces, and to her greatest dismay, a cackling draconequus pointing his razor-sharp talons straight at her were only a few key examples.

As far as Twilight remembered, there weren't a whole lot of changes to Ponyville from Discord's first reign. It all looked pretty well the same, the difference being that there wasn't a living soul present besides the unicorn and the chaotic villain himself.

‘Well, it seems you are in quite the conundrum, Twilight Sparkle. No friends to try and stop me, no pesky Elements of Harmony, and certainly no hope to stop me from doing whatever I want.’ With a snap of his right claw’s talons, a cane appeared in Discord’s right paw. Getting up from his throne, he hunched himself over and thinned his eyes into a faint squint. ‘Oh,’ he said in a creaky voice, ‘it seems that waiting for you all this time has given me a bad back.'

Twilight watched silently as the chaotic spirit twisted his torso until his back was facing the front. With a quick jab of his cane towards his exposed side, his back straightened up. ‘Wow, that feels so much better!’ Discord said, wiggling his arms and legs as he twisted his body back to normal. ‘Now that that’s out of the way, I’m sure you have plenty of questions, hmm?’

‘Where are my friends, Discord?’ Twilight replied frantically, baring her teeth and furrowing her eyebrows. ‘What did you do to them? And where the the Elements of Harmony?’

Discord let a quick, amused chuckle escape from his lips. ‘I’d imagine you have plenty of questions like that, but I think it’s in my best interests to not give you the answers.’ Discord snapped his talons once more, this time bringing on an unopened pink umbrella. ‘I can assure you that your friends are very much alive, and are just fine where they are. But I think that will be all for now; go have fun in my world!’

Discord took a look at the umbrella in his claw. ‘Oh, and you might need this.’ As if on cue, a pink cloud appeared above Twilight’s head, threatening to dump its contents all over her. She quickly accepted the umbrella and opened it, only to discover that the opening faced upwards. Only some of the ensuing chocolate rain was caught in the umbrella, the remainder raining down on a disgruntled Twilight.

And when she turned to face Discord, he had disappeared, leaving behind only a faint echo of cackling laughter.

‘I... I can’t believe this is happening. This must be a dream, right Twilight?’ she said behind the drenched mane draped over her face. ‘I know! I’ll just go home and sleep, then I can wake up and everything will be back to normal!’

Twilight tossed the umbrella to the side and slowly trudged her way along the slanted checkerboard road, trying to make out individual buildings. Through the wall of chocolatey liquid torrenting around her, she could make out a distinct sign adorned with a simple pink cupcake and topped with rainbow sparkles.

An exasperated sigh was all she could muster at the sight of the building, as words could not describe the pile of splinters and planks that once made up Sugarcube Corner. Although it had all settled down and contained no signs of life at all, the wood was in pristine condition, somehow protected from worldly elements.

‘See! This is all just some weird dream. There’s no way wood would look that nice after a month of just sitting there!’

‘I’m sorry, but I’m afraid it’s true.'

An aquamarine mare stood several feet on Twilight’s left, looking baggy-eyed and downcast as she craned her neck slightly downwards. ‘We all wished it was just a dream. Not much has changed since those wishes were swept away. But where have you been? I don't think anypony has seen you for quite some time.’

‘Wow, it’s good to see a friendly face!’ Twilight smiled brightly, even prompting a slight twitch of a smile to appear on Lyra's face. ‘But why shouldn’t I believe this is all just a dream? I certainly seem convinced it is at this point.'

Lyra kept a slight distance from the torrents of chocolate rain coming down. ‘Well, I don’t know how I’d prove it to you. The past few years have been really hard what with Discord doing all of this and Applejack—’

‘Wait, hold on a second,’ Twilight said, squinting up at the hovering cloud, ‘a few years? Even if this isn’t a dream, it’s only been a month since I went to sleep. This happening for that long is impossible.'

‘Sleep? Sounds pretty weird that you were asleep for all that time. I guess it doesn’t matter to me if you’re right or wrong though.’ Lyra sighed and closed her eyes. ‘It’s been over a year since Bon-Bon up and vanished, and like I said, even longer that we’ve been dealing with this.’

‘Why did you stay? Where is everypony else?’ Twilight asked, eyes widening with a new sense of surprise and horror. ‘Where are my friends?’

‘I don’t really know where else to go, so I just go around Ponyville trying to salvage memories. I guess after so long, doing the same thing doesn’t really bother you anymore. The rest of Ponyville didn’t feel the same way, so most of them left when they had you pegged as lost, or worse. It was a really dark time, although the few that remained slowly left and made it even worse.’

A pang of guilt coursed through Twilight as she imagined the other residents of Ponyville waiting for her return. ‘So where did they go? Did they mention any place in particular?’

‘Discord has an eye on a lot of things, but he can’t keep an eye on everything at once. I’d imagine some got away to some neighbouring cities, but I can’t say what their fate became.’ Lyra put her hoof to her mane and began rubbing it, racking her brain for memories. ‘As for your friends, I’m not sure where they went. I heard Applejack went by train out north, maybe she went in that direction.’

Twilight closed her eyes and winced. ‘I know that this might be true, but I really don't want to believe it. A part of me knows that this seems too real for it to be a dream. But I need my friends more than anything right now if that's true. Do you know where they went exactly?’

‘My my, I leave for five minutes and already it seems Miss Sparkle is getting into some trouble,’ Discord’s voice called out in the previously still, unmoving air. In the flicker of an instant, his annoyed, cross-armed self was standing over the two mares, staring down Lyra with a flare of accusation burning in his eyes. ‘I only heard the last bit, but I didn’t think that somepony who still lived here would want to be punished so willingly. I assumed that you would go and be sulky for the rest of your days.’

‘Please, Discord!’ Lyra begged, nearly breaking on the verge of tears. ‘Please, I won’t do it again! I didn’t spoil anything for you!’

‘Hmm, I suppose sending you to the Badlands would be a little harsh. I know what I’ll do in its place.'

‘Yes, you’re going to leave her alone,’ Twilight said, moving in between the two. ‘I’ll send you back into stone where you belong.’

‘Oh, isn’t that just touching? In case you haven’t noticed,' Discord waved his arm around him, showcasing their surroundings, 'none of your friends are around with those elements handy.’ Discord took a quick glance at Twilight’s horn and smiled. ‘Unless you think that your magic can overpower me?’

‘No, but I’ll get the elements—'

After a brief chuckle and a quick snap of his talons, Discord took another look at Twilight’s head, this time grinning much wider than before. ‘And how are you going to get them, wherever they are, without your magic?’

'What are you talking ab—ah!' Twilight interrupted herself mid-sentence as her eyes drifted upwards, widening in shock as she noticed a distinct lack of a horn protruding from her head. 'What have you done?! Where is my horn?'

'All in due time. First, I have to get rid of this troublemaker here and we can start business.' Discord pushed Twilight to the side—'Hey!'—and moved his paw towards the terrified Lyra, who withdrew as low as she could to the ground. Quivering with fear, she was nearly on two knees and begging with her hooves to the menacing figure.

'No, not the Badlands! Anything but that!' she said, terror laced with every word that was uttered. 'Don't! Please...'

Discord's paw settled at her mouth, pressing against the mare's lips as if to muffle any sound that tried to slip away. As he lifted it away, Lyra was still right where she had been—albeit with one feature missing.

'Oh Celestia,' Twilight gasped, jaw hanging loose in horror, 'you got rid of her mouth!'

A mumble was all that could come out of Lyra's efforts, her mouth now acting as a flat surface with only two nares for breathing still present. A new wave of panic flew through her body, prompting her to attempt any screams or yelling to make some sort of impact. To Discord's satisfaction, she began bolting away towards the other side of Ponyville, a few tears flying behind her as she ran.

'Well, I don't think she'll be much of a concern anymore,' Discord said, smiling once more at his success.

Twilight, on the other hand, could do nothing more than stare into the distance at the mare that now remained merely as a speck that was slowly becoming smaller and smaller. 'You... you took away her ability to speak...'

'Indeed I have. She's rather fortunate that I didn't send her into the Badlands, though. Speech wouldn't have really mattered if that was the case.' Discord turned to Twilight and rubbed his claw with his paw. 'Now, let's get down to business, shall we? I didn't free you for nothing, you know.'

'Business? You just silenced a mare, told me that my world—the real world, it seems—is an unlivable place that I'm stuck in and have no way of escaping—'

'Now now, you saw the pony that just left is still alive. My little paradise is livable, you just need to get used to it is all.'

'I'm used to how things are normally laid out, Discord. You did all of this,' Twilight waved her own hoof to her surroundings as her speaker had done, 'and you expect me to comply with your "business"? Even for a spirit of chaos, you can’t be serious.'

'Oh, I am. And think about your situation for a little bit. You have no knowledge of where your friends are, no idea of what the world has become, and I can do whatever I want to you. Don't you think you'd ought to listen to me when I have all the pieces to this little game?'

Twilight shifted her hooves and looked to the sky, closing her eyes in defeat. 'Alright, Discord. You win. What do you want from me?'

'Splendid! It’s great that for once, the mighty Twilight Sparkle isn’t trying to fight back. I think I’ll celebrate by getting rid of this nasty little cloud here.’’ Discord licked his lips and blew away the pink cloud above Twilight, whistling it away into the distance until it became an indiscernible dot on the horizon.. The unicorn shook what she could get out of her coat and mane, but for the moment, she remained a sticky mess. ‘I must admit, it is quite a bore when you can do anything you want in a world where nopony can fight back. That’s precisely why I played a little game with you and your friends the last time you saw me. You do remember that game, right?’

Twilight turned away sheepishly. ‘Yes, I remember going into the maze and seeing my friends change... but you weren’t fair! You put me to sleep when we beat you fair and square!’

‘Fair? Me?’ Discord placed his paw on his chest innocently. ‘I’m not saying that I’m always fair, but you can’t tell me that I wasn’t being fair. I had a game and you ponies lost it, so the game ended outside of the maze.’

‘But what about the riddle?’

‘The riddle was just a part of the game. It doesn’t matter that you solved the riddle, that wasn’t a game itself.’

‘But... how did you stop us from using the Elements of Harmony? I’m certain Celestia told me you couldn’t stop its power!’

‘Oh, I suppose you don’t really know what happened, did you?’ Discord gave a menacing laugh and mimicked a confident Twilight, even pointing a talon outwards from his head in the shape of a horn. ‘Oh Discord, you can’t beat us now! The elements are untouchable and you lose! Please, just because I can’t touch or change them doesn’t mean I can’t change the ponies wearing it. Just a quick snap of my claw and boom, nighty night Twilight Sparkle!

‘And as for those pesky elements, that proved no effort at all. Did you know I can control other living things to do what I want?’

Twilight stared in horror for what seemed like the millionth time to her. ‘You didn’t...’

‘I did. The Elements of Harmony were taken by some ponies throughout separate corners of Equestria. But I didn’t have them unfindable, which leads us to the business I had planned.’

‘Ugh... what is it this time? Do you have some game for me to play again?’

A deep, menacing laughter erupted from the villain’s mouth at the question, thunderstorms bellowing behind him and only making things seem more disastrous. ‘Why yes, Twilight Sparkle. You’re going to go on the biggest game of search-and-find that has ever been played, all to find a few trinkets that will supposedly save all of Equestria!’

‘Uh... huh?’ Twilight asked, bemused. ‘I don’t quite understand.’

A slight twitch of a frown appeared on Discord’s face, his eyes beginning to fill with contempt. ‘I thought you were a smart pony, but I suppose if I must explain, then I will. Starting from now, you are going to go across Equestria, find your friends and the elements, come to me and defeat me to save all of Equestria.’

‘You’re...’ Twilight’s eyes narrowed, ‘...you’re just going to let me go and locate the elements and then I’m allowed to just stop you? Sounds a little weird that you’d be so willing to lose.’

‘Of course I am! Oh, I forgot to mention that you won’t be using any magic at all,’ Discord smirked at the empty space over Twilight’s head, ‘and you have a month to do it all.’

‘...You’re not serious.’

‘You think this is the nose of a liar?’ After a quick puff of magic, Discord’s nose began to elongate until his own paw pressed it back into place. ‘You can use the “magic of friendship” or whatever to help you. Maybe that will let you teleport all over Equestria, hmm?’

‘You’re just going to leave me alone with nowhere to start?’ Twilight pondered for a moment. ‘You know, if I started without any leads, it wouldn’t be very much fun for you to see, would it?’

‘Hmm,’ Discord began rubbing his chin, ‘that is an excellent point. I would tell you where your friends are or where your precious Celestia is, but that would make it far too easy. So I’ll just leave you with a riddle.’

‘What?’

‘Don’t complain, it’s better than nothing.’ The villain cleared his throat and began to usher out his riddle. ‘Stick with this riddle, and you’ll find an element where clear turns into white. Stick with it longer, and you’ll find the same element after a tough fight.’

Twilight stood where she was, mouth still agape. ‘...Again, what?’

‘It’s not my fault if you don’t get it yet. That’s all I’m giving you. Any more questions?’

‘This is ridiculous...’

‘Ridiculous? No, I stopped being ridiculous a while ago. In fact, I didn’t even do that much to the land itself, save maybe here in Ponyville. I just tweaked a few things, sat back and watched the ponies create the world for themselves. I’m sure you’ll see soon enough what I mean.’ Discord took a quick glance at his wrist and gasped in mock surprise. ‘Goodness, look at the time! I have to go watch some fun in Manehattan! Now, I won’t be seeing you all of the time over the next month, as I am too busy doing other things to solely concentrate on you. Don’t go trying to hide from me though, because that will only aggravate me... you don’t want to end this game prematurely.

‘I guess I should also give you this,’ he said, holding out a curious-looking watch from the palm of his paw that was cautiously accepted by Twilight,  ‘just so you can see how much time is left until the game is over. No pressure, of course!’

‘Discord...’

‘No need to thank me. Just let the games begin! Arrivederci!’ And, with a puff of magic and a final echoing of cackling laughter, Discord left Twilight to Ponyville with his parting words, her wits and a watch that was now held securely on her right foreleg.

‘I... what am I supposed to do?’ Twilight raised her hoof to see the watch, which was a simple black leather strap with a plain silver headpiece that contained a circular dial. The dial had two white arrows, both of varying lengths. At the moment, both were pointed to the “0” mark engraved in white ink at the top, but the large one was slowly moving towards the first notch that was marked with a “1”. ‘How does this thing even work? Is this just a regular watch?’ She bent her head down to try and turn it, but found that without a horn, the practice was futile.

Sighing, the purple unicorn sulked down the Ponyville path as Lyra had done, slowly making her way towards the center. Along the way, a familiar shape began poking out from the top of the ordinary buildings, illustrating several green branches sticking out from an unseen source.

‘Wait, is that the library?’ Twilight hurried into a gallop towards the sight, stopping at a large tree located in the center of several other buildings. ‘It is! And it’s untouched! Maybe I can get some supplies, think about the situation a little... this still seems a little surreal. Heck, I’m even talking to myself!’

Without a moment to waste, she hurried into the building with slight feelings of relief and security. When she went through the untouched wooden door, though, the feelings quickly vanished to make way for a new feeling.

Happiness.

‘Is... is that you Twilight?’ the purple dragon’s voice questioned from inside, the owner stretching his arms after rising from the untarnished floor.

‘Spike, it really is me!’ Twilight exclaimed, eyes widening—although this time for joy instead of disbelief. ‘Is that the real you?’

‘Well, the last thing I remember was blacking out at the Canterlot Maze, and then I found myself lying on the floor!’

Twilight flung herself at the unsuspecting Spike who, after letting his initial feeling of surprise vanish, welcomed the warm embrace by returning the favour. ‘I guess we’re back in the real world then, right?’

‘Oh Spike, I’m so glad to see you!’ Twilight tightened her grip on the dragon, who had begun to gasp a little for air. The unicorn quickly let go after a few bouts of ‘Air! Air!’ wheezed out of the dragon. ‘Sorry about that. I’m just so glad that you are the same dragon I’ve known for the past month! Everypony else was just a dream!’

‘Wait, what?’ Spike scratched his head. ‘How long have I been out for?’

‘Well, it’s been nearly a half an hour since we both saw Discord together, but get this: you have been unconscious for several years, and somehow, you were stuck in my fantasy world.’

Spike said nothing, nor did he make any big movements as he let the information sink in. A few moments later, he gulped and began shivering. ‘W-What? That means I haven’t eaten in ages! I’m going to die!’

‘No, I think Discord has some way of keeping ponies—and dragons, of course—alive when they’re in the fantasy world. It’s like we were put in stasis or something... ah, if Lyra never saw us asleep, maybe that explains it. Something like limbo or...’

‘What are you talking about?’ Spike inquired, confusion etched all over his face. ‘Where was Lyra? Can you tell me a little about what’s going on?’

‘Ah, I forgot that you just woke up. Here, let’s sit down for a bit and talk—’

‘I thought something would happen again,’ Discord’s voice called out seemingly from nowhere. ‘I should really keep a closer eye on you.’

‘Discord!’ Twilight exclaimed, craning her neck to and fro to try and catch a glimpse of the draconequus. ‘Spike was in my fantasy world with me, he should be allowed as a part of my team!’

‘Hmm, you raise a good point,’ the overarching voice bellowed. ‘But he is an advantage nonetheless. Looks like I’m going to make this a little more fair with my own advantage.’

‘Twilight, what’s he talking about?’

As if to answer his question, a deep rumbling resounded in the library, shaking bookshelves and desks until their contents spilled all over the previously pristine floor’s surface. A few moments later, as quickly as it had begun, the seismic shudders ceased.

‘What was that?!’ the two residents of the library exclaimed in unison.

Another deep rumbling came, this time coming from the walls. In a slow, forceful effort, their surroundings moved again, this time rising instead of shaking.

Spike could do nothing but look to his friend, panic and fear beginning to swell up in his eyes.‘What’s going on, Twilight?’

‘Spike, I think the tree is alive!’

‘Raaargh!’ the rumbling, which had transformed into an audible sound coming from the tree, cried. Twilight and Spike looked around them for the source of the movement, but found they could barely go a few feet without a sharp movement sending them hurtling in the other direction.

‘I think it’s stretching itself out... it’s only a matter of time before it realized we’re in here! Let’s get out of here!’ Twilight said hurriedly, ushering Spike to the door.

In reply, a long, thin branch burst through the door, hurtling itself towards Spike at full force. Stepping to the side just in time, the shaft rammed into an upturned bookshelf and broke apart several feet of wood. ‘Raaargh!’ the tree called out again, withdrawing the assaulting weapon slowly.

‘It’s recovering from its pain! Quick Spike, go get something sharp!’

‘Twilight, just use your magic—wait, where did your horn go?!’ Spike cried out in horror, unable to tear his gaze away from Twilight’s empty forehead.

‘No time for that! I need you to get something to cut the branches off!’

‘I don’t know if I can find some, but okay.’

Before Spike could turn around to find anything of note, another branch hurtled its way inside, this time thicker and longer than the last. Its crash course was headed for Spike again, who was struck a glancing blow on his claw from the force of the wood.

‘Spike!’ Twilight cried out, rushing towards the ailing dragon. ‘Are you alright?’

‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ Spike clutched his claw with the other, feeling each throb course through. ‘I didn’t really feel it, so that’s a plus. I guess it really damaged my nerves...’

The branch was slowly recoiling back out the door, ready to recuperate its efforts for another attack. ‘No time for worrying about this though, we’ve got bigger fish to fry,’ Spike said, still clutching his claw. ‘Don’t worry, as long as this rush I’m getting sticks with me, I won’t really mind the injured claw.’

Another shake and the library shifted from side to side, knocking both of its occupants to the floor. ‘Ah, I can’t take much more of this!’ Twilight said, exasperated and out of patience. ‘We need to distract it somehow so we can get out of here or our own home will be the death of us!’

‘Well, what would work well against a wooden branch that’s trying to kill you?’

Twilight pondered for a moment. ‘Well, axes work, and forest fires seem to—’

Both of them looked to each other with a spark or realization creeping through their eyes. A confident smile stretched across Spike’s face and he turned to the door.

‘Be careful, Spike. This tree wants to kill you.’

The same thick branch crashed through the door, this time blowing it into dozens of shards that rained all over the tree’s two occupants and nearly distracted them long enough for the incoming wood to smash into Spike. As the last of the shards passed over him, the branch nearly crashed upon his unprepared body, sending him flying backwards in a panic and narrowly missing the tip that nearly grazed his face.

‘Spike! No!’ Twilight cried out, unable to see her friend with the imposing branch blocking her line of sight. ‘No, he can’t be hit... he can’t...’

A hint of surprise crept up before the tears began flowing, however, as a distinct orange glow crept up from beneath that soon enveloped the entire branch in its fiery blaze.

‘Raaargh!’ the tree cried out once more, withdrawing its appendage for the third time. It was gone for the moment, and Spike was able to get up from his spot on the floor before it could make another move.

‘Spike, you’re okay!’ Twilight cheered.

‘There’s no time for that! It’s distracted with the flame, but I’m sure it won’t be long until it comes back... and it’ll be angry!’

Nodding her head in agreement, Twilight followed the dragon, who had been ushering her along the temporarily stable library floor towards the opening that used to be their front door. As they escaped the confines of the tree to the once-grassy Ponyville outdoors, another bout of rumbling erupted from the tree.

‘Raaargh!’

Looking back as they ran, the two saw the tree in full form; all of the branches were moving to and fro as the tree’s makeshift appendages, the massive trunk shaking with every movement it made. One of the branches, which was poised to make another move, was almost completely surrounded by a thick layer of glowing flame.

‘Keep running, Spike!’

Twilight kept running and running, not bothering to take a look behind her until the pitter-patter of Spike’s footsteps ended abruptly. ‘Spike?’

Taking a quick glance behind herself, she noticed Spike had tripped over a stuck-out branch the tree had whipped unexpectedly, the dragon clambering to get up before the incoming inflamed branch could slam into him.

Twilight said no words, choosing instead to rush at the vulnerable dragon and stick out her hoof for assistance, which was quickly and gratefully accepted. In a swift motion, she pulled him up towards herself, narrowly missing the slamming from the tree.

‘Sweet Celestia, that was close!’ Spike exclaimed, his heart pounding and his body sweating from the close call. ‘But it’s getting ready to strike again, let’s not give it that chance.’

Another bout of rushing and they reached the pile of splinters where Sugarcube Corner’s sign still rested, the tree rumbling from behind them with all of its might. Turning back once more, Twilight could see the flame engulfing more of the tree, now spreading to the main trunk and beyond as it flailed itself around.

‘Looks like that’s not an option for a home anymore, Spike. Let’s get out of this nightmare before Discord can pull any more of his sneaky little tricks, we barely got out of that one alive!’

‘Yeah, and I’m sure I’ll be feeling this claw soon enough,’ Spike said, cradling his injured claw. ‘I’m not really fond of this place anymore if it’s going to stay like this anyway.’

‘Yeah, there isn’t anything left for us here.’

The two slowed down as the faint sounds coming from the distant tree seemed to cease, and silence filled the air as they reached the border of town.

‘So, Twilight... you never told me what was going on.’

‘Well, there isn’t much to say other than that we have to find the elements, my friends and beat Discord before a month is over.’

Spike’s eyes widened in surprise as he heard the news, biting his lip while he let the information sink in. ‘I figured we’d be doing something like that. I just hope that we’re up for it... are you ready, Twilight?’

‘I didn’t think so before,’ Twilight gave Spike a bright smile, ‘but I think that if we can find our friends, no obstacle will be impossible. We’ll make it through this yet.’

‘I sure hope so.’

‘It looks like you two have a strong connection between yourselves,’ Discord’s voice bellowed from the air. ‘You both awoke from the same fantasy world at the same time... but this is just the start. I’ve got plenty more disadvantages until this little adventure is through. If you can make it through, that is...’

The wind gave a slight whistle, then silence. Discord’s voice faded from the winds and the two were alone.

‘Discord will probably be giving us a hard time—oh! Before I forget, I found this lying on top of me when I woke up.’ Spike reached in between two scales on his head and pulled out a familiar leaf, now devoid of its pink colouring. ‘It’s the leaf that we found in the other place, but it isn't pink anymore. Do you think that has any meaning?’

Twilight stared at the leaf curiously, fascinating herself with it for several moments before speaking. ‘It came with us? How odd, that doesn’t make any sense!’ She bent over to a nearby blade of grass from the side of the path and picked it with her mouth. Poking it through the base of the leaf, she weaved it into a small necklace. ‘I think the blade of grass is long enough to go around my neck. Could you tie it for me, Spike?’

‘Um, sure?’ A little confused, Spike walked over to Twilight and wrapped the necklace around her neck and began working on the knot in the back. ‘Why do you want it as a necklace?’

‘I just figured that it helped to make me realize that things weren’t always what they seemed in the fantasy world. It might help as a reminder that this isn’t how the world is supposed to be... or maybe it won’t. It’s just something I thought might work.’

Spike sighed and finished the knot. ‘I wish things were back to the way they were before. It was nice having the group all together.’

Twilight looked to the sky and reminded herself of the moments she shared with her friends when they recovered from their twisted selves during Discord’s initial reign. ‘Yeah, I wish it was too. But we’re going to make that happen.’