Chapter 1

"Hello Discord," I say as I sense the Draconequus, not bothering to get up or even look up from the book I'm reading.

"Hello Irony," he responds, seeming ever so slightly put out that he hasn't surprised me with his presence.

"So the time has finally come, then?" I ask, sounding almost bored though I am feeling anything but. I knew this confrontation would come. I had warned each of the Princesses on numerous occasions that he could not be trusted. I was certain of his betrayal. Too bad I couldn't be wrong.

"Indeed it has. You should feel honored that I see you as enough of a threat that I shall remove you before putting the rest of my plan into action," is his response.

He then begins to chant:

For Five Score! Divided by Four!

Your Memories Removed! Your Body Confused!

For your insolence you must pay,

Cast off to a land far far away!

Irony's removal, to meet my approval!

Your mind shall be weak, your outlooks bleak!

Forgetting everything and living like a fool,

You have all lost, now no one can stop my rule!

By the time he finishes the first line I have already leapt to my four hooves. My motions seem sluggish, almost like I am moving through molasses in January. I push on, knowing I only have one chance before I am dust. By the end of the third line I have managed to grab my flanged mace. During lines four and five I begin closing the gap. At line six I am raising my mace over my head to strike. Line seven sees me bringing the mace down in an arc at my foe. I can see it in my hand, preparing to crush the Lord of Chaos' skull. He finishes his incantation and snaps his claws just as I feel the mace make contact. Then everything goes blinding white and then darkest black.

And then the screaming begins...

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I sit up in my bed, remembering every aspect of my dream. I have had it so many times that I can close my eyes and relive it in vivid detail any time that I wish, though I would rather forget.

I seem to always have that dream on the night of my birthday, as well as whenever I seem to be at a crossroads in my life. Today is the former. I am officially 25, as of 0433 this morning, April 25th, 2020. I look at my clock and see that it is 0440, as I expected. I always wake up right after having the dream on my birthday soon after my actual birth time.

I sigh and stretch my 6' 5", 295 pound frame, not bothering to lie back down. I'm supposed to meet my brother at the gym in a little over half an hour. I get up and throw on my workout shorts and shirt in the dark, grab a protein bar and my gym bag and head out the door.

The gym is less than a mile away so I jog there while eating my protein bar as a warm-up, knowing that today we were planning on lifting weights. My brother Jim always tried to push me to compete with him when we lifted, maybe because he isn't quite as big as me, being 6' 1" and about 225 pounds, but I knew it wasn't a great idea to let our egos get out of control. Too easy to get hurt.

I get to the gym at exactly 0530, knowing that Jim won't be there quite yet. He is always running a little late, but never by enough for me to gripe a lot. I stow my gym bag in a locker and begin limbering up. I'm halfway through my stretches when he walks in and starts doing the same without a word. We both take our workouts pretty seriously, an attitude that we got from having been in the Marines together, and which continued even now that we were both out of the service.

I finish stretching and walk around while I wait for Jim to finish. When he's done he comes up and grabs my hand and pulls me into a guy hug and says, "Henry man, Happy Birthday! You've finally made the big 2-5."

I laugh and say, "Yeah, and you're a whole 6 days behind me dude. So no old man jokes."

He laughs and says, "Okay, okay...no old man jokes, I promise, gramps."

I punch him in the shoulder and laugh at him. Jim and I aren't brothers in blood, but we might as well have been. We were both adopted at the same time from unknown parents. Our adoptive parents had never hidden the fact we were adopted from us, instead showing us how much they had wanted us and loved us. They were wonderful parents who adopted us late in life. Jim and I still missed them, even though it had been almost 7 years since they passed away.

"Are you ready for this? Today I'm going to lift more than you for sure," he says to me.

"Only in your dreams little bro," I laugh at him.

We start our circuit in earnest, taking turns spotting for each other. When we are nearing the end of our final circuit, Jim starts running his mouth, trying to push my buttons and get me to actually compete with him on the bench.

"Come on old man, you're not worried that I'll beat you are you? Maybe I should go get your walker?" he pushes and pushes.

"Fine you little pipsqueak, you're on!" I growl at him. Usually I just say no and he can't get a rise out of me, but today I feel a little different. I'm a little angry and just feel riled up.

"Alright! Let's start at 200!" he says jubilantly as he starts loading weight on the bar, knowing this is a rare opportunity for him to really measure himself against me.

"I don't think so. Let's make it 300. Loser picks up the bar tab tonight," I grin at him.

"You're on!" he finishes loading the bar and lays down on the bench. I take my place behind the bar to spot for him. He lifts the bar slowly and is able to do three reps before I have to help him put the bar back.

I laugh and say, "you'll have to do better than that. Throw some more weight on there."

Jim shrugs and throws another 25 pounds on each side. I lay down and pump out five reps before putting the bar back. I move to get up, certain of my victory when Jim stops me and adds another 50 pounds to the bar. I decide to humor him and lay back down, lifting the bar and do five more before putting the bar back unassisted.

"Dude...how much can you lift? We've been working out together for years and I didn't know you could do 400 pounds. You don't come work out by yourself do you?" Jim asks me, amazement clear in his voice.

"You know I would never work out alone! And I've never lifted that much before, so I didn't know I could do it either," I respond.

"Let's see how much you can do," he says as he loads up the bar with another 100 pounds.

"Come on man, you know I'll never be able to do that much."

"Just humor me bro. I've got a feeling."

"You and your feelings are gonna get me in trouble," I say as I lay back down and he stands ready. I hesitantly lift the bar out of the bracket and slowly lower it to my chest, fully expecting to need help to get it back up. I push the bar up, pausing at the top and then lowering it again. I can't believe it, I am lifting almost twice my body weight! Jim laughs out loud with glee as I continue. I stop when I get to ten, knowing I could do more but not wanting to overdo it.

"Okay, that's enough," I say, sitting up and wiping the sweat from my brow.

"Aww man...come on!" he cries.

I just smile at him and shake my head. I start unloading the bar and he helps so I don't have to go back and forth from side to side. When we finish I head to the showers with Jim following along behind. We grab our towels and strip down, heading into the showers. I'm lathering up my hair when I hear Jim yell, "Dude, what the fuck is that?"