Celestia sat on her throne, her mane flowed in and invisible wind while she adorned a soft smile of content over the state of her kingdom. Today was as beautiful of a day as any. No issues with the griffons or zebras. Not even with other pony nations. Everyone was happy in her kingdom. Taxes were being paid. Schools were teaching children. Ponies were out on dates or anniversaries. Luna was free from Nightmare Moon. And Discord resided in his statue.
Today was perfect. Nothing could go wrong for the regal Princess Celestia.
“Hehahahahaha.” an ominous laughter filled Celestia’s throne room.
Her eyes widened and for a moment, she was in denial. Then she looked at her guards that flanked her throne, and saw their normally stoic expressions replaced with alert and fearful ones. They scanned the room like programmed machines but Celestia watched beads of sweat drop from the side of their faces. That’s when she truly knew that there was a threat to Equestria.
“Guards, check on Discord's statue. I want to know for certain that he ha-”
The large double doors of Celestia’s throne room exploded in movement and sound, quickly silencing the Princess of the sun.
“Princess! Discord’s statue is gone!” exclaimed the guard that thrust the doors open with his own hooves.
Celestia was momentarily impressed by that earth pony's show of strength to be able to push open heavy doors after sprinting to her throne room. She quickly put her admiration to the side the moment he spoke up however. Her heart fell to her stomach slowly as the words came to her ears. Her heart rate skyrocketed. She sat there for a few moments in shock before uttering a single sentence.
“The Elements.”
Celestia sprung into motion as she sprinted down her throne's staircase and towards the door.
“Grab me ink, a quill, and a scroll! Then bring it to the chamber of the Elements of Harmony!” she cleared the doorway while almost knocking the earth pony to the side. “And wake Luna!”
Discord flew high above Canterlot with a smug expression. Who’d of thought that distracted arguing guards would spur enough chaos to wake him from his slumber. It’s been two years since the incident that encased him in stone by the Elements of Harmony. But unlike Luna or Celestia, these bearers of the Elements had fears and weaknesses. And Discord was out for revenge.
“Hmmmmmm what should I do with these ponies. OH! Applejack is easy! Just remove all the trees in her orchard.” Discord laughed sadistically and teleported away.
Applejack worked on pulling a cart carrying buckets full of apples into the barn. She was just twenty yards from the barn, when a creature that looked like a love child of a serpent and a stained glass window. The farmer pony’s eyes widened and fear was present on her features.
“D-Discord.” she stated fearfully.
“Correct! Two points for Honest Applejack!” he announced in a jovial manner. Then his face significantly darkened and dawned a malicious smile. “I’ve come for revenge.”
Applejack’s heart sunk. The look Discord gave her was uncharacteristically malicious. Applejack didn’t like Discord one bit… but now the brave farm pony quivered under his terrible glare.
“I’m going to take something from you that holds significant meaning in your heart.” he said with a smile.
Applejack’s thoughts when straight to her family. And if anything were to happen to Apple Bloom she would never forgive herself. Discord snapped his fingers and all of the trees started to die. First the lively color of their green leaves melts away and they wither and die, only to fall slowly to the ground. Then the trunks get smaller and the branches follow suit. They all seemingly ‘ungrow’ and sink back into the ground to disappear and turn into apple seeds that then flew out of the ground and above Discord like a black ball that was a meter in diameter.
“Have fun without an apple farm!” Discord joyously exclaimed, seemingly back to his normal self.
He snapped his fingers and disappeared with the seeds, to leave the farm pony alone. Applejack turns and looks at the barren empty fields of Sweet Apple Acres. She falls onto her knees and begins to weep silently. The only thing left of her cherished apple farm was small holes in the ground where roots displaced the dirt and then the dirt fell into the open spaces where no roots remained.
Discord reappeared high above Ponyville with hundreds of seeds floating next to him.
“Hmmmm, what to do with you?” Discord said to the seeds. “Oh I know!” He snapped his fingers once more and they disappeared. “I hope Luna doesn’t do anything rash to those seeds, after rudely waking her. She gets so mad all the time… oh, who am I kidding she’s always mad! Hahahahaha! Luna the lunatic!” Discord laughed to himself.
“Hahahahahaha. Aaaaaaah it’s such a good feeling laughter. Speaking of laughter what should I do with Pinkie Pie?” Discord thought out loud to himself and thought for a few moments.
“Aha!” Discord disappeared.
Discord appeared in Sugarcube Corner, in front of the cash register. The ponies behind him quickly backed out of the store with fear on their faces.
“Excuse me.” started Discord to the pink mare behind the counter. Her eyes were closed.
“How may I help you, sir?” replied the mare. “If you’re wondering why I’m closing my eyes, it’s because I don’t want the Shy Cakes to feel like they're being judged.”
“Shy Cakes?” asked Discord with a grin.
“Yeah, I made them so Fluttershy can relate to somepony! She’s so shy and sensitive, so I invented Shy Cakes. Do you want one?”
“Oh, I’d love one!”
“Ok!” she zipped into the kitchen and swiftly came back out with a yellow cupcake in her hooves. “Make sure to say nice things to fill it with happiness, before you eat it! It tastes better when it’s happy!” Pinkie opened her eyes to know who she gave the cupcake too.
“Oh, how about I just fill it with chaos.” responded Discord.
Her smile faltered before her jaw dropped.
“D-Discord?”
“Correct, Element of Laughter! And I have something to tell you.” he answered with malice in his voice.
Pinkie didn’t fear Discord. But the look in his eyes made her afraid.
“W-what are you going to do?”
“OH it’s not what I’m going to do. It’s what your friends are going to do.” he snapped his fingers and Mr. and Mrs. Cake appeared behind him… they were grey.
“PINKIE!” shouted Mrs. Cake. “YOU’RE FIRED!”
“W-what?!”
Mr. Cake spoke up. “Now honey bun, we need to tell her softly so she could understand. Look Pinkie you’ve been doing worse at your job ever since the foals came into the picture.”
“GET OUT! I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE IN HERE AGAIN! YOU RUIN OUR BUISNESS AND YOU EAT OUR FOOD! NO ONE COMES TO EAT HERE! THEY COME TO SEE YOU!”
“B-but I thought you said my friends were regulars.” replied Pinkie with water in her eyes.
“I LIED!”
“B-but-but-but.” Pinkie stuttered, seemingly at a loss for words.
Discord took this as a sign to leave and in a flash he was gone.
Pinkie didn’t know what to do, so she ran upstairs to escape what she couldn’t accept. Pinkie ran into the foals room and they were playing on the ground with their toys. When they saw her however, their joyful expressions turned to scowls and they spun around to show their backs to Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie felt unwelcome. A feeling she should never get used to. And when someone experiences something bad for the first time they either deal with it… or let it eat them from the inside out.
Pinkie began to cry.
Discord reappeared in front of Carousel Boutique and began to ponder what to do with Rarity.
“Well she’s a drama queen, so it’s pretty easy to make her react to something.” Discord monologues. “I can’t simply burn down her store… or can I?” Discord smiles maliciously. “Yes, I’m sure it would take a while for a fashion designer to recover from something like that.”
Discord snapped his finger and Rarity was teleported out of the building in front of Discord. She turned around and screamed like a damsel in distress upon the sight of the spirit of chaos. Discord snapped his fingers again and a tree fell from the sky. It was very much on fire and it crashed through the roof with ease, quickly setting the building on fire.
“MY DRESSES! YOU FEIND!” shouted Rarity, tears streaming from her eyes.
Discord once again disappeared.
Rarity looked back at the burning building. Most of it was up in flames, and by the time the fire ponies arrived all the dresses were already burnt, and Rarity’s home gone along with them.
“Celestia help me.” whispered Rarity pitifully, tears weren’t enough to portray how much sorrow she felt.
Discord reappeared again above Ponyville and surveyed the burning building called Carousel Boutique. His attention turned to a lone cottage on the outskirts of town.
“Oooooooooooh, too easy.” Discord stated to himself.
Discord snapped his finger and a flash of light too him.
Fluttershy just fed all her animal friends and was resting on the couch with a well fed Angel Bunny. All was quiet… until suddenly she was upright and not in the comfort of her home.
She was out in a field surrounded by what looked like thousands of grey ponies glaring at her. She was in the middle of a circular stage, with a microphone in front of her.
“HELLO EVERYPONY!” came a familiar and scary voice. A thunderous applause erupted from the crowd of ponies.
Fluttershy looked up, and to her horror she saw Discord facing the crowd that surrounded her from all angles. Pegasi in the sky, unicorns and earth ponies on the ground. Her little stage that was suspended only four feet in the air, separated her from the ponies and she was in full view of each and every one of them. Her cheeks became red from embarrassment.
“Today, you will be entertained by the lovely Element of Kindness! FLUTTERSHY!”
“BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Fluttershy started to shake from nervousness and fear.
“Fluttershy will now sing for you!” shouted Discord and after that he disappeared.
“SING FOR US! SING FOR US! SING FOR US! SING FOR US!” chanted the crowd and Fluttershy began to sweat from the sheer number of ponies chanting for her.
She was in shock, but after a minute of trying to get her courage she began to sing.
“H-hush now quiet no-”
“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“SING BETTER YOU STUPID MARE!”
“GET OFF THE STAGE!”
She lifted her hoof to leave but discovered they were stuck to the ground. She looked down to see her hooves covered in strange green goo that wouldn’t let go. It was almost like super glue.
“CLUTZERSHY! CLUTZERSHY! CLUTZERSHY CAN BARELY FLY!”
The pressure of the chanting on the poor timid mare was too much, and Fluttershy began to cry her heart out in the center of the angry judgmental crowd.
Discord reappeared above them and started dropping fruits on the crowd from a cart from the market. They responded by picking the fruit up and throwing it at Fluttershy while shouting insults.
Discord took that as a sign to leave.
Discord found a reoccurring theme of popping in above Ponyville. But again today wasn’t about chaos or having fun. It’s about revenge and dishing it out on those insolent ponies that put him in stone. It was ok if an Alicorn did it, but regular earth ponies? Pegasi? Unicorns? It’s an embarrassment. And Discord couldn’t wait to break each of them.
“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Fluttershy was so easy! Ok ok, who’s next?” Discord monologued to himself. He held out a paw and counted. “Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack… oh that leaves Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle.”
Discord was about to snap away to Rainbow Dash before thinking. “How do I ruin Rainbow Dash? I’m sure her ego can’t be damaged by anything short of the Wonderbolts hating her, but she’d probably bounce back quickly… I’ll do her last. Which means I can have my fun.”
Discord snapped away to Twilight’s Library.
Discord found himself hovering over the little book worm in the main room of the library as she stared into a book. At the moment Discord couldn’t think of anything to actually do to Twilight Sparkle. Although he had a good idea it would involve making her leave her friends he had no idea how to do that.
“T-TWILIGHT!” shouted a little purple dragon that was at the top of the stairs that lead up to Twilight’s room.
Twilight spun around and saw nothing until she looked up.
*gasp* “Discord!” she stated with more than a little hostility. Then she spotted Spike and how Discord was eyeing him. “Spike, run!”
“Ah ah aaaah!” Discord chimed in, with a wave of one of his talons.
Discord rushed down to Twilight and quickly placed a talon on her forehead. Her body turned completely grey and she held a scowl and looked at her assistant with angry eyes.
Spike was unceremoniously flung from the door of the library and landed on his face.
“AND STAY OUT!” shouted a grey Twilight.
*Slam*
Spike got up and looked at the door with longing eyes.
“I need a scroll.” he thought out loud to himself.
Celestia trotted up to the magical doorway she constructed to keep the Elements of Harmony safe. Hopefully Discord didn’t take them like last time. She inserted her horn into the door and it slid open accepting her magical key. She looked at the decorative case and opened it.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the Element of Harmony untouched by Discord's magic.
“Princess!” shouted a unicorn guard with and ink well, quill, and a scroll in his magic.
Celestia quickly grabbed it with her magic and hastily wrote a message.
Dear Twilight,
Discord has returned, and I feel he has a mission. Be on the lookout for him and message me immediately. I’m bringing the Elements of Harmony to you, so that we can quickly keep him from hurting any more ponies than he may have already hurt.
Celestia
It may not have been the best hastily written letter, but it was a letter that conveyed a message of doom so she sent it without trying to revise it.
She picked up the case containing the Elements of Harmony up with her magic and ran past the guard out the door and into full view of Canterlot. There was no time to call a chariot or fly, so she used her powers to teleport to Ponyville.
Celestia appeared outside Twilight’s library and was about to start walking in with the Elements in tow.
“PRINCESS!” shouted a voice to her right.
Celestia looked over to see her faithful student's assistant Spike the dragon. “Spike?” asked Celestia.
He ran up to her huffing and puffing. “She *pant* Twilight *pant* was corrupted *pant* by Discord*pant*”
*gasp* “I’ll try to free her.” responded Celestia as she opened the door with her magic.
She walked into the Library with the Elements in tow, and saw before her a bonfire made of books.
“Yes, more kindling for the fire! HAHAHAHAHA!” Celestia stared at her student in horror as she began to laugh manically.
“What has Discord done to my student?”
“Twilight Sparkle!”
“WHAT!” Twilight snapped at Celestia as if she didn’t know who she was.
“This isn’t you.” Celestia’s horn glowed brighter than it already was and she walked up to Twilight.
Twilight saw this and backed away but found herself unable to move. She was trapped in Celestia’s golden aura. Their horns came into contact and a bright flash of light blinded Spike as he tried to look at what was happening in the library.
“T-Twilight?” inquired Spike, removing his arm from his eyes after the light disappeared.
“Yes, Spike?” came the voice of the little purple unicorn.
Spike’s eyes widened and he sprinted toward Twilight. “TWILIGHT!”
They embraced lovingly and basked in each other’s presence.
Celestia cleared her throat. “Twilight.” she said softly.
“Yes, princess?”
“Your Element.” Celestia said levitating Twilight’s Element of Magic over her head. She lightly placed it on her head.
“Thank you, princess. Now we need to round up the girls! Can you get Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie whi-”
*Slam*
“TWILIGHT!” shouted two ponies in unison. Rarity and Pinkie Pie ran in unannounced. “Twilight! The Cakes kicked me out!” shouted a distressed Pinkie.
“Discord burned down my shop!” exclaimed Rarity, her mascara was messy and showed signs she’d been crying.
“What?! Wait this means Discord is targeting the Elements! We need to find Applejack, Rainbow, and Fluttershy!” replied Twilight with urgency.
Princess Celestia watched with a blank expression as her little ponies ran into action and they all left the library without even a second glance at her regal form.
“P-Princess?” asked Spike.
Celestia’s soft smile returned. “Yes Spike?” She replied to the baby dragon.
“Are they going to be ok? D-Discord doesn’t seem like his usual self.”
“I’m sure Discord wishes to break them in some way. I will help them all when he is captured again and kept in a safe place, where nopony can interrupt his imprisonment.”
“B-but Pinkie said the Cakes kicked her out. Can you fix that?”
“I’m sure it was Discords magic that made them do that. Once it’s undone everything will return to normal.” Celestia reassured Spike.
Discord found himself once again above Ponyville brainstorming on his scheme of revenge. He would have thought this through sooner if being a statue allowed you to have increased brain function. To Discord the two years of waiting was like only a few hours. Immortality and decreased brain functions can do that to you.
“Rainbow Dash is an athlete. So how do I ground an athlete permanently? Sure I can take her wings, but that won’t keep her from running. I can take her legs but then that would be just too cruel. I need to make sure that she won’t be able to-”
*SLAM*
His thoughts were interrupted by a hoof in the face.
“GET OUT OF PONYVILLE DISCORD!” came a brash voice.
Discord looked over to the insolent pony that interrupted his thoughts to discover the cyan pegasus he was just thinking about.
“Oh, Rainbow Dash what a pleasant surprise. I was just thinking about you.” Discord stated with a toothy grin.
“I’m going to knock you into next week and do it without breaking a sweat!” came her retort, with a confident grin.
“Hmm... oh wait, now I know what to do with you!” exclaimed Discord.
“She is athletic and I’m sure a foal will keep her grounded. Oh yes, the wonders of life meets the athlete its perfect! But I need a willing life form to be part of this. I can’t just create a foal out of nowhere. I’m going to need a willing soul who wants a new life… oh this’ll be harder than I thought.
“Rainbow, come with me.”
“Never!”
Discord snapped his claw and they both teleported to the ground. Rainbow tried to fly up into the air again only to find that she was seemingly stuck to the ground. She looked down to find her hooves were half-submerged in the ground.
“Now don’t move while I do unspeakable things to you.” Discord stated darkly.
Rainbow paled for a moment.
“I’m kidding! Please I won’t hurt you… much. Now wait there so I know where you are.”
He snapped his lion claws and disappeared.
It was late at night in the Chicago streets. A lone human with short black hair and a tall but very thin form walked alone on the city streets.
Being evicted from your home isn’t fun. The guys in suits come up to your house and ask you to leave, and what do you do? You let them take everything you own, so they can sell it to pay off your debt… this was only three years ago, when the last penny I had failed me like the pennies before them.
I wasn’t mad at the system or any human being that couldn’t help me. It’s just if I got help then I’d probably bring people down with me. I can’t live with that for the rest of my life. I live now on the Chicago streets, and at times I even hang around Union Station to help people who just started to use the metro for the first time, and don’t know how to read the light-up signs that show when trains are here. You’d be surprised how many new people come to Union Station.
Although now that I am done with that, and I only got five dollars to show from that I spent it on a sandwich from Jimmy Johns. Such things were enough to get by I guess. Though the day is almost over, and I wonder the dark streets of Chicago. Of course the night life is something to take note of, since most of the time you see cars or restaurants open.
Tonight was a strange one though. Not only did I not see any cars on the streets, but there wasn’t a soul in sight. I looked in both directions down the long street and no car or another human walked the streets. I silently wonder how I could have just been walking in a crowd and then suddenly alone.
“Weird.” I say out loud to myself.
“Indeed.” said an ominous voice from behind me.
I looked around and came face to face with a breathing stained glass window. First unfamiliarity hit me, and I was momentarily shocked and terrified.
To my horror it started talking. “Hey I heard your life is…” it started waving it’s lion paw around searching for a continuation for its words. “…a little difficult.”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” I bolted.
“HEY HEY HEY!” it exclaimed as it grabbed me by my leg and lifted me off the ground.
“LET ME GO! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!”
“Oh please, I’m not here to kill you. I’m here to give you a second chance.” it replied impatiently.
I hung there, still afraid of the strange floating creature. It was several feet taller than I was, and even though I was right next to it, I couldn’t get an exact estimate of height. It softly put me down on the cement and I slowly got to my feet.
“W-what do you want with me?” I asked fearfully.
“It’s not about what I want. It’s about what you want. You want a new life don’t you?”
I nodded my head.
“To have a second chance at life?”
“Mmmhmm.” came the sound from my throat. At this point I lost the ability to speak.
“I think I remember a few little fantasies that you had about being reborn into another family. To live through childhood once again, and fix all the mistakes you’ve made as a child?”
I nod again.
“I’m here to offer you something like that. Only this time I’m going to send you to a different world. One where my powers are law. There happens to be a mare that wants a child, but has no husband to give her one. She’s rather insensitive, and I’m sure a little foal will be able to straighten her up.” stated the creature with a wicked grin.
“…mare? Foal? Are you turning me into a horse?” I ask shocked.
“No, a pony. But I’m sending you to a whole new world where ponies can talk, and are the dominant species on the planet. If you want a little peak at it then I’d give you one.”
I looked at him suspiciously and then I agreed. “…Ok, a look then.”
Suddenly my vision faded and I saw a grassy plain. I looked in the distance and I saw a town. In the town were these ponies the strange creature promised were there. They were speaking things in a language I couldn’t understand, but they looked happy and I couldn’t see a single beggar. My vision faded to a new much larger city with high-rises that went up to a maximum of ten floors. It looked a lot like Chicago, only the streets were made of brick and the sidewalks out of cement. Less talking, but more partying went on in this city. Day in and out it kept going. I knew it couldn’t be conjured as an illusion. Then my vision came back to the Chicago streets and the entity that still floated above me wore a cheeky grin.
“Like what you see?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. But I won’t doubt you when you say the dominant race are ponies… I saw them.”
“Will you take my offer?”
I thought for a moment.
“Relive my childhood and potentially be used as a tool by some being that I don’t even know, or stay in Chicago and live the rest of my days out on the streets… I’d rather be a puppet that has a warm home, than a homeless beggar that falls asleep hungry.”
“I accept. But the language they speak I don’t know.”
“It’s ok.” He said with a wave of his paw. “Your new mind will help you learn it. You are becoming a foal, remember?”
“Y-yeah.” I replied, looking at the ground.
“Now when I pull, you can’t fight it or it won’t work.”
“Wait wha-”
I suddenly blacked out when he snapped his fingers and I felt a pulling sensation. It felt like something wanted to remove me from the world and out of the universe. It was like being tied to a giant rubber band a whole universe long and it was pulling on my mind. I let it take me, and I felt myself lose my body. I felt the giant rubber band like feeling slingshot me out of the universe with intense speeds. If I had a body I’d be crushed instantly at these speeds.
Then… nothing.
Discord appeared in front of Rainbow Dash with what had to be the happiest smile she could imagine. He was going to finish his revenge scheme, and finally get to some great chaos making!
“DISCORD!” shouted an angry regal voice.
Discord looked to the voice and found not only Celestia but all the Elements of Harmony gathered together. Rainbow Dash was just being pulled out by Fluttershy and Rarity as Applejack pulled her back left hoof out of the ground.
“Girls, formation!” shouted an angry Twilight.
Each Element got into formation. Discord knew that once the Elements were powered up, he wouldn’t be able to touch the Elements. He took this time to throw the soul he gathered into Rainbow’s womb, and start the process of procreation. Skip the first step, of course. A hum of power rang through the air and Discord’s magic faltered.
He stood there shocked before using his chaos magic again to do a little scan of Rainbow Dash. At this point, their eyes were glowing and were ready to fire. He smiled when he saw his success.
Discord posed in the most feminine way he could, with a cheeky smile as he faced his fate, knowing that his work was complete. A giant rainbow washed over him and turned him to stone.
“Rainbow!” shouted the five friends and one sun goddess.
“Uh, what?” asked a confused Rainbow Dash.
“Discord hit you with magic. Do you feel any different?” inquired Twilight.
Rainbow thought for a moment, her eyes wandering around her wings and her senses being mentally examined by her mind. “Uhhhhhhhhhhh no, I’m good!” replied Rainbow, sure of her health.
Celestia spoke up. “Whatever Discord was planning it must have been blocked by the Elements of Harmony.” Celestia reasoned.
“But he looked all happy, Ah reckon he did what he intended.” suggested Applejack.
“Oh come on AJ, I feel fine.” responded Rainbow Dash boisterously. “Dopey Discord can’t touch the Element of Loyalty!” she added and jumped into the air to do a few loops before landing in front of the group.
“Well, now that that’s settled, I’ll take Discord’s statue back to Canterlot, and hide it deep in the old mines so nopony can find it. Meanwhile, I’ll have Luna hire a construction crew for Rarity and buy a few apple seeds for Applejack.” stated Celestia, constructing a game plan on the spot.
“Oh thank you, your highness I don’t know what Equestria will do without you!” swooned Rarity.
“Ah was plannin’ on taking the seeds from the apples we have to replant the orchard, but that’ll do just fine princess. Ah thank yah kindly.” replied Applejack with a bow.
“What about the Cakes?” asked Pinkie with worry in her voice and an uncharacteristic frown.
“Whoa whoa whoa! What’s going on?” chimed in Rainbow who was lost the moment Celestia talked, about giving help to her friends.
The girls looked to each other then back at Rainbow Dash. Applejack spoke up first. “Well sugarcube, we got a lot ta tell ya’ll.”
Rainbow Dash lived in a very large house above Ponyville. Many ponies said it was to contain her huge ego or she secretly was hiding her whole family in there. None of these were true because it was Rainbow’s ego that made the house so large. She got enough bits to buy enough clouds to form the simple house with many rooms, to fit awards and fan mail she would get. Of course it never came, but it didn’t stop the boisterous Pegasus from trying.
The fact she actually had a fan club fueled her ego even more than a large house ever could. And yes, they sometimes sent mail! Usually adorable little drawings and trinkets. Most are kept in Dash’s storage for ‘safe keeping’ or because it was useless junk she’d never need. She’d usually wake up with a bright smile when Celestia’s sun shines in through her window and into her eyes to wake her like a natural alarm.
“Oh ponyfeathe-blaaaaaaah.”
A natural alarm clock that didn’t wake Rainbow Dash today. Rainbow Dash was majestically perched over her toilet bowl and ‘purifying’ her insides. Much to the Pegasus pony’s displeasure, she continued to hurl into the toilet bowl for five minutes. Most of that time she was making gagging noise behind a closed door.
“Ugggggggh what’s wrong with me?” she asks pathetically.
The rainbow-maned Pegasus shot her head out of the toilet bowl with eyes as wide as saucers, realization dawning on her face.
“Oh my gosh! Applejack! I have to help her on the farm!” Rainbow got up from the toilet bowl and galloped out into her sizable living room.
She ran out the door and quickly took flight. She knew Applejack expected her early in the morning because that’s when she usually gets up. Though in the haste of trying to help her friend replant her farm, she quickly forgot her strange illness and flew up quickly without thinking. Rainbow Dash had to slow down or she’d start hurling from the movement of her stomach. She flew timidly to Sweet Apple Acres, only just barely topping Fluttershy’s regular movement speed.
Applejack was plowing the apple orchard to fill in the holes in the ground with dirt. The parts of land that she plowed with her own strength looked like it was turned into a wheat field. There were a few bulls and cows out plowing the orchard as well, trying to even out the ground after the untimely removal of all the trees in the orchard.
“Hey Applejack!” came a voice from the entrance of the orchard.
Applejack looked around and spotted a purple unicorn near the barn. Her solemn features lightened up and she took off her harness that was attached to a steel plow. She trotted briskly toward the barn where the purple unicorn waited with a warm smile. Applejack found that smile strange after what happened so she assumed she believed whatever made her happy it must be good. She got several feet from the purple unicorn and she started talking before getting to her.
“Hey Applejack! You’ll never believe what happened!” exclaimed the unicorn energetically.
“Easy girl, Ah haven’t seen ya’ll this happy since yah kissed mah brother.” Applejack teased.
Twilight’s face went red. “H-he told you?”
“Yup! But ah’ll keep it between the apple family and ya’ll, ok Sugarcube? What yah here for?”
“Well I came to tell you the news that when Discord took your seeds, he dropped them on Princess Luna’s bed as a joke.”
“WHAT?! Is the princess all right?”
“Yup! And better yet, she wasn’t in the bed at the time because the guard woke her up to help stop Discord. Also it was made, so now all the seeds are wrapped up in her comforter and are being brought over here to Sweet Apple Acres for replanting!”
“Well that’ll be the best news ah heard since we got a dog! Ah’m gunna tell Granny Smith the good news!” the farmer pony ran into the barn with vigor.
Twilight watched her friend bolt into the barn before hearing distinct flaps of wings behind her. She turned around to see the owner of the soft wing strokes expecting to see Fluttershy but when she looked at the rainbow-maned Pegasus softly landing behind her, she held a quizzical expression. Rainbow’s head was dipped a low with a sickly expression on her face.
“Uh, Rainbow Dash are you ok?” asked Twilight while studying her friends features.
Rainbow had a droopy expression. “Y-yea I just think I got something. Not sure what it is, but it’s not too bad.” she replied weakly.
“Do you want to lie down?” asked Twilight with worry in her voice.
“Uh, maybe later, ok? I want to help out Applejack in any way I can before I give out, ya know?” asked Rainbow with a reassuring smile. “Besides nothing can keep me down for long!” finsihed Rainbow, instantly perking up.
Twilight rolled her eyes at Rainbow’s boisterous attitude, but found worry once again when Rainbow seemingly froze up.
“Rainbow, are you ok?” inquired Twilight with even more worry in her voice.
Rainbow didn’t respond, but waited for a few seconds holding a seemingly blank face with constantly changing expressions of discomfort. Then without warning, the Pegasus looked around frantically and shot off toward a random hole in the ground where a tree used to be. Twilight almost called out in alarm toward the rainbow-maned Pegasus about her health, but stopped when she heard the distinct sounds of sickness coming from the pony she knew.
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeew.” Twilight weakly stated, with a worried expression.
She was trotting over to the hole her friend upchucked into, and when she got half way there the Pegasus lifted her head out of it with a disheveled look upon her features. Rainbow looked almost angry at herself. She spotted Twilight who was a mere two yards from her and she put on a look of sadness.
“Uh, maybe I should come back tomorrow.” admitted Rainbow Dash with a solemn expression toward her friend.
Twilight put on a reassuring smile. “It’s ok Rainbow, I’ll tell Applejack what’s going-”
“THERE YA ARE!” shouted the orange earth pony as she gallops toward the party of two. “Ya’ll ready fer some work Rainbow?” Applejack saw her face and she suddenly looked unsure of herself. “Ya’ll ok?”
“Uh, not really. I’ll try to muscle through it though.” Rainbow weakly managed to say.
“Heck no!” shouted Applejack. “Ya’ll look like ya stood in the way of’a train! Yer gettin’ yer flank inside, NOW!”
“AJ I can just fly home.” Rainbow reasoned.
“Ah saw what yah did ta that hole! Ah thought ya’ll were seein’ how deep it was, ‘er somethin’.” responded Applejack angrily. “Now follow me ‘er ah’ll carry yah in mahself!”
“Whoa careful with that temper AJ, I think I hear your accent getting thicker.” Rainbow teased. “WHOA!”
Rainbow found herself sitting on Applejack’s back and she was briskly prancing into the Apple family home that was near the barn. Twilight took the idea to follow them and she remained quiet while contemplating Rainbow’s illness.
“Cool it AJ, I feel fin-…I feel-ugh-stop bouncing.” Rainbow whined pathetically, going limp on Applejack’s back.
“Uh Twi, can ya’ll carry her with yer magic?”
“Sure thing AJ.” Twilight’s horn light up and Rainbow Dash was encased in a purple aura that lifted her slowly off of Applejack’s back. “So Rainbow, describe what’s been going on.” stated Twilight without showing strain for picking up the Pegasus.
“Ugh-well-ugh-…k I felt sick to my stomach in the morning, like all of a sudden my stomach hurt and stuff, so I hoofed it to the bathroom and started throwing up for hours. I was able to get it under control, but I didn’t feel all that hungry afterword.”
“Maybe some sort of stomach virus?” Twilight rhetorically asked out loud to herself. “Rainbow did you eat anything weird yesterday?”
“No, I just had some hay for dinner. I got home pretty late, and didn’t feel like cooking.”
“Ya’ll think Discord did this?” Applejack asked, looking toward Twilight.
Twilight went into thought for five seconds before responding. “I don’t think so. Discord's magic would have been removed when the Elements were used on him like last time. Like how they turned the ground back into grass? If Discord did this, then he should be still free, but we saw him turned to stone so that’s out of the question.”
“Aw shucks. Well at least we know it aint’ somethin’ sinister.”
“It feels sinister.” Rainbow threw a deadpanning look at Applejack.
Applejack responded with a low chuckle and a smile. “Well, it aint’ out tah get yah.”
“Maybe it’s bacterial?” asked Twilight. “I think that might actually explain it. Rainbow are you sure your hay tasted right?”
“Yeah, it was just fine. Actually I feel better…” stated Rainbow perking up a bit.
“Great!” replied Applejack. “Maybe ya’ll can work for me!”
Twilight put Rainbow down between her and Applejack and they watched her carefully.
“Sure I’ll just ge-…be right back.” Rainbow ran off toward another hole and began upchucking once again.
Both mares watched their friend with varying degrees of worry, as she throws up into the hole and collapses at its edge with whines of pain and sickness as the only indicator that she’s conscious. A few loud wing flaps got their attention and they turned around to see a solar guard slowly descending toward them, with a stoic expression. He had a wrapped up comforter wrapped twice around his body and hanging off him so it was the first thing that touched the ground.
“Princess Luna gave me this letter for Miss Applejack.” stated the guard while taking out a letter from his suit of armor and held it up.
“Tha’d be me.” replied Applejack.
“Here you go, miss.” he handed her the letter and she began relentlessly tearing off the seal and opening it, to get at the royal writing inside. “I’ll leave this here. Good day.” he took a questioning glance at Rainbow and flew off.
“What’s it say?” asked Twilight eagerly, as Applejack scanned the letter.
“Nuttin’ much. Just wishin’ me good luck an’ sayin’ ah can keep the comforter since she got several others. A’might nice of ‘er if ya ask me.” she answered with a smile on her face.
“All right, but what about Rainbow? She seems…” they looked back at the Pegasus in question at the same time. “…ill.”
“How about ya’ll help me get her inside and go get Fluttershy.” offered Applejack. “Ah’ll stay here and keep her company.”
“Agreed.” responded Twilight.
They both left the seeds on their own, without a second thought to take care of their friend who was now groaning in misery. Applejack walked up next to the Pegasus and put a hoof between Rainbow’s wings and started to rub up and down her spine trying to comfort her.
“Ya’ll ok Sugarcube?” asked Applejack with a worried expression.
“Noooo-uuuugggggggggggggghhhh.” came Rainbow' sickly response.
“Rainbow, prepare to be moved. I’m going to carry you to Applejack’s farmhouse, ok?” inquired Twilight gently.
“…yes please.” answered Rainbow, closing her eyes as if trying to sleep.
Twilight lifted Rainbow Dash into the air with her magic without a second thought, and slowly made her way to the farmhouse with Applejack trailing behind slowly. They walked for a minute without saying much to each other, and the whole time Twilight carried Rainbow she kept going through her mind on various diseases that could cause Rainbow’s peculiar illness. The whole time she carried Rainbow, the pegasus’s eyes were closed and she looked almost unconscious if it weren’t from the stirring the Rainbow-maned Pegasus occasionally did.
“Sugarcube, can ya’ll hear me?” asked Applejack softly to Rainbow Dash.
“…yea…” Rainbow weakly replied.
“Are ya hungry?”
“A bit.”
“Ah’ll whip somethin’ up fer ya.”
Applejack trotted ahead of Twilight as they neared the farmhouse and Applejack held open the door while Twilight levitated Rainbow Dash through the open doorway. Applejack followed suit, and upon entrance watched Twilight lay Rainbow down on the couch.
“Ya comfy?” asked Applejack.
“Mmmhmmmmm.” moaned Rainbow Dash weakly with her eyes shut.
Rainbow rolled to her right side, so her face was facing the couch and a blanket covered in a purple aura softly rest itself on top of Rainbow Dash as her connection with the world seemed to decrease as time went on. Twilight gave Rainbow a worried glance before looking back at Applejack to give her a nod.
“I’ll be leaving now. I think it’s best that I message Celestia about this strange illness, because it was only yesterday Discord tried something on Rainbow Dash.”
“Ya’ll do that Sugarcube. Ah’ll stay here an’ help Rainbow.” responded Applejack with a smile on her face.
“I’ll be back.” stated Twilight as she headed for the door.
Twilight opened the door with her magic and trotted through it, before the door closed itself and the aura that surrounded it dissipated. Applejack watched her friend leave and when she was out the door her head swiveled toward Rainbow Dash whom by which has already fallen asleep on the couch. Applejack’s face became irritated by the possibility that Rainbow could have staged this to get out of working.
“Ah swear Sugarcube, ya’ll better be in some serious trouble...” warned Applejack under her breath as she trotted into the kitchen to find some food for Rainbow Dash.
Applejack put her first hoof in the kitchen and continued on to the fridge where it was stuffed full of many assorted foodstuffs that were edible for ponies. Applejack assumed she needed to grab something soft or easy to digest for Rainbow Dash, since she’s been upchucking all over her farm, to the point where she couldn’t remove anything else from her stomach. She chose some freshly made applesauce that was kept in the fridge for the Apple family rather than have it sold. Applejack took the jar out and left it on the dining room table.
Applejack scanned the room for the right cupboard and smiled when she saw the one with the bowls on the counter. She trotted over to it and looked inside to find it was empty and clean. She assumed Apple Bloom forgot to put it away after she washed it, because of her haste to be with her crusader friends. Applejack poured a substantial amount into the bowl and grabbed a spoon that she placed into it. She opened the refrigerator door and placed the jar of applesauce back inside.
Applejack balanced the bowl of applesauce on her back while exiting the kitchen. She looked in the direction of Rainbow Dash and found her sitting upright with a confused look on her face. She looked at Applejack and frowned.
“How long have I been out?” she asked, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck.
“Uh, not even three minutes, Ah reckon.” came Applejack's response, and a smile.
“That’s weird though, cuz I don’t feel sick anymore.”
Applejack stared at her for a few moments with a blank expression that made Rainbow Dash shift in her seat uncomfortably. She moved the blankets off of her to stand back up before interrupted by a scream.
“ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!?” shouted Applejack, who now wore a look of intense irritation.
“Whoa whoa whoa sorry!” stammered a startled Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow ya’ll better’u not used that as an excuse tah get outta work.” warned Applejack, now stomping her hoof angrily.
“Hey I was actually throwing up, ok! I felt terrible!”
“Ah know that, but seriously? If’n ya’ll ‘er able to walk around all fine like nothin’s wrong then ya’ll better get tah work!” Applejack walked over to Rainbow Dash and placed the bowl of applesauce on the table in front of the couch. “Now eat. Ya’ll said yah didn’t eat breakfast, so that’s fer yer stomach, it’ll keep yah from passin’ out.” Applejack finished in a neutral tone.
“Yes, Applejack.” meekly replied Rainbow.
Rainbow started to use the spoon to lift applesauce into her mouth while Applejack walked out of the farmhouse without giving her friend a second thought. Rainbow Dash watched her leave the room and went back to eating. She put another spoonful of applesauce in her mouth when Applejack peered her head back in.
“Oh, and when ya’ll ‘er done, ya need to find me near the farmhouse. Big Mac’s workin’ the far fields today, an ah don’t got as many cows as he does, so ya’ll ‘er pullen’ some plows.”
Applejack stepped outside, closed the door and went to work. Rainbow Dash stayed inside and continued to eat her late breakfast.
