The Means to an End

He came to in a dark void. An invisible light source gave off enough light to see by, but not enough light to indicate where he was. He sat up, rubbing his temples to ease the pain in his head.

“Where in the name of Raptor Jesus, am I?” He asked no one, with the small amount of humor he could muster. He sat there for a few minutes trying, in vain, to remember how he got there. Finally, he came to a conclusion.

“So,” He said quietly to himself, “either I have been roofied, which I highly doubt considering how careful I am about my food and drink, or this is all a lucid dream.” He paused to think. “Well, if this is a lucid dream… then I should be able to…” He paused, rolled up his sleeve halfway up his fore-arm, closed his eyes, and concentrated on his hand. Slowly, yet surely, the image He had in his mind began to appear, and about a minute later it had fully materialized. He opened his eyes and he was wearing the Princes gauntlet from Prince of Persia. He stared at the gauntlet for a few seconds, as if criticizing it. Then stated, “well, that explains what this is… but if this is a dream, why do I remember it?”

He began to think back to the few times that he had had a lucid dream, and remembered every time he’s had a lucid dream it showed him something he needed to see.

“Well, what am I going to see this time?” He thought to himself.

He looked around for a few minutes, and then started to hear something. He closed his eyes and listened intently. It sounded like… crying? Yes, it was crying that he heard. Knowing that what he needed to see was what was crying, he followed the sound.

After a few minutes of walking he came to what looked like an abandoned warehouse, not uncommon at the time. Though as he was walking he heard the crying change. No… not change, He heard it in a different way. He listened long and hard, and figured out it was not one person crying but three. Not only that, but he recognized all three of the voices crying. That is what scared him the most. Knowing who they were, but not truly being able to believe that they were there.

“It isn’t possible.” He said to himself quietly, “there’s no way any of them could be here. They weren’t here before, how could they be here now?”

He paced around the entrance of the building, pondering if he really wanted to see what was in the warehouse, all the while his eardrums being assaulted by the soft crying. In the end his decision was made for him, somehow he was thrown into the warehouse. What he found was not what he expected. What he had expected to see was Tara Strong, Tabitha St. Germain, and Andrea Libman. But what he saw was different in quite a few ways. The most major of which being that there were not three people there, there were six. Though, the reason He had only heard three of them crying instead of all six soon made itself apparent. The reason being that the three people He did not hear were dead.

After gaining his bearings, he tried to take in what was around him. He could not believe his eyes. What he saw were humanized versions of the main characters of his favorite show, from the time when there was still television. Sitting together, chained to the wall by their ankles, were human versions of Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Fluttershy. They gave no indication that they could see him, as they did not react to his entrance. They were huddled together out of fear of what was around them. To their right was what he would never want, but would expect if the main six ever came to earth nowadays. Sitting there chained to the wall by her neck, was Pinkie Pie. The main difference between Pinkie’s condition and that of the others was an infected bite mark on her left arm, and a dead look in her eyes. To their left, chained to the wall in the spread eagle position, were Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Upon further analysis, he found that those two were not dead, but instead mentally scarred to the point of being completely unresponsive. Their mouths had been gagged and their clothes torn; it was clear what had happened to them.

Behind him he heard a mad, malice-filled chuckle.

“To quote a song from this world, what has happened to them and this world is ‘A terrible catastrophe, played by a symphony, what a terrifying work of art.’” Said the disembodied voice of a man. He did not know personally, but he could make an educated guess by the being's voice, and the scene before him.

“If you’re going to sing that song don’t forget the best part. ‘I can’t sit idly no I can’t move at all. I curse the name, the one behind it all,’” he said in a sing song voice, turning around to face the unknown speaker. “Discord.”

“You do not know how true that is.” Discord stated with a chuckle.

“Well then, would you mind explaining?” He asked.

“Nope.”

“I thought so.”

“But I will tell you this, saving all of them is as easy as one, two, three.”

“Oh really? Please tell me more.”

“If you say so. You will have one chance on two separate occasions to save the three who died.”

He paused for a second, pondering, then asked, “Don’t those first two points contradict each other though?”

“Hmm?”

“Having one chance is having one chance, having one chance on two separate occasions is having two chances, isn’t it?” He pointed out.

“Actually, no it is not. Having one chance on two separate occasions to save the three who died, means that if you screw something up, some will die, but not all.” Discord explained with a devious chuckle.

“Oh… heh.” He softly laughed with an exasperated sigh. He could feel the pressure of the challenge starting to build. “Knowing you though, there is some catch that I have to abide by… So what’s the deal?”

“You hurt me, you know that?” Discord stated, feigning sadness. “That really does hurt! Right here man, right here!” Discord said jokingly, pointing to where his heart should be.

“Just because it hurts doesn’t mean it’s not true.” He stated indifferently.

“Wow, you do know me!!” Discord laughed happily. “Well I guess I should tell you it then. The catch is if any of them spot you before the time is right, they all die. Well… what do you think? Heh. How do ya like them apples…” Discord taunted.

“They’re pretty fuckin’ sour, but not impossible to eat.” He interrupted Discord, wondering how he was going do it. Suddenly, he remembered one key detail that would make saving them a ton easier. “You wouldn't happen to know where this would be taking place, by any chance. Would you?”

“Yes and no.” Discord explained, “I do know where it’s going to happen, but I’m not going to tell you… Nice try though.”

“Meh, was worth a try.” He stated dismissively. “Though you do know I have no chance to save them if I am not near them when the incident happens.” He reasoned, trying to get Discord to at least give a hint to their location.

“Yes, I know. You see, I planned for that too. All you have to do to find them is continue on your path as if this never happened.” Discord explained quickly.

“How in the fuck do I do that?” He asked casually. “I mean this is a lot to take in.”

“That ain’t my problem. It’s yours.” Discord answered with a chuckle before disappearing, leaving him to his own thoughts.

“Well fuck.” He said quietly to himself, taking a step back to observe the way they all had died. Talking to himself, he said. “Well… it’s sort of obvious what happened to them all. *sigh* Pinkie’s all around friendliness must have gotten the better of her.” He said dejectedly, having to remind himself that it can be changed. “*sigh* Fuck… And then those two.” He said while turning to face Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “I guess scumbag bandits like a little fuss with their women… How in the fuck do I stop this, if I don’t even know where and when it’s going to happen? I mean what the fuck. The dick.”

Suddenly the warehouse began to shake, as if in the middle of an earthquake.

“What the hell!!” He exclaimed, looking at the walls and ceiling to ensure that the warehouse wasn't falling in on itself. Hearing a cracking from beneath him, he barely had enough time to say “Fuck,” before the floor fell out from beneath him.