I stood there for who knows how long, just staring. The spears have vanished. My mind went a thousand miles an hour. Who stole them? What if I’ll be caught? …What if it captured the attention of the Princesses and they destroy them!? That’s it. That was the final thought. Maybe Discord took them… maybe he has an alternative. No, wait… he’ll go through the roof if he finds out I lost the spears… I sat, thinking and staring at the empty box. Okay. Maybe… I can go find the Elements of Harmony and hide them… And… They’ll have no way of stopping Discord. Yeah, that’s good. I’ll do that.

I knew exactly where the Elements were hidden. Twilight told me, along with the other 5 ponies she calls her friends. I got up and turned around but stopped short. I suddenly started to violently throw up what I had eaten a couple hours ago. I kept throwing up and couldn’t stop, stomach acid burning my throat and mouth. Hatred and anger replaced what started to feel like newfound positivity. I started shaking, baring my teeth, which were dripping in blood from biting my tongue so hard.

I rocketed to Canterlot Tower, where the Elements were kept. Everything was a mess. I kicked stones this way and that, desperately trying to find the box that contained the Elements. I know it was a long shot, seeing as how the Elements were probably relocated during times of disaster, but I kept digging. My hooves and wrists started to bleed and bruise from lifting boulders and rubbing against shards of glass. I huffed, and took a break for a second. I should try searching in another area. I walked over the debris, liking the feel of shards of glass, metal, and rock digging into my hooves. Guessing where the general area of where the Element chamber was, I took a shot in the dark and started hauling boulders over again. I hurried more this time, wanting to get back before the others noticed I was gone.

One thing I should mention, though- with the Princesses down, there was nopony to raise and lower the sun and moon. Nopony knew how to do so, not even Twilight, so time was frozen in a period of both dawn and dusk. And Twilight thought herself to be skilled in that category of magic. Yeah, right. I thought being in a mix of dawn and dusk was pretty cool, though. The moon lit up the ash and every white or pale surface, giving off a ghostly glow, while the dim sun halfway up the horizon cast shadows thirty feet long, and gave things a nice silhouette.

I growled and huffed, lifting up one last boulder with all my strength, which happened to be the heaviest sucker of the bunch. I strained and tried lifting with my back, which was a bad idea. I fell forward, and the boulder caught my wing and smashed it into the ground, grinding it against sharp debris. I screamed every curse word out there, punching the rock and digging my hooves into the ground. For some reason, I thought it would hurt more. Maybe I’m used to all the pain Sombra and Discord inflicted. I snarled through my teeth and looked for something to lift the boulder up with. I found a metal rod the size of my arm, and stared at it. I couldn’t reach it. I just sat there, practically emanating anger and spite. I lurched forward and heard a sharp snap, grabbed the rod, and retaliated back, wincing and grimacing with the sharp pain. I picked up a rock and placed it near the boulder, and stuck the rod under the boulder and rested it against the rock. I panted and let out a low growl, lifting the boulder with more ease than before. I lifted my wing out, when something caught my attention.

The Elements.

I shot forward, grabbed the box and pushed backwards in the blink of an eye, but the boulder caught the tips of my hooves, pinching the skin and bursting the blood vessels. I could already see the bruises forming, but I didn’t care at all.

I had the Elements.

I brushed off the dust and opened the box, revealing six shiny ornaments, as if they were kept in a box and shined every day. I closed it and slid the box under my good wing, and quickly limped to the portal. I looked around to make sure nopony had followed me, and entered.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU LOST THE SPEARS!?”

“Exactly what it means, you fuck.”

Sombra punched me in the jaw, thinking that would turn me submissive, but that only fueled the hate that was growing in me. I shot upwards and punched him in the throat, which stunned him for a second. I brought his head down crashing against the hard ground. He flipped forward, catching himself. He bucked, kicking the air out of me and sending me to the ground. He jumped and landed on my bad wing, twisting his hooves into the already broken bones. I instinctively brought my hind legs up and I kicked him in the stallionhood, making him get off of me and limp to one side, whimpering. Snickering, I got up, shook myself off and looked over to see his face in front of a cloud of darkness, racing towards me.

Shit.

I was frozen in an iceberg, coated with liquid nitrogen. So cold… I started shaking uncontrollably. I couldn’t move, and I was frozen for eternity, it seemed. I couldn’t remember a time when I was warm. I couldn’t see. I squirmed, trying to fight against whatever was pushing against my chest and squeezing me. Suddenly I was released, and I was back in Ponyville, and everything looked… normal. I saw Twilight and ran over to her, about to ask her a billion questions. “Twilight!” She happily looked over, and her expression turned from happiness to disgust and irritation. She turned back to whatever she was doing, and I stopped, confused. “Twilight?” I walked over to her. “Shadow Spectre, I suggest you leave me alone.”

She used my real name. She never does that, nor does anypony else- they all know I hate my real name.

I stepped backwards, taken aback. “E-Excuse me?”

“GO AWAY!” She shot around, turning to me. She pushed me away from her, making me fall over on my arse. I just stared at her, tears welling up in my eyes.

I ran to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie loves me. She’ll know what’s up. I burst through the door. “P-Pinkie?” I said through the knot in my throat.

“Ugh. What are you doing here? I told you I never wanted to have anything to do with you ever again, Shadow!” She threw a bag of flour at me, and I ducked. It sent a wave of flour cascading on to me. I ran outside, Pinkie’s laugh ringing through my ears.

I ran to Sweet Apple Acres, the tears mixing with the flour and making a mess. I ran up to her barn. I heard voices.

“Creativity my ass, Big Macintosh. She’s just an annoying mare with ADHD.”

“Eeyup.”

I stepped through the door, heartbroken and at a loss for words.

“Well lookie here. It’s little Miss Screw Up,” She looked at me disdainfully. “I take it that flour was from another failure?”

“I-”

“Shut up and get off my property before Big Mac makes you leave.”

“I thought you were my friend!” I sobbed. They both laughed, sending shocks of pain I never felt before through my heart.

“Well you thought wrong. Now leave.”

I ran out, sobbing. What was happening? My friends hate me. One of my greatest fears is losing my friends…

I flew up to Rainbow Dash’s cloud home. “Dash!” I said through tears. “Dash, I need you!”

Her head popped out, looking like she was about to hurt somepony. “Yeah? Does it look like I care?” She stifled a laugh. “How are you even flying? You’re never good enough to do anything.”

I shot towards Fluttershy’s cabin. She’s the last one on earth that would treat me like this. I knocked frantically on her door. “Flut- Fluttersh…shy?” I tried to say through my sobs. She swung her door open.

“What.” Her facial expression told me she wouldn’t be as kind as I had hoped.

“Ev… Everypony hates me!” I sobbed.

“Aw, boo hoo hoo!” She slammed the door in my face, leaving me there sobbing uncontrollably.

I ran to where my house would be. Volk is the only one who would stay my friend, even if everypony else had deserted me. I went inside, seeing him sleeping in his usual spot. “Volk! All the girls hate me, and I…” I flew over to him, and scooped him up in a hug. He didn’t take kindly to that. He bit down on my arm and drew blood. He squirmed and pushed off of me, baring his teeth. “Volk… Not you too, buddy…” I reached towards him and he snapped at my hoof, drawing more blood.

I flew deep within the Everfree Forest, not bothering to go find Rarity. I passed by Zecora’s cabin, and kept flying. I flew for at least half an hour, and the woods suddenly cut off and went straight down. A cliff I never knew was here was suddenly inviting me to jump down. I landed and stared down at the vast chasm. It went further than just a ninety degree slope. I brought my wings up and down again, pushing me off the ground, and hovering above the nothingness. Suddenly my wings felt like they were being torn off, and stopped working. I plummeted down the cliff, screaming as loud as I could. I finally reached the ground, but it wasn’t over yet. It was steep- toosteep. I landed on my leg, which snapped in front of me. I saw the bone shoot out of my skin. I fell backwards, grinding my back on pebbles and rough rock. More open air. I was in a weird position, and my hooves were being sanded down on the cliff as I fell, but I couldn’t move them. I finally pushed off and landed on my side, bounced and rolled over, hit my head, my side, my back. I clawed at the ground to try and stop myself, but it was no use. My hooves were gone, and the fleshy, sensitive part shown through, making it extremely painful and difficult to get a hold of anything. I just gave up and pushed off one last time, getting open air again. I flew down head first. I realized there was a lake at the bottom, not solid ground. I tried using my wings, but t was no use. I hit the water with a sharp sting. I sank like a rock, even though I knew how to swim. I couldn’t swim to the surface, and I couldn’t breathe. I hated water. I hated deep water. I hated the thought of having water above my shoulders, and I was enveloped in it. I started to panic. I flailed, hoping to get to the surface. Nope. I continued to sink, the pressure building in my ears. Just as I thought my head would explode, I hit the bottom. I still couldn’t get to go up, as if something was holding me down.

Okay, maybe this isn’t so bad… It’s a peaceful way to die, right? I let out all of the air I had inside me. I sucked in water, and it was painful- it stung my insides like acid.

I waited.

And waited.

It took forever until I finally blacked out.

This is it. Goodbye, world.

I awoke with a jolt, sweating like a pig, hyperventilating, and covered in tears. Sombra was laughing his ass off. It took me a second to realize what he’d done, and it made me furious. “SOMBRA, YOU TITANIC DOUCHE!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I was apparently still crying pretty hard. I curled up in a ball, and I saw Discord out of the corner of my eye. My eyes widened and I thought about high tailing it out of there. I didn’t want him to know I lost the spears.

“Discord. Want to know what your little pet managed to do?”

“Sombra, you better shut the hell up or I’ll end you.” I got up and stared at him.

“Now, now, Chance, let him talk.”

“But-”

“Be quiet.”

I huffed and curled up again, looking at my purple hooves.

“She lost the spears.” He paused, waiting for Discord to explode.

“Did she?” He said, all too calmly. He floated over to me. “…And what are these?” I looked up through my tears, and saw him holding the box that contained the Elements. I forgot about those.

“Th- the Elements… I figured since I… misplaced the spears, I would go and find the Elements so they wouldn’t be able to stop you…” I curled up more tightly, afraid he would hit me or something. Instead, he scratched my head. “Good girl,” He said approvingly. The praise sent good feelings through me, and I leaned into his paw, but he floated away with the Elements. Sombra stared at me, upset that Discord didn’t punish me for losing the spears. I stuck my tongue out at him and he growled, knowing he could do nothing to me while Discord was here. Discord came back over and raised an eyebrow questioningly at my broken wing. “It, uh, got caught underneath a boulder while trying to get the Elements…” Sombra snickered and I shot him a dirty look. “I’ll fix that.” Discord said. He snapped his fingers, and my wing was just like normal. My hooves were still bruised and I had the cuts and burns and everything else Discord and Sombra so kindly gifted me with.

“Go find the Princesses now. You’re losing time.” Discord looked at me seriously. I knew I better fulfill his wish soon, otherwise things could get messy.

I flew back out of the portal and back into the mountain. I walked quietly through the doorway and made sure nopony was up yet. I took some vegetable oil Pinkie had left out and I poured some on the floor next to the boulder that blocks the entrance. I heaved and pushed the rock back into its original place, cleaned up the oil on the floor, and flew back up to the bedrooms. Everypony was still asleep. Good. I snuck back into my bed and I laid there, waiting for the others to get up.

Hours passed when Applejack got up. I watched her through the slits of my eyes, pretending I was asleep. She stretched, yawned, and started to walk out the door.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Rarity’s voice came from behind me, and I heard her scramble to get out of bed. Applejack grinned and ran downstairs, Rarity following.

“You always get up early and always take all the hot water!” She whined.

I heard scuffling and grunts and finally a door slam. “Ha!” Rarity exclaimed, and I faintly heard a huff coming from Applejack. Rainbow Dash groaned and flipped over in her sleep. I couldn’t find the Princesses while everypony was close to getting up. I’ll wait until night time again, and look for them then. In the meantime, I felt the need to find out if everypony dislikes me like Discord said.

I got up, made sure my hoodie covered the burn marks on my flanks, and headed downstairs. Volk followed me, and I made sure to keep a safe distance after going through that nightmare. I still felt like he knew something was up with me, watching me with a skeptical yet cautious eye. I walked over to the kitchen and sat down at the table and sighed, tapping my hooves on the table, anxious and worried and upset all at the same time.

“Somethin’ wrong, sugarcube?” Applejack asked with a worried smile.

“Uhh… No. I’m just tired.” I said, trying to sound friendly. Clashing thoughts of rage and utter depression and paranoia raced through my mind. That vision Sombra cast upon me didn’t help my already tattered psyche one bit.

“Aren’t we all?” She chuckled, and went back to cooking breakfast. “Ya want somethin’?” I grimaced as the thought of the sour taste of bile and blood came flooding back from last night. “No, thanks. Maybe later.”

A while passed, and Applejack was still cooking who knows what. She hummed as she worked, which was kind of soothing. Rarity finally came out of the shower with her hair up in curlers, looking content.

“Anything good for breakfast this time?” She said, taking a seat.

“Just the usual- pancakes, waffles, muffins, and orange juice.” Applejack said, not bothering to look up from whisking a bowl of batter.

“Ohh what I would give to have some of Canterlot’s divine luxury food.” Rarity whined. She can be so irritating sometimes. I clenched my jaw and refrained from saying anything mean.

“Come on now, Rarity, we’ve got to make do with what we have. We’re lucky we even have anything at all. This place we’re stuck in has emergency reserves that will last for as long as it takes to get Ponyville cleaned up.” Appejack said, trying to hide the shadow of despair in her voice.

Pinkie jumped down the whole flight of stairs and came happily bouncing over to the table, with her mane in more of a mess than usual. Fluttershy sheepishly followed, still sleepy. Rainbow Dash was probably sleeping in.

“Mornin’, girls!” Applejack said. They all exchanged greetings and small talk, as Twilight trotted down and over to us. She looked serious, and something about her threw me off. I bit my lip nervously. What if she remembered last night?

I shifted uncomfortably, remembering that awful vision I had of the girls all abandoning me as their friend. I kept my gaze low and hoped it wasn’t true. I had to find a way to see what they really thought of me without causing suspicion. I was busy looking at my purple hooves when Pinkie blurted out, “Hey! Why is almost all of my oil missing!?” My heart skipped a beat. Everypony looked at each other questioningly, then all eyes fell on me. Surely I was sweating enough to fill a pool, but I calmly said, “Oh, uh… I had to use the oil to get my hooves unstuck from the bottom of the fridge…?” Everypony made a weird face. “Because, I had accidentally dropped a cookie and it rolled under there, and I thought I could get it out by lifting the fridge, but it was too heavy…” I gave a sheepish smile and held up my hooves, hoping they believed me. Pinkie giggle-snorted. “Oh, Chance! You and your clumsiness!” Everypony looked convinced except Twilight, who still looked really focused and off. Maybe she was just tired.

The day went on and I subtly tried to find evidence that they truly didn’t like me, to no avail. It seemed they all loved me dearly. At the end of the day, after countless hugs and support from telling each of our stories about where we were the day the bomb went off, it felt as if a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I was deep in thought, laying in my bed before dinner.

Nopony hates me, thank Celestia. But why was I so convinced they did? It felt… normal to have them hate me before, as if they actually did. Discord’s words felt soothing, felt trustworthy, felt right. It felt like my eyes were opened to a new world, a new world of hatred and dysfunction. So, was he lying? Or…

“Chaaaance~! It’s time to eat!!” Pinkie burst through the bedroom door, startling me out of my thoughts. “Oh, uh, okay. I’ll be down in a minute.” She happily trotted away, and I plopped back down on my bed and heaved a big sigh. I waited another minute and finally got up and went downstairs. I sat down and rested my head on the table, eyes half closed. Everypony was quiet, eating daffodil sandwiches. Suddenly I blurted, “Hey Twilight, Discord can… hypnotize ponies, right?” I looked down at the table, wishing I hadn’t said that. She stared at me, finished chewing and swallowed, and slowly said, “Yeah… I guess so. That, and ‘Discording’ others, which is sort of the same thing, but it turns you into the opposite of yourself,”

“Why do you ask?” She said, staring at me even more intensely than before.

“I, uh, just… Was wondering. That’s all.” I bit my tongue. I was getting worse and worse at lying.

“Uh huh…” She stared at me, I stared at the table, and there was an awkward silence between us all. I should just run off and fly into the portal and stay there, risking both Sombra’s and Discord’s wrath of wimping out. I can’t let them find out what and whom I’ve been dealing with.

I pushed my chair out rather abruptly and said “I have to go.”

“Where, pray tell?” Twilight pushed.

“Uhh… Out.” I turned and started to leave, but something was holding me back. I turned around and saw everypony looking at me with a worried expression. They looked sad for me. I scrunched up my face, hoping to not let anything blurt out.

I took a deep breath and quickly said “Discord knocked me out the day I hung out with Twilight and kept me hostage Celestia knows where and they beat me and made me eat Tonrar and shaved off my cutie mark and branded me with his face and Sombra was there too and he would beat the hell out of me even though you thought you vanquished him and Discord is the one who made the bomb and he’s planning on killing the Princesses and made me hate all of you because I thought you hated me and I… and I… I…”

I broke down sobbing harder than I’ve ever sobbed before. Guilt and sorrow and embarrassment and doubt and anger and everything else ravaged my mind. I couldn’t look up or stop crying, but I felt multiple hooves envelop me in an embrace. I continued crying, and nopony said a word. I was scared about what they would do or think of me.

“I…” I tried speaking, but I started choking on my sobs and the knot in my throat.

“Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay. We’ve got you, and we all love you. Discord and Sombra won’t be able to hurt you anymore.” Flutteshy’s voice. It sounded angelic.

“We’ll whoop his butt for what he did to you!” Rainbow Dash.

“Amen!” Applejack. “Yeah!” Pinkie. “Those horrid monsters won’t see it coming!” Rarity.

Somepony lifted up my chin, and I opened my eyes. It was Twilight. She smiled, big and warm. “Chance, don’t you worry. We’ll fix everything and make Discord and Sombra pay.”

A while went by, hugging and talking things out. It felt so good to vent everything that happened. Everypony was understanding, and I couldn’t care more that I had them as my friends. I left out the parts that went against them, like the spears and hiding the Elements, however. “So, Chance. Have a plan?” Rainbow was fired up, ready to beat Discord and Sombra into oblivion.

“I have an idea, but we would need to be on guard and ready to act when the time comes,” Everypony nodded in agreement. “I thought it over, and I have a pretty solid plan. …I think. Discord sent me here to get rid of you all, along with the Princesses. Enough time has passed to have him think I completed the deed. I’ll return to him, say I completed the task, and he’ll come out of hiding to survey the land. Since the Elements were destroyed in the blast, I think Twilight should cast a spell to make a magic cage that would drain his energy to the point where he can’t use his magic or harm anyone; same with Sombra.”

“I think I can do that.” Twilight said confidently.

“Good. Then it’s settled. Follow m-”

“My little ponies, how wonderful to see you all in good health.” It was Celestia, Luna by her side.

Twilight jumped up and ran to her, embracing her in a hug. “Princesses! You’re out of your comas!" The others followed, I just sat there awkwardly. They both looked really scuffed up. Their wings were torn up, their horns were missing, and scars covered their bodies. I guess they healed fast. After the six ponies and two alicorns caught up, Twilight asked me if it was okay if she informed the Princesses of what happened, and I reluctantly agreed.

“Oh, my goodness. That’s terrible.” Luna said. “Yes, they must be stopped at once.” Celestia urgently said.

“Don’t worry, Princesses. We have a fool-proof plan to stop them. Stay here so you’ll be safe.” Twilight said hopefully.

They both nodded. “Godspeed, then, my faithful student.” Celestia said.

The six ponies followed me to the field where the portal was at. I didn’t want them to know the precise location of it. I told them to be on guard, having them face the opposite direction of the portal, telling them Discord and Sombra would be there in a few minutes. I had brought a large blanket used for a picnic of ten. I was asked what it was for multiple times, but I always said, “You’ll see.”

I had made fake blood and covered myself in it, messed my hair up, and cut myself to make it look like I completed the deed.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Rarity asked. I informed them after being through all the pain and torment the two put me through, something simple like a cut has no effect on me.

I entered the portal and made my way to Discord, panting. “I did it… I killed them all.” I said with a scowl. I stood there, facing the ground and clenching my jaw. Discord started to laugh victoriously.

“Yes!” Discord floated around, laughing and praising me. I have to admit, the praise felt good, even if I didn’t earn it.

“Time for me to take my rightful place as king in Equestria.” He said, almost growling.

We headed out, Sombra by Discord’s side, grinning malevolently. I hope this goes well. We exited the portal, and Discord was stunned to see the six ponies in front of him. Twilight brought her head up and strained to cast the spell I made up, and she couldn’t. I knew she wouldn’t be able to. I didn’t want her to. I flew up, rammed my hooves as hard as I could against Sombra’s and Discord’s faces, and threw the blanket over them.

“Run.”

Author's Note

Wheeeeeeeeeew. 6 months and nothing uploaded... Sorry about that c: More plot twists, yay! Things will be turned upside down for the ponies... Just you wait. *Discord laughs in the distance*