My Little Pony: Friendship is Bothersome

Rainbow Dash and the others awoke from a slumber none of them remembered falling into. They were together, they were confused, and they were outside, all the while, Princess Celestia was nowhere to be seen.

"Where in tar-nation are we?" Applejack demanded, shaking her head free of diziness and parasprites circling around her field of vision.

"Looks like the Royal Canterlot Garden." Trixie commented, doing likewise. The ponies began to gossip amongst each other, wondering how they got there. The answer came to them in a miniature Thunder Storm. The thunder was loud and the Lightning brighter than the sun.

As the Lightning struck the ground,a shape appeared on all fours, darkened by the shade of the storm cloud above. It rose to two legs, its forearms twitching ever so slightly as they stretched outward. A laugh accompanied the creature and the voice belonging to the laugh was somewhat familiar to the ponies. The cloud disappeared, revealing the Draconequus, Discord standing before them with a goofy look on his face.

"You should see the looks on your faces; priceless!" he said, cupping his face in his disparate hands.

"Discord! What are we doing outside?!" Rainbow Dash demanded, zooming up to his face. The Draconequus snapped his fingers and Dash was forced to the ground, her wings gone from her body. She let out a surprised cry of horror as she went to inspect them. "My wings! What did you do to my wings?!" she cried, circling around to try and get a look at the absent appendages. The other ponies weren't faring any better. Rarity and Trixie were without their horns, and Fluttershy had also lost her wings, though that made little difference to the selectively grounded pony.

"You'll get them back in good time. For now, I decided we should play a little game of Maze. I've taken your Elements of Harmony. Make it to the centre of the maze, and I'll tell you where I put them." he said, spiralling in the air over the ponies.

"Of course, there are rules to the game; no giving up, no flying and no magic. Follow these rules in the maze and you're sure to find the centre eventually. As soon as the game is over, I'll give you our precious horns and wings back. Until then; good luck, everypony!" Discord finished off with a laugh as he disappeared in a brilliant flash of light.

"Alright, everypony. We gotta find the Elements of Harmony. Let's try our best to find the centre of the maze." Rainbow Dash declared, taking lead of the team in the absence of Dusk. Everypony nodded without a word.

"And we'll do it together!" she said, each one stepping a hoof on the ground towards the maze. At that moment, the Maze expanded, growing upward between each of them. They were cut off from each other.

Pinkamena awoke to the darkness. There was nary a sound, let alone a sight. She was no longer strapped to the table, nor was she even on the ground. She was in a void of sorts.

"Where am I?" she asked, her voice unable to escape beyond her mouth. She didn't expect an answer, and so she was surprised to receive one.

"You're where you were before, Pinkamena. As for where your mind is, it's within my own. I daren't venture into yours. I can't afford insanity on top of everything else." Dusk's voice rang out like Thunder.

"Your mind's... emptier than I imagined it to be." Pinkamena commented. A laugh escaped Dusk that rattled the void the pink pony was floating in.

"Every idea starts off with a Blank Slate, Pinkamena." Dusk replied, the words spoken appearing like flames burning onto a black surface. "When introducing one to your mind, you must be careful not to overwhelm them." the words appeared underneath like a list of rules. "Though you may be the exception." Instead of fire, the words appeared like light before disappearing again.

"And what's the purpose behind bringing me here?" Pinkamena asked. Instead of text appearing, Dusk's visage appeared instead.

"This is to be your... training ground. Within my mind, I can conjure whatever you want to kill for as long as you like. It's no big deal for me, I'm still awake and I'm watching you sleep peacefully... without any clothes." he commented, disappearing from view. Pinkamena suddenly found herself in the slaughter room, exactly like Dusk had just described. He stood over her, admiring her up close.

"Did I mention your mane looks best when it's straight like this? Not the cotton candy mess it usually is. This is the side of Pinkamena Diane Pie that I truly love." he commented.

"You think I won't kill you just because you compliment my mane and my body?" she asks, getting up from the table.

"You can't kill me, my dear. I know who you are, I know what you are. And nopony else will ever accept this side of you." he replied. Pinkie grew mad and slashed his neck with a scalpal. Dusk gargled for a moment before falling to the ground, dead.

It was then that her door burst open and her other friends saw her. Pinkamena's eyes widened. She'd been found out just like that.

"Pinkie... what have you done?!" Fluttershy asked, her voice raised to just above normal conversation level.

"I...I...I didn't-."

"You killed Dusk!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, almost yelling at the pink pony who was scared beyond belief. This was not what she wanted. She wanted her friends to remain blissfully ignorant of this side of her. Now that was thrown away with Dusk's Death.

"How dare you do this, Pinkamena!" A very regal voice said from behind her. She turned around to see Princess Celestia herself along with her sister, Princess Luna looking furiously at her. This was it, the end of her life.

"WE HATE YOU!!!" they all cried in unison. Pinkamena covered her face with her hands, sobbing into them.

"I'm sorry! He found out, he wasn't supposed to find out!" she sobbed.

"And with anypony else, that might change things. But you can be yourself with me, Dear Pinkamena." Dusk's voice responded. Pinkamena looked up to find she was in the same dark space as before. She hadn't really escaped his mind, the events weren't real. Her friends stood emotionless, like Dolls around her, even the Princesses.

"I'm still..."

"Yes, you're still here in my mind. But excluding that situation with the others, didn't it feel good to kill me with that scalpal in your hand?" he asked, appearing beside her with a grin on his face. Pinkamena retraced the steps she took and realised that it did feel good. She even felt the slight push one got when cutting something.

"It felt... real. I could feel your blood touch my hand, I felt the coldness of the table beneath me." she replied. Dusk smiled and snapped his fingers.

"That's because you remember how it felt. You've done those things before. Slit a pony's throat, sat on the edge of that table... felt me against you." his last words elicited a yip from the usually sadistic mare as she felt his fingers brush ever so lightly against her marehood. At the same time, multiple kitchen knives appeared at the throats of their friends and the Princesses.

"I can take any scene, any sensation any desire from your mind and project it to you in here, the space between our minds. I've been doing it for a while. I can even share my own sensations with you; what it feels like to use magic, how it felt both emotionally and physically to punch Nightmare Moon. I can give you a rage you'd never think possible, an emotionless feeling that would leave you shaking, whatever suits the occasion." he said, sliding those fingers up to her belly, between her breasts and just under her lips.

"I... could kill as much as I want in here?" she asked, the mere thought enticing her.

"Any time, anypony, anything... any number of. Pony, Gryphon, Dragon, you name it. If we've seen it, You can kill it. I'll even join you if you want me to." Dusk disappeared from her field of vision, but she felt him still there beside her. There was a menacing purr right next to her ear and she felt something like a tongue slither into it. She shuddered at the sensation. She'd never felt that before.

"Barb had a tendency to... hiss in her sleep. My ears would often get agitated." he mused. Pinkamena was at a loss for words. Instead, she raised her hand and snapped her fingers. The knives reacted and slit each of her friends' throats as well as the Princesses'. They all made dying sounds before collapsing to the ground.

"And what do you get in exchange for this godsend?" Pinkamena demanded. Dusk chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.

"Just make sure you don't kill me in real life." he replied.

"This is a bargain, Dusk. So long as I have this, you can have me and the others. This alone has made me fall in love with you all over again." she said.

The girls had failed. Each and every one of them had been altered by Discord's manipulation. Rainbow Dash was affected the hardest. Her Loyalty made her abandon her friends and in the long run, that would hurt her. Applejack had become a Liar, Rarity a disillusioned gem-digger, Fluttershy a meanie and Trixie had basically become a melancholy version of Fluttershy.

They'd lost the game that Discord had set out for them, and they were defeated. Their new personalities had rendered the Elements of Harmony useless, and deep down, they knew it, but didn't care.

"Sister, our friends have lost the way." Celestia commented, looking down at the altered ponies leaving the maze. They were headed toward their home, Ponyville.

"It appears so, Sister. But what shall we do? Unfortunately, I am not strong enough to be of any help to you yet, and you cannot face Discord alone." Luna replied, reminding her older sister of the gravity of their predicament.

"We must place our faith in Dusk Shine. Perhaps he can convince the others to return to the way they were." Celestia said.

"Ah, yes, Dusk Shine. Such a shame he didn't come out to play." a voice other than Luna's said. The two looked at each other before looking behind to see Discord sitting in Celestia's throne, drinking a mug of hot chocolate.

"Is this it then Discord? You've finally won. Luna and I cannot defeat you, the Elements of Harmony are useless and you are leeft to replace us without a challenge." Celestia noted. Discord considered her with as much seriousness as he could muster.

"Well, I admit, the outcome was a little disappointing. Hardly had to bat an eyelid." he replied. A small version of himself wearing a baseball outfit and holding a bat began to swing bits of eyelash towards the two.

"Still, I can't argue with the results. Dusk was obviously afraid of me. After all, I am his complete opposite. Dusk is known for his tidiness and I... well, you know." he said, returning to his hot chocolate.

"I can't believe Dusk! He didn't even try to help us, the bastard. I'm gonna kick him in the balls when I see him." Fluttershy scolded, flying over the others.

"Ah don't wanna hurt him!" Applejack lied, sucking her lips into her mouth and shifting her eyes from side to side.

"What's happening to us? We've been divided." Trixie whimpered, barely audible even from where Applejack stood.

"Ah won't pretend ta understand how ya feel, cause Ah don't. But if I did, then I certainly wouldn't care about those traitors." Applejack said, repeating the shifty process again.

"Oh, boo-hoo. I'll bet you're about to cry like Barb did that time she tripped on the step to the Library." Fluttershy protested. Trixie tried to defend her lover.

"She broke her tail, Fluttershy. Granted it grew back after it was removed, but still." she said.

"And you! What's the deal with you two, huh? Are you some sort of foalcon? I've seen you kiss Barb. She's a baby dragon, you know. And if you've slept with her, that's all kinds of wrong." Fluttershy retorted with venom.

"No, that's a misconception. Barb's actually three years younger than I am. Trixie's one year younger so the age gap is legal." a voice said, drawing the three mares to it. Dusk stood with Pinkie Pie clutching his arm as if they were on a romantic date, but something was different about Pinkie. Her mane wasn't puffy like it used to be.

"Hey, Pinkie, what's with your mane? It's not curly." Trixie commented.

"Dusk said It looked better long, so I decided to keep it that way. Also, my head doesn't feel quite as heavy as before now, so double-win." she replied, grinning like the Pinkie Pie they all knew.

"Ah didn't notice anything different!" Applejack lied.

"And where were you two, huh?! We just got our asses handed to us by Discord and you were playing dates with the party queen of Ponyville?" Fluttershy demanded.

"Got a problem with that?" Dusk asked, his gaze meeting Fluttershy's. She paused for an instant before recovering herself.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do! You chose a date with her over stopping Discord with the rest of us!" she argued.

"Let me get this straight; it was a choice between a hot date filled with sex... and kicking Discord in his ovaries?" Dusk asked.

"Yes!... Wait, I get it now. When you think about it, the choice was obvious, huh?" she said.

"Yes it is. Now go back to being your old self, Fluttershy. Two egotists are bad enough and it really doesn't suit you." he replied. Fluttershy grew red.

"Why should I care what you think?" she demanded.

"Because that's how relationships work. And unless you want to live your life like the crazy cat-mare up the road, you'll shut up now." he replied. Fluttershy huffed at him.

"You know, you've got a lot of nerve. The three of us should be kicking your nuts off right now." she replied. Dusk sighed before looking to Pinkamena.

"Here's my response to that." Dusk said. Fluttershy was met with a Lavender fist an instant before darkness fell upon her.

"Dusk! You just knocked Fluttershy out!" Pinkie exclaimed, staring at the downed pegasus.

"Kind of. Fluttershy has been Discorded. Not unheard of in an encounter with the draconequus. Her personality has been negated. Instead of the sweet and shy mare we know and love, she's been turned into... well that. Figuratively, Trixie's the new Fluttershy here. If I didn't know better, I'd say their personalities have been swapped." he replied. Trixie dragged her foot across the ground in embarrassment.

"Ah don't know what you're talkin' about." Applejack said.

"Oh please, you're so bad at lying you can't convince me even when your personality's been programmed to lie before telling the truth." Dusk said. "Come on, help me get Fluttershy to the Library. She's no good to us in the middle of the street."

Trixie went to say something but decided against it. Instead, she took a limb and helped lift her up.