Yay! New chapter! Thanks for sticking with this story! All of you are super awesomesauce! (Excuse my corny comment)

Anyways, enjoy the next chapter!

---

Philomena raced along at a steady pace. The ocean below them flew by at incredible speeds as Octavia watched from above. She was still very angry at Vinyl for accusing her of such a thing as lying to her. Who was she to accuse?

Octavia knew what she was doing was right. She knew that facing Discord and saving Rainbow Dash would save Equestria. She knew she could do it without Vinyl too. Vinyl would only prove to get in her way with her cowardly self.

The sun was starting to come up, and Octavia was nearly asleep again. However, a squawk from Philomena woke her up.

"On the horizon," The phoenix stated, pointing with her beak, "That's Discord's Domain."

A small dark spot could be seen approaching fast on the horizon. Octavia's heart quickened, bracing for the worst. She looked up at the sky ahead, which was dark with weirdly colored clouds. Multi-colored lightning shot out of said clouds on more than one occasion. They looked incredibly dangerous and very phoenix-unfriendly.

"I don't like the looks of those clouds." Octavia spoke.

The gray mare felt the phoenix shiver, "You better be thankful that I'm doing this for you."

Philomena sped up, dropping down to a few feet above the ocean. Octavia could feel the sea spray in her face as they sped towards the storm. Now right under the clouds, Philomena refused to rise up any further than she was, giving Octavia the sense that the clouds were very dangerous. The gray mare could feel the fur on the back of her neck rise, similar to the feeling of right before getting struck by lightning.

"Are those clouds..." Octavia began, "...Pink?"

"Storms conjured up by Discord," Philomena explained, "The last thing we want to do is get close to them. The lightning has a mind of its own and may come after us."

"Oh..." Octavia said, now suddenly scared, "Like right now?"

"Pardon?"

Octavia pointed to the clouds. Philomena craned her neck around, seeing one of the clouds charging up with a green light. With a deafening crash, a bolt of green lightning struck the ocean only mere yards away from Philomena's tail feathers.

"I take it that that's not good?" Octavia asked.

"You are correct." Philomena cooed back. With all her energy, she pushed foward just as a bolt of pink lightning struck to their left. She flipped, narrowly avoiding a bolt of blue, forcing Octavia to hold on for dear life.

"Don't let go!" Philomena squawked, "This is going to be a bumpy ride!"

Two strikes of lightning nearly hit Philomena's wings, but the phoenix was quicker. She dive bombed back down to the ocean just as another strike nearly hit her backside. Octavia's fur was standing on end, so much so that she could guarantee she had a frizzy afro from the static electricity.

"Almost there!" Cried Philomena, "We can make it!"

The phoenix spoke too soon. A bolt of red lightning suddenly struck Philomena's right wing, causing her to cry out in pain. They started to free fall straight down into the ocean with Philomena helplessly knocked out. Octavia started to panic, completely clueless as to what to do to save the phoenix and herself. Her wing was uselessly fried, all of the feathers falling off in clumps. In a split second decision, Octavia grabbed her bag and pulled out a golden seed. She shoved it into Philomena's beak, helping her chew it and swallow it.

For a terrifying moment, Philomena did not respond. However, a light shot through the phoenix's wing, healing the feathers and the fried flesh. She shot up just before they hit the ocean and took off at the speed of sound towards the island in the distance.

---

Octavia expected for the island to be floating above the ocean. What she didn't expect was for the island to be upside-down. At first, she mistook the top of the island for the actual island. She then saw all the strange light and colors at the bottom and her heart sank, the confidence she once had disappearing all together.

"How is that even possible?" Octavia asked.

"An island floating upside down is nothing comparing to some things that Discord can do," Philomena explained, "Speaking of which, hold on tight. I'm going to land on that dock there. I'll have to flip upside-down, because the gravity will change drastically."

"Wait, wha-?" Octavia began to ask. She was cut off when Philomena dove down to the ocean right below the island. Approaching the island's shoreline, she flipped upside down as she flew under. Octavia became dizzy when the phoenix did this, nearly losing her hold on the firebird. Gravity indeed shifted drastically, nearly making Octavia sick to her stomach.

After recovering from her nausea, the gray mare looked out over the island. Above her, the sea churned and crashed, unaffected by the strange gravity. The island itself was a pretty painful sight to look at, considering just how many impossible optical illusions were expertly etched into the landscape. Strange animals roamed the land, eating blue and pink grass. The forests were made out of various, giant candy bars that made the entire place smell sweet. A river of liquid chocolate twisted through the candy trees, filtered out from a huge dam that sat against the mountains. Sitting even higher than the dam on top of the tallest mountain that was dangerously close to touching the ocean was a strange, deformed castle with architecture that was impossible for Octavia to understand. The place looked like a twisted and dangerous version of a young child's candy land dream.

Philomena circled once before landing at a dock conveniently placed at the edge of the island. Octavia jumped off of the phoenix's back, still very concerned about how the ocean above them wasn't falling in on them.

"This is as far as I go," Philomena cooed, "I want to give you some advice though."

Octavia turned back to the phoenix, "Yes?"

"Don't fall for any of Discord's tricks," Philomena warned, "This place may seem innocent at first glance, but it is infested with dangerous creatures and traps, all designed to either hurt or trick you. Discord is a master of manipulation. He will use your greatest strength against you and will have you under his control before you can even realize it. Trust me, I have seen it happen to both my mistresses Celestia and Luna."

"I can take care of myself," Octavia scoffed, "Some old-fashioned tricks from some old, worn-out snake isn't going to stop me. I know I'm a strong mare."

Philomena shook her head sorrily, "Cockiness. You can't have that here."

"I know what I'm doing," Octavia growled back, starting to enter the forest of candy bars, "I don't need advice from a flaming chicken."

Philomena cooed sympathetically, "Discord has made you bitter, Octavia. It shall be your downfall."

Octavia didn't listen and continued on. As Philomena pushed off from the dock, the gray mare could have sworn she heard the phoenix say:

"May Celestia have mercy on your soul..."

---

Rainbow Dash was awoken by the sound of a door slamming against the wall. She looked up through the bars of her cage, seeing her captor standing in the doorway of the throne room. He approached the throne, refusing to acknowledge Rainbow, which was unlike him. She in the meantime, only glared resentfully at him.

Rainbow noticed he looked quite cheerful about something, "What are you smiling about, Dipcord?"

"None'ya, Dashie." Replied Discord, dismissively waving his paw, "I'm only happy because I have an unexpected visitor to my humble abode."

Panic shot through Rainbow's body, "Wait, who?"

"Have a look for yourself." The multi-beast answered. With a snap of his talon hand, a clear, crystal orb appeared in front of Rainbow. It showed a super-clear image of a familiar gray earth pony, just starting to walk into the forest of candy bars...

"Octavia?!" Rainbow exclaimed, "No! How did she get here?! She doesn't even have wings!"

This comment caused Discord to chuckle a little, "It seems as though she had some help from a certain blazing bird."

Rainbow bared her teeth, "Philomena."

"I'm actually impressed that she worked up the courage to even come," Discord rambled on, "Especially since her cowardly, annoying friend isn't with her."

"She's... She's alone?" Rainbow asked, looking stunned.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Her captor laughed, "It will make it all the easier to get to her, making my job more fun and less work!" He cackled again before taking a seat on his throne. He used his tail to wrap around the orb and keep it stable while he viewed the gray mare, "Now... What to do with this pest?"

Rainbow watched helplessly as Discord contemplated on what to do with Octavia. An idea struck her. Though Discord hadn't taken her horn away completely, the cage was magic-proof enough to keep her magic from responding. But if she could pull off the spell she was thinking of, she might could just save Octavia, the Crusaders, and herself...

Rainbow turned away from Discord so he couldn't see her. Her horn lit up in a very gentle, barely noticeable magenta shade.

It had to work. It just had to.

---

Octavia's senses were kicked into overdrive. Every sound she heard braced her for any sort of ambush. She was constantly scanning the area, ready for anything. Each time something flew out of the bushes or the trees, she drew her cello bow and took a defensive stance.

Octavia knew she was well behind enemy lines. She was in Discord's territory, meaning absolutely anything could happen. What was worse was that she was alone... No one to cover her if she went down. Her mind wandered to Vinyl...

No! Her mind screamed, I don't need her! What a jerk... Thinking I had lied to her! I was just kidding about that whole I-always-lie-to-her-thing... I can do this all by myself, and probably much faster without her in the way. Discord's bark is probably bigger than his bite anyway, considering how loud-mouthed he is. He'll be a piece of cake.

"You hear that, Discord?" Octavia shouted to the woods, becoming angry at her own thoughts, "I'm not scared of your threats! Hit me with your best shot!"

All that happened were rustling in the trees, caused by fruit with wings taking to the sky. Octavia scoffed, assuming that Discord was too scared to attack her. He had to have heard about her defeating Nightmare Moon, and that had to make him think twice.

Then again, it was me and Vinyl who defeated Nightmare, not just myself... Octavia reminded herself, I can still do this myself though. I know I can.

The mare continued on, taking in all of the sights of the twisted candy land. She began to wonder why the Gears of Harmony had chose to exile Discord instead of turning him to stone like they did back when they were the Elements. Maybe they felt merciful? How could a magical artifact have feelings though?

Octavia shook the thought away, hearing something rustle in the bushes next to her. She whipped around, drawing her cello bow as she did. All of her senses were posed to strike, or reading to run if necessary. She took a step foward, her limbs tightening with anticipation...

...Only to have a tiny piece of licorice jump out. Octavia jumped at first before the licorice took the form of a tiny serpent and slithered away. She laughed a little, thinking of how pathetic Discord's attempt was to attack her. However, just as she was about to walk away, the bushes rustled again. Octavia turned, seeing two giant pieces of licorice rise out of the bushes, taking the form of huge pythons. The candy pythons hissed at her, showing off their fangs dripping with liquid licorice.

"Oh Celestia..." Octavia gasped.

---

Vinyl awoke as the sun came up. She expected to see her buddy lying a few feet away from her, but remembered what had happened last night. She sniffed, immediately pushing Octavia to the back of her mind. She stood up, running through her morning routine before making her way out of the bluff and into the town.

"Hey, Vinyl!" A familiar gray pegasus greeted, approaching the white unicorn.

"Oh," Vinyl sighed, "Hey, Derpster."

Derpy glanced around with her wall-eyed stare, "So, where's Octavia?"

Vinyl hesitated, unsure how to answer that question, "She... Went on a very long trip."

"Cool! Wait, why didn't you go?"

"She went to... Canterlot. It's not really my thing."

Derpy raised an eyebrow, "But I thought you guys went everywhere together?"

Vinyl was silent, "Uh... Yeah... Canterlot just isn't my thing. Too many snotty snob ponies."

Derpy set her wall-eyed stare straight, which was very unlike her, "Vinyl, where did she really go?"

Vinyl bit her lower lip. She knew she couldn't keep a secret from Derpy, who could easily detect a lie. How was she going to tell her. With a sigh of reluctance, Vinyl broke.

"She... She went to Discord's Domain... By herself."

For a moment, Derpy stared at her, mouth open agape and eyes dilated to full size. The pegasus took two steps back before sprinting away, all the while screaming:

"BONBOOOOOOOONNN!"

---

Terror pulsed through Octavia's veins at the sight of the evil licorice pythons standing over her. If this was any other animal, she would have attacked it without hesitation. But it was a snake; a very large snake at that.

The first snake attempt to strike at Octavia, but she forced her terror-stricken limbs to move away. She did the most logical thing and ran as fast as her limbs would allow her to. She refused to face the snakes, even if she probably had the advantage.

If only Vinyl was here, Octavia thought through her fear, Then she would blast the snakes for me.

The mere though of Vinyl made Octavia enraged. She stopped, turning around and facing the snakes which were mere yards away. She drew both her cello bow and cello, preparing for attack. She didn't need Vinyl to handle her greatest fear. She could take the licorice snakes down herself. Besides, they appeared to be constrictor snakes, so they couldn't be poisonous. Even if they did manage to get Octavia trapped in their coils, she could just eat her way out of them.

Right?

The first snake came, jaws open to show two large fangs. Octavia used her cello, playing the bow across the strings until the bow caught on fire. Whipping it around, she blasted a wave of purple flames that caused the first snake to go careening into a bush. It was turned into a pile of tiny licorice that luckily did not re-form. Unfortunately, its buddy was only stunned momentarily. It attacked next, using its large head to knock Octavia's cello out of her grasp. It was lightning-fast in capturing its prey, and had Octavia trapped in its coils before she could even realize what had happened.

Terror rose in the gray mare again as she stared at the glowing yellow eyes of the licorice snake. Fear overruled her logic as the snake constricted, slowly choking her.

Hey! You idiot! A voice suddenly echoed in her head, Eat the stupid snake! It's made of licorice for crying out loud!

For some odd reason, the strange voice gave her courage to bite into the snake, taking a good-sized chunk out of it. The snake cried out in pain, loosening its body from around Octavia, who quickly used her cello bow to slice it into pieces of tiny licorice.

Thank you, strange, disembodied voice. Octavia commented in her thoughts.

Just Rainbow Dash is fine. The voice replied back.

Octavia was stunned for a moment, Rainbow? How are you talking in my mind?

Telepathic communication spell, Rainbow explained, At least, I think that's what Twilight called it. It takes a lot of my strength to use the spell though, so I'll only use it when I absolutely have to. Look, see the castle on the mountain?

Octavia craned her neck back, looking at the mountain a couple of miles off in the distance. She clearly saw the twisted castle dangling right over the crashing ocean that sat above.

Yes, I do. Octavia replied.

Okay good, Rainbow answered back, That's where me and the Crusaders are being held. Right now, I'm in the throne room. I'm not sure where the fillies are, but if you can get me out, we can find them together.

Sounds simple enough. Octavia remarked.

Hang on! I'm not finished. The only way you can get into the castle is if you have magic equal to Discord's, which you don't have. Instead, there's a secret way to get in via the dam. Y'know, that dam that filters all the chocolate milk?

So that's what that brown stuff is? Octavia mused, I thought it was... Something else.

Ew! Rainbow cried, You're disgusting, Octavia!

This caused the gray mare to sigh, Yeah, don't remind me.

Rainbow coughed, Okay, but you gotta hurry. Discord's watching you right now with some sort of magic orb thingy. He's gonna be keeping tabs on you with whatever you do.

Octavia felt a chill run down her spine, realizing that the "being-watched" feeling she had been having for the past few days was back, Great. I have an audience.

Look, I know you can do it, buddy, Rainbow said, You're not an ordinary mare like some might say. You defeated Nightmare Moon, and you can defeat Discord.

Octavia's eyes lightened with determination, You're right. I can do this, and I will do this! Thanks, Rainbow Dash.

No prob, Rainbow replied, Now go get 'em, Octavia!

Octavia drew her cello bow before advancing on and saying out loud, "With pleasure..."

---

"Bonbonbonbonbonbon!" Derpy screamed, running into the guild with Vinyl right on her heels, "Bonbonbonbonbonbon!"

Derpy was jerked backwards when Vinyl used her magic to grab her tail. Somehow, Derpy defied the laws of magic and broke free, running towards Lyra's chambers. The pegasus slammed the doors open, breathing heavily as she did before running towards Bonbon who was currently taking a break in the corner.

"Bonbon Bonbon Bonbon!" Derpy cried.

"What what what?!" Bonbon quickly replied, now worried by Derpy's panicky tone.

"Vinyl Vinyl Vinyl!" Derpy continued, now jumping up and down with each word.

"Yes yes yes?!"

"She said she said she said!"

Bonbon shook Derpy back and forth, "Spit out, Derpy!"

"I was talking to Vinyl and she said that Octavia went to some certain forbidden domain last night!" The pegasus said.

"She what?!" Bonbon exclaimed, her eyes becoming bloodshot, "Wha...? Why?!"

Just then, Vinyl came barreling into the room, nearly crashing into the two, "No! She's crazy! She hasn't had her muffins today and she's a little loopy! Octavia certainly did not go to Discord's Domain!"

"Yes she did!" Derpy argued, "You said it yourself!"

"You heard wrong!" Vinyl quickly shot back, "I said she went to see... The Disco Crane! It's uh... A crane that can disco dance!"

"Impossible!" Derpy cried, "I know all the disco animals in Equestria, and there's no such thing as a Disco Crane!"

Bonbon raised a skeptical eyebrow, "So Octavia went to Discord's Domain on her own? You didn't even bother to accompany her?"

Vinyl bit her lip, "Well... I didn't want to disobey Luna!"

Bonbon shook her head, "It's dangerous just to go to Discord's Domain by one's self. It's even worse when you're alone because you don't have moral support to keep a sane outlook on things!"

Vinyl gulped, "What are you saying?"

Bonbon looked at the two seriously, "Octavia could end up like Dinky and Celestia were once if she doesn't stay strong."

Vinyl scoffed, her mind suddenly remembering all the resentment towards her once-friend, "Big deal. It was her decision to go. It's gonna be up to her if she survives or not."

"Wait, what?" Derpy asked.

"You heard me," Vinyl replied, beginning to go for the door, "Octavia's on her own this time. It's her responsibility, not mine."

"But you two are partners!" Bonbon exclaimed, "So what about what Luna said? Your best friend is possibly trapped by a maniac, and you're just brushing it off like it's no big deal."

"She's not my partner anymore!" Vinyl screamed, baring her teeth, "She showed me that I can't trust her anymore, so I'm not concerned about saving her! So... So... Just shut up about it!"

Before they could say anything else, Vinyl sprinted out the door. Derpy and Bonbon exchanged glances, Bonbon's glance becoming grave.

"Their disharmony clearly has a higher power involved," The cream mare said, "Discord's got something to do with this."

"But what can we do?" Derpy asked, her wall-eyes stare currently very unsure.

Bonbon rubbed her chin before her eyes lit up with an idealistic look, "I know exactly what we have to do. We have to get Vinyl to remember how important her friendship is with Octavia. That's the only way we can hope to save their friendship."

Derpy smiled, "You've gotta a plan?"

Bonbon nodded, "I wouldn't be Bonbon if I didn't."