Friendship is Shining: Discord Days

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

First published 7th of December, 2014

Shining Armor faces off against a being of chaos

Shining Armor gets a letter from Princess Celestia, asking him to Canterlot. There, he learns that Discord -- a creature that is the living embodiment of chaos -- has returned after a thousand years. Now he and his friends must use The Elements of Harmony to stop Discord from turning Equestria upside down (possibly in a very literal sense).

There's only one major problem: The Elements are missing.

Start of Season 2 of "Friendship is Shining."

Not Going on a Trip

After consuming large amounts of edible material -- recent events showing it does not necessarily have to be seen as "food" -- the creatures undergo what can best be described as "spontaneous parthenogenesis." Essentially, a new, fully grown parasprite is orally expelled from the progenitor. In basic term, after one eats who knows how much food, they "burp" out a new one.

Note: the newly created ones do not seem to be an exact duplicate of the previous. At the very least, there is a variation in coloration. Due to the events and consequences thereof, more information on potential differences was unobserved, as were possible causes. Is the change a genetic marker that is set with each birth based on prior markings?Could it be reflective of the food that was consumed? Could it simply be a random anomaly to permit genetic variation? Should such a thing be possible, controlled study of this would be of great interest in the future.

The sound of the library door slamming shut drew Shining Armor from his writing. Setting the quill aside, he looked to check the time. The young stallion's eyes went wide. He had no idea that it had been that late already. No wonder he felt hungry, he had skipped lunch.

Getting up, Shining Armor headed toward the main room of the library, and immediately stopped as he caught sight of his little sister.

Twilight Sparkle held her head low as she stomped through the library, ears pinned back against her head.

"Something wrong at school, Twiley?" Shining Armor asked.

"No," she replied, not looking at him. "School was fine."

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow and moved closer, stepping to stand beside his little sister.

"So what's got you so upset?"

"I bet she and Pound had a fight," Spike called out from his spot on the ladder.

"No!" Twilight snapped. "Not that we would." Her cheeks started to turn pink. "I mean... It's not like it's any of your business anyways."

"But you're so cute together," Spike cooed out, clasping his claws together.

"SPIKE!"

Twilight's reaction only got a round of laughter from young dragon before he returned to shelving books. Shining had to stifle his own desire to laugh at how red his sister's face had been turning. Her feelings toward Pound Cake were no secret after the day after The Grand Galloping Gala, but it has been kind of a sensitive subject for the filly. She had not really said much on the matter since. Twilight still hung out with the Cake twins, as well as the other crusaders, but whether or not she and Pound had some sort of foalhood love was kind of up in the air.

"Okay," Shining said as he placed a hoof on his sister's shoulder, "so what's got you so upset?"

Twilight stared at him a moment, then let out a sigh and sagged slightly.

"Miss Cheerilee is taking her class on a field trip to The Royal Canterlot Gardens."

"Aww..." Shining pulled his sister into a hug and ruffled her mane. "Don't worry. You'll see them when they get back."

"That's not it," Twilight grumbled, reaching up to fix her mane. "They get to go to Canterlot, to see the gardens, and learn about them."

Shining Armor stared at his sister a moment, trying to process what she was saying and make sure he understood the problem. Twilight liked school, and learning, so she would not want to go on a field trip to have the chance to miss out on learning something. In point of fact, if Twilight went on a field trip, she would want to do so to learn as much as she could from it.

"So," he said slowly to be sure, "you're disappointed you don't get to go on an educational trip?"

"Yeah," Twilight replied, rolling her eyes as if it should have been completely obvious from the beginning.

"Uh, Twi?" Spike called out as he climbed down the ladder. "You used to live in Canterlot. You've been to the royal gardens a bunch of times when you visited Shining Armor."

"But this is different," Twilight replied. "This would be an official, educational visit. We would get to learn all sorts of interesting things about the plants, and animals, and statues there."

"You mean like you've asked about every time you were out there and looked up in the library?" Spike asked, crossing his arms to stare at the filly. "I mean, seriously Twi, you could probably give tours and inform visitors about it all by now."

Twilight's ears perked up, her eyes going wide as she turned to look at Spike. She jumped away from her brother, bouncing excitedly.

"You really think so?" she squealed out, grinning. "That would be so amazing. I could teach other ponies, and see the princesses, and get to see the gardens every day."

Straightening up, she gave a cough to clear her throat.

"On your left," she said in her most professional voice, "you will see the muses. Each represents the inspiration of a different art, including: literature, poetry, music, and dance. Ahead on your right is a statue of Discord, a creature believed to have created chaos and disharmony among ponies until his defeat." Twilight suddenly froze, eyes going wide. She let out a gasp and turns to face her brother.

"What if he comes back?"

The sudden mood swing and change of subject threw Shining Armor off balanced, leaving him confused for a moment?

"What? What if who comes back?"

"Discord," Twilight answered. "What if he comes back and tries to send the world into chaos again?"

"It's just an old story," Spike said.

"That's what they said about Nightmare Moon," Twilight retorted, turning to glare at the dragon. Spike opened his mouth to retort, paused, closed it, and gave a shrug.

"True," he conceded. "I got nothing."

"Relax, Twiley," Shining Armor said. "We have no way of knowing if that could happen, or when." He wrapped a foreleg around her neck. "But if it does, The Elements of Harmony should be able to stop him again."

"I hope so," Twilight said to herself. "I don't want to see Equestria thrown into chaos. I live here and so do my friends."

"So it would be okay if it happened somewhere else?" Shining asked, smirking.

"No." Twilight started to pull away. "Anyway, I have some homework I need to get to work on."

A Train Ride to Canterlot

My dear faithful student,

I fear that The Elements of Harmony are needed once more. Please bring the others and come to Canterlot immediately. I shall elaborate after you have arrived.

Your teacher and ruler,

Princess Celestia

Shining Armor set the scroll aside and looked around the train car at the others. Applejack and Rarity were the only other two that seemed to be sitting like normal ponies. Rarity sat with a pencil and paper, seeming to be working on something. Applejack had her hat pulled down over her eyes, the sound of her snoring being rather audible. Fluttershy was also sitting, and it was a normal for her. Despite having a whole seat to herself, she was squeezed up in a corner with her wings around her as she looked out the window. Rainbow Dash was not so much sitting as she was perching. Basically, she would land on top of the back rest of the seats for a few minutes before flying around the car. Pinkie Pie was also moving around constantly. She had been bouncing up and down nearly constantly, some times even on the seats.

Everypony seemed calm, but Shining Armor could feel the bit of tension in the air... or maybe he was imagining it? He knew he was feeling a little tense and nervous. After all, according to Princess Celestia, The Elements of Harmony were needed again. The last time they had been used -- which was also the first time -- was when Princess Luna returned as Nightmare Moon. If the princess thought they were needed, it would have to be something that was a threat to all of Equestria.

An audible gasp drew the stallion from his thoughts.

"It's snowing!" Pinkie Pie shouted, getting the attention of all the others.

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked as she flew over to look out the window. "But there's no snow scheduled. It's not even fall yet." The others all moved to look out as well. Sure enough, it did look like something snow-ish was falling from the sky. There was only one thing that kept it from looking like actual snow.

"Why's it green?" Applejack asked aloud.

Shining Armor opened the window. Horn lighting up, he used his magic to create a bowl and collected some of the "snow." As he caught more, he noticed that there were also little black pieces in it as well. Pulling the bowl in, he took a closer look. It looked familiar, and there was a smell like milk to it.

It couldn't be... could it?

Leaning closer, Shining Armor slipped his tongue out and tasted. To his surprise, it was.

"Could somepony restrain Pinkie?" he asked. "We don't want her jumping out the window of a moving train."

"Why ever do you think that Pinkie Pie would do such a thing?" Rarity asked, looking at him from over the top of her glasses.

"Yeah," Pinkie agreed, "I would never do that."

"It's ice cream," Shining stated. "Mint chocolate chip I believe."

"ICE CREAM!" Pinkie squealed as she bolted toward the window. If Rainbow Dash and Applejack had not grabbed her, she very well could have smashed through window to try and get to the ice cream that was falling from the sky.

"How is that possible?" Fluttershy asked, looking out ice cream snow.

"I don't know," Shining Armor answered. "My best guess would be that it has something to do with why Princess Celestia needs us."

After some negotiation, Pinkie Pie was allowed to stick her head out the window and hold her tongue out to catch the ice cream as it fell from the sky. Applejack and Rainbow Dash kept close to her, ready to grab her if she climbed out further or got stuck. The others got quiet -- even Rainbow Dash holding still -- as they watched the strange weather outside the train.

Now Shining Armor was certain that he could feel a quiet tension in the air. The idea of something strange happening that needed The Elements had just been an abstract. Now, there was evidence that something strange was actually happening. It was right in front of them and could not be ignored. Having it snow ice cream was not something he would have ever expected. It probably did no damage... actually... now that he thought about it: once it melted, it would create a horrible sticky mess. Then there would be the stench when all the dairy turned sour...

He turned to look toward Ponyville. All he could see through the snow was pink clouds.

I hope Spike and Twiley are okay.

He continued to stare out toward Ponyville, stopping only when Canterlot blocked out the view. After the announcement of their arrival and the train began to slow down, Shining and the others moves to get up, ready to get off and head toward the castle. As he walked toward the doors, something caught his attention outside on the platform.

Standing on it was what looked like an ordinary stallion. Well... not quite ordinary. For the most part, it looked like a normal pony.

Except that Shining Armor would swear that his eyes were yellow and red.

The stallion looked directly at Shining Armor and grinned. A crowd of ponies suddenly moved past the strange stallion, blocking him from Shining Armor's view.

When the crowd was gone, so was he. Shining Armor stared at the spot a moment longer before continuing toward the exit.

Who was that?

For Scientific Study

"Ready?" Twilight asked.

"No," Pound Cake replied. "Why am I doing this again?" He looked at the board he was standing on. The other end pointed up in the air. It was kind of like a see-saw, but what Twilight had in mind was not simply going up and down gently. The fact it was also on one of the highest balconies of the library did not help matters.

"Between the two of you, you're the better glider," Twilight answered, getting a huff from Scootaloo. "You do still remember what to do, right?"

Pound sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Apple Bloom jumps from up there," he pointed at where said filly was waiting, " which is supposed to launch me into the sky. I grab one of those weird pink clouds that are raining chocolate milk, then try to land back here."

"Right," Twilight said with a grin.

"Twiley..." Pound said slowly, "you sure this is a good idea?" Shifting, he rubbed at one of his front legs with the other. Twilight moved closer, putting a leg around his neck and giving him a half hug.

"If I could fly, I would do it myself," she told him, which really did nothing to comfort him in this case. "I promise you'll be fine. If anything goes wrong, at worst you'll have some scrapes and bruises. We have plenty of bandages and ointment, and your sister is here too if you need her help. Okay?"

Pound nodded, feeling a little more confident in matters.

"Ready?" Twilight asked again.

Pound closed his eyes, took a deep breath in, and nodded.

"For luck and to distract you," Twilight suddenly said. Before Pound could asked what she was talking about, he felt her lips suddenly pressing against his cheek. Both his eyes and his wings sprang wide open in shock at the feeling, his cheeks suddenly feeling very warm.

"Now!" Twilight shouted as she hopped back.

At the command, Apple Bloom jumped from her spot and onto the upraised end of the board with Pound Cake on the other end. The weight of the farm working earth filly was more than enough to raise Pound Cake's side and send him up into the with a surprised yelp.

The wind whipped past the young pegasus as he was lifted higher and higher. The strange chocolate milk rain pelted at him as he rose, leaving streaks across his coat. A part of him realized that he was going to be really sticky when this was all over. Not that it was very unusual for him. There had been times when he had gotten something or other on his coat while helping at the bakery. Hopefully, he would be able to take a shower after this, or at least get some warm water and a wash cloth. Would it actually bother Twilight if he was sticky?

His attention came back to the moment as he saw that the strange pink clouds were now a lot closer. He started to flap his already open wings, trying to make his way further up in order to reach the clouds without falling short or just shooting through. Reaching out with his front hooves he grabbed at it. It felt... weird. Pound's experience with regular clouds admittedly was limited, but it still felt different. For some reason, it reminded him of frosting. Not the fresh frosting when it was still soft. More when it had hardened on a counter over night and had some little strings attached. That was what it felt like: stringy sugar. There was a kind like that, right? He could swear that Pinkie Pie had told him about it before, maybe even had some? What was it called?

Gravity gave its first tugs on Pound Cake, letting him now that he was about to start falling. He gripped the piece of candy cloud against his chest (and immediately regretted it when he remembered what happened when you get sugar wet). Giving a silent prayer, the young pegasus colt turned around and adjusted his wings. He slowed his fall, trying to keep it more of a gentle glide and aim to land on the same balcony he had been launched from.

As the balcony came in to view, it was noticeably less occupied than when he had left it. Only two figures stood on it at the moment. One of them was Twilight Sparkle, whose ears were pulled back and her face was tinted pink. Spike stood in front of her, arm crossed across his chest as he glared at Twilight. A glare that Twilight was obviously trying very hard not to meet.

Uh oh, Pound thought as he landed. He was somewhat familiar with what was happening in front of him. He and Pumpkin had been on the receiving end of that look from their parents a few times. He had even tried the "avoid eye contact" method himself once or twice. Sadly, it did no good then, and probably would not do any good now.

"Pound," Twilight shouted, running toward him -- and away from Spike -- as he landed. "You're back, and you got a sample with you. Thank you so much. You're probably hungry. Well Spike says that the nachos are ready and there's plenty for everypony. Isn't he such a wonderful friend, assistant librarian, and sibling?"

"Uh...yeah..." Pound agreed slowly. "Anyway, about--"

"Don't try to butter me up," Spike snapped, stomping toward the pair. He pointed a claw at Twilight. "You distracted me with the favor of cooking so you could do...that." He waved his hand toward the catapult she had built. "You know I would have tried to stop you. There's no way I would allow this. There's no way Shining Armor would allow this."

"But I had to get a sample of those weird clouds," Twilight responded. She turned to Spike fully. "Don't you understand how important this is?" She made her eyes as wide as she could, also sticking her lower lip out and making it quiver.

"It's sugar," Pound announced.

"What?" Twilight and Spike both asked, turning to face him.

"The... 'clouds,'" Pound said, "they're made of some sort of sugar turned string or something." Pulling the piece he held off his chest -- which now how a sticky, sugary, pink spot on it -- he held it out to the two of them. "See?"

Twilight leaned forward and looked at the bit of "cloud" that was being held out to her. It did look like it was something that was woven or stuck together. She brought her nose closer and sniffed. It did smell a lot like sugar. Slowly, she stuck her tongue out and gave it a tentative lick with the very tip of it.

"Twilight!" Spike yelled, trying to stop the filly from licking the strange fluffy pink stuff.

"Don't worry," she said, licking her lips. "Pound's right. It's just sugar. Like the last time we went to the circus."

"What?" Spike asked, now looking rather skeptical as he turned his attention back to the pink fluff in Pound Cake's hoof. "You're telling me it's cotton candy?"

"Cotton candy!" Pound suddenly shouted. "That's what it's called."

"And that's what it is," Twilight agreed before turning back to Spike. "You can try it yourself."

"No," Spike said. "I am not going to try a piece of cotton candy that came from clouds that rain chocolate milk." He let out a groan and rubbed his head. "That statement is so weird, I never imagined I would have to say anything like that."

"Well now that I have a piece," Twilight said as she took it from Pound Cake, "I can take it down to Shiny's lab and run some more tests on it." She shifted chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. "After nachos that is." She turned to head toward the door. "Come on Pound."

"You go ahead," Pound called back. "I need to clean up first so I'm not all sticky."

"Or," Spike suggested, "you could do it after you eat so you can clean the cheese off as well."

Pound Cake could not argue with that. With a nod, he went with Spike and Twilight to join the others in the dining room.

The Elements of Surprise

The six ponies made their way toward the castle as quickly as they could. As they did, several noticed that there was a lack of ponies on the streets. More accurately, there was a lack of adult ponies. There were plenty of young colts and fillies enjoying the ... "snow day" for lack of a better term. They were wrapped in scarves and wearing hats, making snow ponies (ice cream ponies?) and having snowballs fight. There was one adult out, basically putting whipped cream, sprinkles, and cherries directly onto piles of the ice cream -- an idea Pinkie wished she had thought of.

At the castle, there were fewer visitors and more guards than usual. At the gate and each door, they were observed, but not stopped. The guards they came across were actually moving, turning to watch them instead of simply standing at attention. The idea of being observed so closely made Fluttershy feel nervous. Fortunately, nothing was asked, so she did not break down and confess to anything.

Princess Celestia met them in the grand hall. Shining Armor considered that it must have been very serious if she were meeting them here instead of in the throne room.

"Princess," he called out as they continued to move toward her, "we came as soon as we could. What's going on?"

"Thank you all," Celestia stated as she turned to walk. "Now, come with me. Time is rather urgent." Shining glanced back at the others before following after her.

"Tell me," Princess Celestia said as they continued to walk, "do you recall the tale of Discord?"

In light of the recent conversation, the name made Shining Armor stop. His eyes went wide as his jaw fell slightly open.

"Wait," he called out. "Don't tell me. You mean..."

"I'm afraid so," Celestia answered. "Discord has escaped."

Note to self, Shining Armor thought, have Twiley tested for a talent in augury magic.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We can't be certain," Celestia replied. "Regardless of the cause, the fact remains that Discord is free once again. And as you have seen upon your journey here, he has already started to cause mischief."

"You mean the ice cream snow?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"And chocolate milk rain in Ponyville," Celestia added, "and cola storms in Cloudsdale."

"If I may ask," Rarity said as she moved closer to the princess, "why is he doing such things?"

"Discord is about fulfilling his name," Celestia explained, "to cause chaos and disharmony. After the founding of Equestria, but before my sister and I came to rule, Discord had appeared and began to create numerous issues for the various creatures that were attempting to live here, most often the ponies of any and all tribes. One of his most used methods is to create events that are seemingly random that defy understanding. I am hoping that he is still weak from his escape and that the Elements will be able to stop him shortly."

Pinkie Pie bounced forward.

"But what will happen to the ice cream?"

"At best? It will all vanish when he is stopped. At worst, it will melt as normal ice cream and Canterlot will need to be washed to remove the sticky mess afterwards."

Pinkie Pie pouted a little. She understood that this creature was dangerous and needed to be stopped. She could even understand that having such strange weather patterns could cause a lot of trouble in Equestria even if it was not food related. Still, it kind of seemed like a waste. All that tasty sweet food...

The seven of them went to a part that most of them were not familiar with. Shining Armor had been there a time or two, but never really found much interest to it. For the other five, it was a place none of them had been to before. Along one side was a series of stained glass windows. Each one seemed to be an image of something that happened in Equestria's history. Among them was a picture of Shining Armor and his friends getting The Elements of Harmony.

"This is Canterlot Tower," Princess Celestia announced. "It has been where The Elements of Harmony have been stored since you recovered them from the old castle. Equestria needs you to use them again and stop Discord before he regains full strength and causes all sorts of trouble for the lands and its citizens."

In front of them was a door with a sun in the center of it, and a small hole in the middle of that. Princess Celestia approached the door and lowered her head. Her horn began to glow with golden energy as she summoned her magic. Taking a step forward, she inserted her horn into the hole in the door.

"Goodness," Rarity cried out as she was smacked. "Rainbow Dash, do please control your wings."

"Oh," Rainbow Dash mumbled as she blushed. "Sorry." She let out a little chuckle as she retracted her wings back to her sides. Her eyes glanced over toward Shining Armor and his horn before returning her attention to Princess Celestia, who was currently pushing it deeper and deeper.

The sun on the door lit up with a glowing white light. The light spread out, tracing along six lines that separated the door in equal sections and moving out toward the frame. As the light faded, the door opened, revealing a stand with a jewelry box on it.

"Oh my," Rarity gasped out, eyes wide as she stared at the container.

Princess Celestia took a hold of the box and lifted it out.

"I believe that the six of you will be successful in your task," she said as she opened the box to reveal--

Nothing.

The box was empty.

"What?" the princess gasped out, dropping the box onto the ground. "But my most powerful spells protect the door. I placed them all myself. This doesn't make any sense."

A chuckled echoed through the room, causing Shining Armor, Rarity, and Applejack to jump. All seven looked around, trying to find the source of the sound.

"Make sense?" the voice asked. "Now what fun is there in making any sense?"

"Discord!" Princess Celestia shouted. "Show yourself!"

Another chuckle came, but this one did not seem to echo as much. The seven of them all followed the sound, turning toward one of the stained glass windows. The image displayed Celestia and Luna with The Elements of Harmony. When the group had arrived, there had been a strange looking creature in the middle, looking like it was being struck by magic from The Elements.

Now the creature was closer to the bottom, leaning against the stained glass image of Celestia.

"Hello Celestia," the figure said. "Although now I suppose I'm supposed to call you --" he made air quotes "-- 'princess' now." The word "princess" had a lot of bile put behind it.

"I guess I should congratulate you on it. Did you miss me? I missed you. Then again, I missed a lot of things. Being trapped in stone can do that, you know?"

His eyebrows shot up as he brought his front limbs to his mouth, letting out a small gasp of surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess you wouldn't since... I don't turn ponies into stone!" He placed a forelimb on the stained glass Celestia, which immediately turned into stone and fell from the window.

"Enough!" Celestia snapped, stomping a hoof. "What have you done with The Elements of Harmony?"

Discord let out a sigh and gave a shake of his head. Turning, he walked from one window to the other, now standing in the picture of Shining Armor and his friends.

"You know, Celi," he said in a casual tone, "you really need to learn to relax more. All the stress can't be good for you. Especially with your age and weight.

"Besides, your oh so precious Elements of Harmony are safe for the time being. I can't do anything to them... yet... So I've just..." he waved one of his limbs in a circle as he let out a small humming noise, "...'relocated' them for the time being."

"You'll never get away with this," Celestia growled. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at the stained glass Discord.

Discord sat down on the head of the stained glass image of Fluttershy, tilting his head back and let out a long, pained groaned.

"I have forgotten how grim you can be, Titi," he groaned out. "It's soooo booorrrring."

"Hey," Rainbow Dash yelled, flying up toward the window. "No one insults the princess like that." She raised up her hooves, holding them like she was ready to punch with them.

"You must be Rainbow Dash," Discord said, "the bearer of The Element of Loyalty."

"That's right," Rainbow responded, puffing out her chest, "and I'm not going to let the likes of you keep talking that way about The Princess."

"Rainbow," Shining Armor called out, "calm down. I'm pretty sure he's trying to get a rise out of us."

"Ah," Discord said. He moved across the window and up to the stained glass image of Shining Armor. "Shining Armor. The oh so wonderfully skilled student and bearer of magic. Tell me, how is that little sister of yours?"

"Twiley?" Shining asked, turning to face the glass fully as he glared. Before he realized it, Applejack was holding him back and Fluttershy was on the other side pressing against him. "How do you know about my sister?"

"Well," Discord said in a very slow voice, "it turns out that when you're stone, you can still sort of see and hear everything going on around you." He grinned, sitting up and clapping his forelimbs. "Oh how you and she would play and talk in the garden. So loving, so caring, so... sickening." He brought a finger toward his mouth and made a gagging noise.

"E-nough!" Celestia snapped, stomping her hoof. "Stop stalling and tell us where The Elements are this instant."

Discord let out a groan and flopped back, lying there a moment as he stared up.

"Soooo boring," he whined before sitting up. "Fine. I'll tell you, but I'm doing it my way."

The stained glass image of Discord vanished before returning to its original spot. A great shadow covered three of the windows. One looked like a bird talon on one side, another looked like some sort of paw on the opposite, and in the middle was the rough outline of what looked for the most part like Discord's head. The shadow started to shift, the pieces of the stained glass window moving with them.

"To retrieve your missing Elements," Discord's voice said -- once again seeming to come from every direction -- "just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find The Elements back where you began."

Another laugh echoed through the chamber, slowly fading away. The windows reverted back to their original appearance -- except for the hole in one where Celestia had been turned to stone -- as the shadows vanished from sight.

"'Back where you began,'" Shining Armor repeated to himself.

"What do you reckon he meant?" Applejack asked. "With that, twist and turns, and back where we began business?"

"I don't know," Rainbow Dash grumbled, "but if I get my hooves on him, I'll--"

"Easy now, darling," Rarity said, placing a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "We shall all deal with him." She shifted. "That is, once we find out what he is up to."

"Can we go home now?" Fluttershy asked.

Shining Armor's eyes shot wide. He grinned as he turned to Fluttershy, giving her a hug and getting an eep of surprise.

"Fluttershy," Shining Armor said with a grin, "that is exactly what we're going to do."

"What?!" Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie all cried out.

Shining Armor let the shy pegasus go and turned to Princess Celestia.

"I'm sorry, Princess, but we have to get going. If we leave now, we should be able to catch the next train back to Ponyville." With that, he turned and started running, heading out the door. Before he could reach it, Rainbow Dash shot up and blocked the doorway.

"Woah!" she snapped as she stopped the stallion. "Wait a minute. You want to run away? Have you gone insane or something?"

"We're not running away," Shining said. "The last part 'find The Elements back where you began?' I believe that he means he took them back to where we first found them. So we have to go back to Ponyville to get them."

"Back where we found them?" Applejack asked, taking a step forward. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"You want us to go back to Ponyville and travel through The Everfree Forest again so we can reach The Castle of the Sisters and get The Elements of Harmony back," Pinkie Pie said, all without seeming to pause for a breath.

"Exactly," Shining responded with a grin. "Now come on." He stepped around Rainbow Dash and started running again. The others soon chased after him, hurrying to get back to the train station, Ponyville, and thus be closer to reclaiming the once again lost Elements of Harmony.

"Good luck, my little ponies," Celestia whispered as she watched the six of them leave.

"Well, well," Discord's voice said, causing Celestia to jump, "it seems that I may have underestimated your student. He's closer to the truth than I had expected." He let out a sigh. "I had hoped that he would go out to the maze, but it would be boring if I was actually able to predict what would happen, now wouldn't it?"

"They're going to stop you," Celestia stated. "Just like my sister and I did over a millenia ago."

"We'll see," Discord replied. "Anyway, I really must get going. Chaos to create, ponies to play with, you know how it is. By the way, I left you a little gift. I do hope you enjoy it. Ta-ta Tia."

The room turned silent, this time, Princess Celestia was certain that she was actually, truly alone.

The silence was interrupted by the sound of hooves echoing across the marble floor. Turning toward it, the princess found a member of the kitchen staff running toward her.

"Princess," the staff mare said as she came up, panting, "Princess..." she took a deep breath. "The cakes have come to life and are attacking everypony in the kitchen. What should we do."

Princess Celestia's eyes narrowed as she raised her head and straightened her shoulders. Her wings flared out behind her.

"I shall personally see to the issue," she stated, and started heading for the kitchen. It was her castle, her ponies, and her kitchen, that were in danger. At times like this, it was the obligation of a princess to do what she could, even if it meant sacrificing her royal waistline and flank.

Author's Notes:

After hearing the riddle in the series, the conclusion that Shining Armor came up with is the same one that I did, and for the same reason. "Then find the elements, back where you began" made me think that he had taken them back to the castle. Admittedly, I wasn't right, but I was close.

The end part about the cakes was added in at random for humor.

All Aboard The Chaos Train

The six ponies managed to reach the train station with time to spare. Quick as they could, they embarked, taking the last car. Shining Armor flopped down in one of the seats, letting out a sigh as he started to catch his breath.

"Shining," Rarity said in her gentle voice as she took a seat nearby, "are you certain that he would do that?"

Shining Armor shifted as the train started to move. Without thinking about it, he rubbed the side of his neck while considering Rarity's question. One of his ears gave a flick as he sat there. After several seconds, he let out a sigh, shaking his head.

"I can't really be certain about anything," he answered. "I mean, we are dealing with a creature that is supposed to be about causing trouble and has been locked away for over a thousand years planning something that it turns out even Celestia couldn't guess. And she and Luna were the ones who defeated him originally."

"But you believe it is where he would have taken them?"

"Unless he's outright lying to us, it makes the most sense."

"Woah, woah, woah," Rainbow called out, popping up between the two. "'Makes the most sense?'" She pointed a hoof at Shining Armor. "Didn't you just say that this guy was insane and unpredictable?"

After glancing down at the hoof pointing at him, Shining Armor shifted, looking away from Rainbow Dash and Rarity.

"Well..." he said slowly "... I didn't quite use those words."

"But that was kind of the main idea," Rainbow continued. "So if we're dealing with some..." she was going to say "pony" but it did not actually seem accurate at the moment "...thing that is suppose to make no sense at all, why are we going with what makes the most sense?"

It was a valid point. A creature that was supposed to be the embodiment of chaos would not do what seemed to make the most sense.

"We have to start somewhere," Shining Armor answered. "I can't just stand around doing nothing at a time like this, and its not like we would have better luck if we just decided to try something at random."

A smirk spread across Rainbow Dash's face as she narrowed her eyes.

"Maybe we should start by asking our own little random ball of chaos," she suggested, turning to look over at Pinkie Pie. The others all did the same.

Seeing the others turn, Pinkie Pie turned to look behind her (she knew they meant her, but she just could not resist the joke). She then turned back toward the others, and a wide grin spread across her face.

"So, Pinks," Rainbow said as she moved to sit beside Pinkie Pie, "if you were Discord, what would you do?"

"First," Pinkie announced, "I need to get in character." She closed her eyes and brought her front hooves up to her head, rubbing at her temples.

"I'm Discord," she mumbled to herself. "I'm super old and have really neat powers that could make a lot of little ponies really happy. Except I'm all grumpy and cranky, so I would rather make ponies mad at-"

The training suddenly stopped, all six of the ponies suddenly being tossed from their seats.

Everything suddenly went dark.

With a groan, Shining Armor moved to right himself and sit back up. His head throbbed slightly from where it hit the seat in front of him.

"Is everypony okay?" he called out.

"I'm fine," Rainbow replied.

"I'm okay," called Pinkie Pie

"I'm alright," Applejack said.

A moment passed in silence. Shining Armor shifted, listening. Mentally, he counted off who he had heard and tried to figure out who had not responded yet.

"Rarity? Fluttershy?"

"I think I chipped a hoof," Rarity finally called out.

A sigh of relief escaped Shining Armor. If Rarity was worried about her hoof, then that meant she was not seriously injured. Unfortunately, he could not relax completely because there was still one pony unaccounted for.

"Fluttershy?" he called out again. "Are you alright? Say something."

"Eep," a voice squeaked out.

"I found her," Pinkie Pie called out. "I think she's okay. Just a little scared."

"Great," Applejack said. "Now can somepony tell me what the hay is going on around here?"

There was an audible electrical click followed by a short burst of static.

"This is your spirit of chaos speaking," Discord's voice said, crackling and hissing through some unseen speaker. "Allow me to welcome you all aboard The Discord Train. We will be making our way to Ponyville, but -- honestly -- where would the fun be if I just took you there without at least some challenge, hm?

"Now, allow me to explain the rules. The basic idea is pretty simple. All that needs to happen that one of you make it all the way to the conductor's station on the engine at the front of the train. However, wings and horns are not permitted for this game. Also, if any of you try to leave the train, you will all automatically lose. I can't wait to see how it all goes.

"Oh. I almost forgot. One last thing."

There was a snapping sound, and the floor seemed to drop out from under Shining Armor. He suddenly found himself spinning through darkness. Before he could even register what was happening, his back slammed against something hard, knocking the airs from his lungs and sending a jolt of pain through his body.

After three seconds that were painful enough to seem like an eternity, Shining Armor was finally able to breathe again. Coughing, he rolled to his hooves and pushed himself back up. Shining opened his eyes once again, looking around.

He looked to be in the same train car he had been in a second ago. It was even lit up once more so he was able to see again.

Except, he did not see anyone else in there with him.

"Hello?" he called out. "Anypony in here?" He took a step forward, looking around. "Pinkie Pie? Rainbow Dash?"

Neither of the pair popped out of hiding. He had doubted that they would pull a prank at a time like this, but it seemed better than the alternative. His heart started to pound as he began to breathe faster.

"Applejack! Fluttershy!"

Tears started to blur his vision. Where were they?

"...Rarity?" he whimpered, looking around.

Shining Armor realized that he felt two things, both of which he had not really felt since he had moved to Ponyville.

He was scared.

He was alone.

Apple Baggage

Applejack opened her eyes to darkness. She had no idea where she was, but she could tell that it was small. She was lying on her back, and it felt like she was crammed into a box of some kind. Every which way she shifted, a part of her hit something, creating a small, wooden thump.

When she struck something up in front of her, she felt something move. Not by much, but it seemed like enough that Applejack thought maybe she could use it to get out of whatever it was.

Shifting, she pressed her back flat against the bottom and spread her front legs out against the sides, bracing herself. She lifted her hind legs up, pulling them close to her stomach as she tried to press her hooves against the top. It made it difficult to breathe with her abs pressed so tightly. Applejack took as deep a breath as she could manage, tensed her body and pushed her legs up with all her strength.

There was a deep groan from the wood as it was pressed against, slowing bowing out. As Applejack pushed harder, she heard the first few sounds of something cracking.

Keeping one leg tense to hold the top up as best she could, she pulled her other leg back. She then gave it a good, hard kick. It was nowhere near as powerful as Applejack would have liked, but it was difficult to get enough momentum with such limited space. Still, all her experience apple-bucking had left her with enough strength to get something to happen. The loud crack echoed through her ears as she slammed her hoof against the wood.

Applejack gave a second kick, then a third, and a fourth. With each blow, she could feel the wood give way more, pressing further and further out.

With one last kick, something gave way. The entire lid popped open, flying wide before coming back down. It smacked against her still extended leg, bouncing a moment before settling there.

After pushing the top open, Applejack moved to sit up. She took a slow, deep breath, stretching her front to work out the cramping sensation in her abdomen. After jumping out of the container, she reached up to adjust the hat that somehow was still on her head.

This ain't my hat, she realized as soon as she touched the brim. It felt wrong. Applejack yanked the hat off her head and took a look at it.

It was a top hat. Black, made of something shiny and soft (Rarity to would know what), with a white band on it. As she looked at it, something inside caught her attention. Curious, Applejack reached in to find out what it was.

It was then that she noticed that her foreleg was covered in a black sleeve. She pulled her hoof from the hat, pulling out a stuffed white rabbit with it.

"What the hay?" Applejack cried out, looking at the rabbit, then that hat, and finally down at herself.

For some reason, Applejack was dressed in a tuxedo, complete with dress shirt, bow tie and handkerchief. She then looked at the container she had just escaped from, a large trunk with the name Appledini written across the front. Her hat sat inside at the bottom, as well as a wand, several packs of cards, and some large metal rings. Applejack did not remember feeling anything like those pressing against her. She would have sworn that she had been the only thing in the trunk when she woke up.

After grabbing her hat, she checked to make sure nothing was in it before setting it aside. She tossed the top hat into the trunk and started to take off the tuxedo. As she tried to pull one of her legs from the jacket sleeves, doves flew out, smacking her in the face as they escaped. Next came the bow tie. It was one of the most annoying things Applejack had to deal with. Not only had she never worn one before -- which meant she neither had to tie nor untie one -- but nothing about it seemed to have been designed with hooves in mind. It was such a relief to have the thing undone... only to have it suddenly transform into a bouquet of flowers. Finally came the shirt, and thank Celestia she was able to take it off without anything happening.

With the last of the tuxedo off, she tossed it into the trunk and slammed the lid down. As soon as she did, there was an audible "poof" and a blinding puff of smoke. Once Applejack had stopped coughing and the smoke had cleared, she found that the trunk had disappeared, leaving a small pile of confetti in its place.

"Good thing I pulled this out then," Applejack said as she picked up her hat and placed it on her head. Feeling better now that she was out of that silly outfit and had her hat on again, she looked around. There were no benches or individual seats. Large bags, trunks, and other containers covered the floor, leaving a clear path from one end of the car to the other. Racks were attached to the sides, filled with smaller bags held in place by straps. At each end was a door, and Applejack seemed to be about equal distance from both of them. Picking one of the doors, she began to walk toward it.

It was locked, or blocked. Whatever the case, she could not open it. Instead of trying to force it, Applejack turned around and started for the other.

A satchel sat in the middle of the path. It reminded Applejack of one of those doctor bags she had seen before. Except, for some strange reason, it had an image of three red apples on the side of it. As Applejack stepped closer, the satchel popped open. A golden glow emanated from inside.

Applejack moved closer, looking inside. The glow came from what looked like an apple, but was golden. Not gold colored like some of the apples she had seen before, but actually golden.

"Hello, Applejack," a voice said, making Applejack jump.

"Who said that?" Applejack called out, looking around.

"Down here," the voice said, drawing her attention back to the bag.

"The... apple?" Applejack asked, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow as she stared at it.

"I'm not just any apple," it responded. "I am The Golden Apple of Knowledge. I know all thing past, present, and future. Pick me up and I'll answer one question. But beware what you ask. For the answer you get may not be what you want to hear."

Applejack stared at the gold apple, skeptical. It seemed extremely odd that she would just happen to find a magic piece of fruit at random. It also seemed extremely unlikely that it would just offer to tell her whatever she wanted. It must have been some sort of trick, right?

Still... the temptation, the possibility, the chance to have the answer. It all seemed too much to resist. She at least had to give it a chance.

Reaching down, she picked up the apple and lifted it up to eye level.

"What's going to come of this mission we're on?" she asked.

On the other side of the apple, Discord's eyes narrowed as a smirk spread across his face.

"Look deep into the my golden surface," he said in the voice of the apple, "and see the answer for yourself."

Applejack leaned forward and stared at the skin of the apple. Colors began to shift and swirl in front of her eyes. Unknown by her, Applejack's eyes began to shift and swirl as well.

In front of her an image formed. It showed five of them at the train station in Ponyville: Rainbow Dash was not there for some reason. As she watched, four of them -- Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and herself -- each walked off in slightly different directions.

"Fine!" the image of Shining Armor -- now alone -- shouted. "Go ahead and leave! I was fine before I met you, and I'll be fine with out you now!" Tears began to run from his eyes. "Some friends you turned out to be! I don't need you!" His voice started to crack. "I don't... I don't..." He sagged, looking down at the ground. "I... don't..."

The image vanished.

"No!" Applejack cried out. "That can't be the future. It just can't be. You're wrong. You're lying."

"Why Applejack," the Discord apple said, "I'm as honest as you are." On the other side, his smirk turned into a full grin. "Of course, if the truth will cause you nothing but heart ache, sometimes a lie is easier to take."

At the last word, the color began to fade from Applejack's hoof where it touched the apple. It continued up along her leg, spreading out along her body until her once golden orange coat was far less colorful. She continued to stand there as the golden apple fell into the bag, both vanishing.

The door behind her opened with a squeak.

"Applejack?"

Applejack turned enough to see the door. A smiling Shining Armor pushed it open further, running toward the mare.

"I am so glad to see you," he called out. "Are you okay?"

Applejack's nose scrunched up as she looked away.

"Fine," she answered. "I'm just fine and dandy."

Shining Armor stared at Applejack a moment. Something about her did not seem quite right, but he could not quite place his hoof on it.

"Okay," he finally said. "So is anypony else in here? I thought I heard you talking."

"You must've been hearing things," Applejack answered, staring toward the wall. "Ain't been nothing here but me the whole time. Ain't said a word."

Shining Armor continued to stare at Applejack, who refused to look at him. It was like she was actively trying to avoid eye contact with him for some reason.

"...If you say so," he finally replied. "Come on." He started to walk forward. "The sooner we find the others and get to the engine, the sooner we can put an end to all this. I just hope they're all okay."

Applejack had started to follow, but stopped and turned back to look at where the bag had been. Once again, the image of them all walking away from each other, of leaving Shining Armor standing there, played in front of her.

"You got nothing to worry about, sugar cube," she said. "I'm sure we'll get out of all this and be just fine."

A (Not So) Rare Material

Rarity let out a yawn, stretching out. Tossing the sheets and blankets aside, she moved to sit up.

What a strange dream, she thought as she tried to take off her sleep mask. Strangely, she could not use her magic to lift it up. In fact, she could not even feel her magic at all for some reason. Also, her forehead felt rather odd. She could not quite place her hoof on it, but if felt like something was missing.

Using her hooves, Rarity removed her sleep mask from her eyes. As it slipped up over her head with ease, Rarity realized what the problem was. It slid up too easily. She had not needed to adjust for her horn or anything.

Slowly, carefully, she reached up and placed her hoof against her forehead.

Her horn was missing.

Closing her eyes, Rarity took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"Okay," she said aloud. "I think it is obvious what is happening here. Clearly I'm still asleep." She grinned. "Yes. That's it. I am still asleep and this is all just a bad dream." She pulled the mask back down over her eyes. "I'll just go back to sleep." She laid back down. "Then I shall wake up, in my bed, at home, with my horn, and everything will be back to normal." Pulling the blankets back over her, she snuggled into her bed, closed her eyes, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"Oh, who am I kidding?" she sighed. "This may be a nightmare, but it most certainly is not a dream." Taking off the sleep mask, she tossed it aside and climbed out of bed -- which turned out to be smaller than she had realized. It was about the size of a cot, just large enough for one average sized pony to sleep comfortably.

Looking around, Rarity figured she most be in some sort of sleeping car. More cots similar to the one she had woken up lined both walls. There were straps at the head and foot of each frame, allowing the bed to be folded up against the wall. Most of the beds were folded up, with two exceptions. One was the bed that Rarity had just climbed out of. The other was toward the other end of the train. It was still made, and there was a package resting on it.

Curious, Rarity moved closer and studied the package. The paper was a moderate indigo color similar to her mane and tail. Attached to it was a white paper placard with three lozenge shaped diamonds on it, same as her cutie mark.

A gift? she thought as she stared at it. For me? She looked around the car. No other ponies are in sight. Her lip pressed tight as she clenched her jaw. I shouldn't. It is probably just a trap after all. One hoof reached out toward the package. Still, there could be no harm in seeing what it is, now could there?

Taking a hold of the package, she pulled it closer. Colors began to shift and spin across the surface of her eyes. She grabbed at the paper and started to tear it open, ripping it to shreds. As she pulled the cover away, she revealed a plain white box. Rarity pulled the top off, looking inside.

What was actually inside and what Rarity saw were two distinctly different things. What the box actually contained was a large roll of aluminum foil. What Rarity saw was a bolt of fabric.

Rarity ran a hoof over the material. It felt so soft, and smooth, like silk. It also seemed like a very tough material. Something that would be able to go through regular wear and tear and last a life time. Most impressive was the color, or colors, actually. The material was highly iridescent. Each time she moved the material, it would shimmer as the colors shifted: emerald green to midnight blue, to dark mulberry, to maroon and back the other way.

Rarity's jaw fell open as she stared. She had never seen anything like it before.

"Isn't it lovely?" Discord said as he wrapped his lion's leg around Rarity's neck. "And so rare. I bet nopony had ever seen a dress made out of something like this. Why, I bet a single dress made out this would be worth a fortune."

His eyes narrowed as he smirked. Leaning close, he brought his mouth close to her ear.

"That is, if you decided to make a dress out of it," he whispered. One digit of his paw traced along her skin, leaving a line of gray that started spreading out across her entire body. "Personally, I think something like this is too rare and valuable to be shared with others. None of them would ever be able to appreciate it the same way you would. Some things are meant to be kept."

"Yes," Rarity agreed. "Some things are meant to be kept." She put the fabric in the box. "This is the best material in the world. It will be my greatest dress. And nopony will get the chance to see it and take it away from me."

"I think I heard someone in here," a voice said, causing her to turn as she clutched the box to her chest. As she watched, the door pushed open, revealing two ponies.

"Rarity!" Shining Armor called out as he ran toward her. "There you are."

"Stay back!" Rarity snarled, turning to face Shining Armor. "You're not getting my precious prize."

Shining Armor's eyes went wide as he tried to stop. His hooves skidded along the floor for a second before he finally managed to come to a stop.

"Precious prize?" he repeated in confusion. "What precious prize? Did you find something?"

"Oh no," Rarity snapped. She pressed the tip of her hoof against Shining Armor's nose. "I know what you're thinking. You get me to tell you what it is, then you try to take it for yourself." She moved closer, pressing snout to snout. "Well that's not happening. It is mine. M!-I!-N!-E! And neither of you are getting any of it. Got it?"

Shining Armor's ears drooped as he took a step back.

"Yeah. Yeah, I got it."

"Good!" Rarity said before turning around and walking off, head high in the air.

"What was that about?" Shining Armor asked.

"I don't know what you mean," Applejack answered. "Seemed pretty typical of Rarity to me."

Turning to look at Applejack, Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. Face scrunching up, she shifted to look up toward one of the upper cots.

What is going on with them? he wondered.

A Depressed Piece of Pie

Pinkie Pie found herself in a cramped little space. It hardly bothered her since it was by no means the smallest space she had been in. It was smaller than the oven (and nowhere near as hot), but larger than a hat. Maybe it was about the size of a bread box, but it was rounder.

A quick bit of squirming gave Pinkie an idea on how to get out of there. Getting her legs under her, she pushed to sit up. After, she looked around.

It looked to Pinkie like she was in a dining car. All around her were tables with white tablecloths, candles, and cutlery. She was currently sitting on a table, on a serving tray, with the lid now on her head. There were no other ponies around that she could see.

But there was a dessert cart.

Pinkie's eyes grew wide as she stared, licking her lips. Cakes, cookies, pies, tarts, and even some weird jiggly red thing filled with fruit, all waiting for her. She had no idea what the jiggling red thing was, but she knew that it was on the dessert cart, so she was going to eat it.

Her target acquired, she leaped from the table she was on to another. Pinkie landed with the barest of sound, the items on the new table not even budging from the impact. Before all four hooves had even landed, she was leaping again for the next. With ease, she hopped from table to table, stopping only when she reached the last one before the cart.

Eyes narrowing in concentration, Pinkie Pie pressed her front half close to the table. Her hips and tail wiggled back and forth as she got ready. Once she was certain she had figured out the exact distance, Pinkie jumped. Her front hooves stretched out in front of her as she reached for the target. It was a perfect jump.

There was a faint squeak as the dessert cart suddenly moved forward.

Pinkie had just enough time realize she was going to miss, but there was no way for her to adjust for it. She could only watch as she slammed down onto the handlebar, the front end lifting up from the ground as the entire thing pivoted on the hind wheels. Pinkie slammed into the ground, knocking the entire cart over with her, and sending all of the desserts flying through the air.

A chocolate cream pie landed on her head, splattering across her face and hair. Another pie landed on her rump. It felt like coconut, but Pinkie could not be sure since she was unable to taste things through her fur (yet).

The sound of laughter started to fill the air. It started with a single laugh. Then another soon joined it, then another, and another. Soon, dozens of voices were laughing at the top of their lungs.

Pinkie wiped the cream from her eyes and sat up. She looked around, the laughter seeming to come from everywhere around her. Every table, every chair, even the cart itself, they were all laughing at her.

"Hey!" she snapped. "Stop laughing. That wasn't funny."

"Oh, but Pinkie," Discord said, his face appearing on the side of the serving lid that Pinkie had been wearing earlier, "I thought you liked it when you made ponies laugh." He looked at the claws on his eagle talon. "You make your friends laugh all the time, don't you?"

"That's different," Pinkie replied. "My friends laugh with me." She motioned with her hoof at the room around her. "They're all laughing at me."

A grin spread across Discord's face as he leaned forward. His eyes shifted, changing colors and swirling. The action was soon mirrored by Pinkie Pie's.

"Is it?" Discord asked. "Is it really, Pinkie?"

The image changed before the pink pony's gaze. No longer did it show Discord. Instead it was Rainbow Dash, hooves across her stomach as she guffawed. She was soon joined by Applejack, grinning and chuckling. Then came Shining Armor, Rarity, and even Fluttershy. As if that was not enough, they were soon joined by Mr. and Mrs. Cake, then Pumpkin and Pound. More and more ponies appeared until the entirety of Ponyville was laughing at her.

And it did not end there.

Next appeared the princesses, and Pinkie's parents. Soon, almost every pony Pinkie had ever met -- all except one -- were laughing at her.

Pinkie Pie continued to stare. A pink-tinged gray began to spread out across her body, starting from her nose and spreading out from there. The curly, puffy mane deflated and straightened, lying flat along one side of her head and straight down. The swirling colors vanished from her eyes, turning back to their normal blue. She blinked rapidly as they filled with tears, streams running down her cheeks.

"Stop it," she whimpered before speaking louder. "Stop it. Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!"

Pinkie reared up on her hind legs, bringing her front hooves down to slam against the lid. There was a audible bang as the metal was struck, denting and warping from the impact. Pinkie stomped on it again, ears pinned back against her head as she brought all her weight and earth pony strength down onto the piece of metal. Tears ran down her face, flying with each lift and drop as she slammed down onto the lid again, and again, and again, and again.

"Stop laughing!" she yellowed as she continued to stomp the offending piece of dining ware. "It's not funny! It's not funny! It's... not.. funny... It's...not... It's... not..."

The lid a now unrecognizable mass and her anger exhausted, Pinkie dropped to the ground and curled up. Her chest rose and fell as it was racked with sobs. She pulled herself tight, trying to be as small as possible, and cried.

"Pinkie?" a soft voice said, drawing attention. Opening her eyes, she blinked away the tears to try and see who was there. The blurred image slowly came into focus, until she found herself looking at Shining Armor, Applejack, and Rarity. Of the three, only Shining Armor was looking at her. His head was tilted to one side, and one eyebrow was raised.

"Are you okay?" he asked, taking a step closer.

Pinkie looked away and sniffed. She reached up with a foreleg, wiping the tears from her face.

"What difference does it make?" she mumbled as she stood up. "Come on. I just want to go home."

Shining Armor stood there, watching Pinkie walk toward the door. Her steps were slow, her hooves barely lifting. It was more of a trudge really. It was strange. Whenever Pinkie Pie walked...

It was then that Shining realized the real issue. Trudge or not, Pinkie Pie was walking. Ever since he had known her, Pinkie Pie never walked. Or at least not that he could remember. Every time he had seen her moving -- and there were times where it just seemed like she popped up out of nowhere -- Pinkie had always done her hyper, happy little hopping motion.

He turned to look at Rarity and Applejack.

"Have either of you ever seen Pinkie like this?" he asked.

"She seems fine to me," Applejack answered, looking at one of the tables... or something.

Rarity gave no reply. Instead, she seemed to be grabbing the cutlery and candle holders, shoving them into a bag while growling "mine."

Shining Armor closed his eyes and rubbed his head. It felt like it was starting to throb. It also felt strange to rub it with his horn missing.

Dear Celestia, he thought as he started to follow after Pinkie, please let us all get through this okay.

Author's Notes:

I feel bad for doing this to Pinkie Pie.
I'm sorry, Pinkie! Don't be mad! I promise I'll try to make it up to you.
If you're curious, the picture is Always Happy created by tsand106 on Deviantart

Fluttercrank

Where Fluttershy found herself was by no means her first choice. She would have much preferred to find herself back at home, stretched out on the couch, with a nice cup of tea, and her surrounded by her animals. Still, there were probably worse places to be, and in a way she was grateful after all that had happened.

After flushing and washing her front hooves, she looked at herself in the mirror. Turning slightly, she looked at herself from the side.

It was so strange to not have her wings. While true that she never really used them very often, they were a part of her. Admittedly, mostly in the literal sense as they were a part of her body, but also in the greater sense that probably all pegasus ponies felt. It was also something she used in her work with animals, especially when she had to resort to... less then friendly means: such as "the stare."

Strangest thing was that it felt like they itched. She had never experienced a phantom limb before. Hopefully, she would get it back when this odd little game of Discord was over.

Thinking about the odd creature gave the mare a moment of pause. She felt bad for the poor thing. As far as Fluttershy knew, there was nothing else like him. It must have been very lonely to be the only one of your kind. Besides, he may have done some strange things, but it seemed like he was not actually hurting anypony. It seemed more like a foal throwing some sort of tantrum to get attention. Except in this case, the foal was a lot stronger and more powerful than most, and was messing with reality more than throwing its toys.

Maybe they could reason with him. Settle down and talk, maybe convince him to stop. They could even possibly become friends after this. If that failed, maybe The Elements of Harmony would affect Discord the way it did Princess Luna. Maybe he would become a kinder creature and regret what he had done to make ponies upset.

It was possible.

Alternatively, maybe she could stay hiding in here until the whole thing was over and just go home, forgetting the whole day.

Unfortunately, that was not really an option. In order to use The Elements, the six of them all had to be together. If Discord refused to stop and she stayed hidden, then her friends would have no way to stop him.

Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she took a deep breath.

"Okay, Fluttershy," she said aloud. "You can do this. Just go out that door, find your friends, and try to find your way to the engine." Her eyes looked away from her reflection, the long pink mane falling to cover her face. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh, trying to collect her nerves. Feeling less scared, she stepped away from the sink and headed for the door.

It did not open.

Fluttershy tried pushing the door, then pulling it. Nothing. There was no lock that she could see, and the handle was just screwed into the door. No knob to turn, no tab to press. As far as she could see, there was nothing on her side that would keep the door from opening.

Seeing no other way, Fluttershy found herself having to resort to something drastic. Raising a hoof, she tapped it gently against the door.

"Hello?" she said. "If anypony can hear me, I seem to be stuck. If you're not too busy, I would appreciate it very much if you could help get me out, please."

A sudden noise made her yelp and jump. Her eyes went wide as she searched for the source.

Somehow the sink had come on. That was all. Maybe she had not turned it off all the way, or there was something loose in the plumbing. Either way, it probably just got jarred slightly and turned back on.

Walking back over to it, she turned it off again. As she did, she noticed that somehow the mirror had become fogged. It was odd because the water was neither warm enough nor running long enough to have created so much steam. Even stranger, someone had written "yhsrettulF" across it.

Who would write my name backwards in the mirror? Fluttershy wondered. And why would they do that? Reaching out, she pressed her hoof against the glass to wipe the writing away.

"Aren't you sweet," a voice said, making her jump. It sounded just like her. Well... except it was a little more sarcastic.

"Always so kind," the voice continued. "So gentle. It makes me sick."

Fluttershy had not wiped the entire mirror clean. Most of the r and the rest of "ettulF" remained. In the gap she had made, she could see what looked like her own reflection. Except something about it was off.

"Don't you ever get tired of it?" the reflection growled. "Being so weak and pathetic?"

"Well," Fluttershy replied, tapping her hooves together, "I don't really think that I'm pathetic. I mean... I am weak -- physically -- but I feel I am very helpful. Besides, I always have others to help and support me."

"Right," the reflection huffed as it rolled its eyes. "Our so-called friends." She spat out the last word. "They walk all over us, dragging us with them on these stupid, dangerous mission."

"But they need our help," Fluttershy said. "Think about all those poor ponies that could get hurt if we didn't do anything, to say nothing of all the poor innocent animals."

"And what do we get out of it?" the reflection asked. "Nothing." She slammed her hoof against something. "No money, no reward, barely even a 'thank you.'"

"That's not true," Fluttershy stated. "We get to enjoy the feeling of having helped others, and we have plenty of money to take care of ourselves and our animals. Besides, just because nopony actually says the words 'thank you' doesn't mean they aren't grateful. Just think of how happy Celestia was to be reunited with Luna."

"Well what about..." the reflection paused, tapping her chin. "Uhm... uh..." She let out a huff and shook her head.

"Oh, forget it."

Reaching through the mirror, the reflection of Fluttershy placed her hoof against the original's head. As soon as it touched, Fluttershy's eyes started to shift and swirl. The reflection's hoof shifted, slowly changing into a lion's paw. As it did, a grey color spread from where it touched.

The reflection pulled free of the mirror, turning into Discord. He grabbed Fluttershy by the neck and walked her toward the door.

"You have been too kind for far too long," he declared. "Time to be cruel for a change." He then opened the door, shoved her through it, and slammed it shut behind her.

"Fluttershy," Shining Armor called out, running toward her. "You have no idea how happy I am to see your friendly face." Before he could reach her, Fluttershy suddenly turned to face him, glaring.

"Oh, boo-hoo-hoo," Fluttershy snapped. "What's the matter? Don't know how to do anything without your horn?"

"What?" Shining Armor asked, blinking in confusion. This was nothing like Fluttershy normally acted.

Looking past him, Fluttershy noticed the other three mares. Her lips shifted into a smirk as her eyes narrowed. She returned her attention back to Shining Armor.

"Or maybe you just don't have the proper...'motivation.'"

Rearing up, she grabbed Shining Armor and pulled him forward. Fluttershy pressed her mouth firmly against his, her lips puckering and eyes closing. She let out a small moan, her lips parting slightly.

For his part, Shining Armor froze. His eyes went wide as his ears dropped in surprise. He had not expected anything like this, and certainly not from Fluttershy of all ponies.

The kiss suddenly broke and Fluttershy gave Shining Armor a hard shove, knocking him onto his back.

"What's gotten into you?" he cried out, moving to try and get back up.

"Maybe the problem is what hasn't," she suggested. One of her eyebrows quirked up as she let her gaze drift down along Shining's exposed underside.

Cheeks heating up as he blushed furiously, Shining Armor moved to block where Fluttershy's gaze had been focusing. Standing up, he quickly brushed himself off, looking away from the mare that had made him flustered.

"Whatever," he huffed. "We'll deal with it later. Right now we need to find Rainbow Dash and--"

The rest of his statement was lost as the train came to a screeching halt. All five of the collected ponies was thrown forward, crashing into a pile.

Through one of the windows, a rainbow colored streak could be seen flying away from the train.

Warped Armor

"What happened?" Shining Armor groaned as he pushed himself back up. He was expecting to be covered in bruises from being thrown around so much when this was all over.

There was an audible poof as his horn reappeared, once more attached to his head. He was so glad to have it back. There was another poof as Rarity's horn returned as well. With a third one, Fluttershy's wings were also back. There was suddenly a fourth, which drew Shining Armor's attention to the new arrival.

"I'll tell you what happened," Discord said, walking toward them while dressed as a train conductor. "You lost. Rainbow Dash flew away, so you all forfeit."

"But how's that possible?" Shining asked as he turned to face his opponent. He pointed a hoof. "You took away our horns and wings. Didn't you take hers too?"

"Oh, I took them, alright," Discord answered with a grin. He let out a sigh and looked down at his lion's claw and flexed, watching the claws unsheathe. "I guess that her wings were just more important to her than her friends."

The statement -- the very idea -- made Shining Armor freeze, jaw hanging open. Rainbow Dash? Abandoning her friends? She was supposed to be The Element of Loyalty. If any pony was supposed to stay by another's side, it should be her. She had even wanted to have the chance to stay friends with Gilda, for crying out loud.

At the same time, a lot of her was tied up in her being able to fly. Her dreams of being a Wonderbolt, her hours of training, even her job as a weather and her very house all were connected to her being a pegasus. Shining Armor could not imagine how scary or traumatizing it must be to face a future where the most important thing to you is no longer possible. Granted, he had some idea when he could not use magic, but it was not quite the same thing. There was still a lot he could do in the magic field, such as working on theories or teaching others.

Discord clapped his front limbs together.

"There is some good news," he announced. "We have reached our destination. Last stop, Ponyville." His eyes narrowed as his voice dropped. "Everybody off." He then snapped his fingers, and vanished.

The entire car shook, knocking Shining Armor and the others off-balance. One of the walls fell away as one side of the floor start to raise up, becoming a sharper and sharper angle. With nothing to hold onto, Shining Armor, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack slid out of the car, skidded across the ramp of the wall, and stopped on the platform.

The train looked like Discord lying down along the tracks. Unless it had somehow managed to turn around since arriving, it was facing in the wrong direction, with Discord's head facing the way they had come, and his tail the way they were going. The car that the five of them had been in -- around the point of his mid-section -- closed back up. With a toot from the tail end, the Discord Train started to move backwards along the tracks. It left the Ponyville train station, then the tracks. Zigzagging back and forth, it flew up into the sky over the town.

The train then exploded, leaving the words "Welcome to Discordia" written across the sky.

Shining Armor stood up and brushed himself off. He looked up at the sky, reading the words as his mind worked.

"Okay," he said. "Bad news is we don't know where Rainbow Dash is."

"I know where she is," Applejack said. Her face scrunched up as she continued to look up at the ceiling of the platform.

"The good news," Shining continued, "is that Discord is still here in Ponyville." He turned to face the others. "So, we need to find Rainbow Dash, go back through The Everfree, re-claim The Elements, come back, and use them to stop Discord."

"Why?" Pinkie Pie asked. "What's the point?" She let out a sigh, staring at her hooves.

"I need to wash my mane," Applejack stated, "then have to start digging up them apple trees."

"You expect me to go out there?" Rarity called out. "My stuff could get stolen." She then narrowed her eyes. "Or are you planning to take it. Well let me tell you now, that's not going to happen."

"It's not that I don't want to," Fluttershy said, "but... well... I don't want to." She then gave a smirk. "Although if you decide you want to have some fun--" she stuck a wing out, swatting it across Shining Armor's flank "-- come by my cottage later." She gave a wink and started to walk off.

At the same time, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity also started to walk off. None of them looked back as they went, leaving Shining Armor standing alone on his platform.

A lump formed in his throat, and there was a dull ache in his chest. He could not believe it. Even seeing it, he could not. It had only been a few months since he had met them, but he thought he knew his friends better than that. He never could have imagined them walking away from this, from him. His eyes started to burn as his vision blurred.

"Fine!" he shouted after them. "Go ahead and leave!" He stamped his hoof on the last word. "I was fine before I met you, and I'll be fine with out you now!"

His chest rose and fell as he tried to breathe, finding it hard. Tears started to run down his cheeks.

"Some friends you turned out be! I don't need you!" His voice cracked on the last word. "I don't... I don't..."

Hind legs giving out from under him, Shining Armor fell onto his rump.

"I don't..."

His head sagged, nose now inches from the floor.

"I... I..."

He stopped, sitting there. Tears flowed from his eyes and down onto the wood, forming two halves of a broken heart.

The tip of Shining Armor's tail turned gray. The loss of color climbed up along the length toward his body, spreading faster as it reached his backside.

With a sigh, he slowly got up. Nearly every part of him sagged as he started the long, lonely walk back to the library.

The Last Cake Standing

A soldier made his way across the battlefield, constantly looking around him as he went. One hand gripped his weapon tightly, using it as a staff for support. His other arm was wrapped around one of his squad mates, keeping him up and moving despite the major wound. Behind them, a trail of red marked where they had come from.

"Just leave me, Sarge," the wounded soldier said. "She already got me. I'm not going to make it. I'm not going to make it."

"I don't want to hear that, Private," Sergeant Black Forest growled. "No one gets left behind. If you can walk and talk, you can still make it." He let out a huff. "We just need to find a place to hole up until support can arrive."

"No one's coming to save us!" Private Straw Short shouted. "You saw what that... that monster did to the others: Private Cream, Corporal Velvet, even Captain Down. What chance do we have?"

"That's enough!" Forest snapped. "As long as we are alive, we still have a chance. Now I want you to change your attitude, and that is an order! Got it?"

Private Short said nothing. Sergeant Forest adjust his grip and the two of them continued on. Slowly they made their way along, trying to leave the horrors behind.

"I hear something," Private Short announced. "I think it's her. Oh my Baker. Oh my Baker. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die."

"Keep it together," Sergeant Forest said. "We just have to get a little further and we can hide. If we keep quiet and are lucky, she might just miss us. Understood?"

After the longest few seconds of their life, Private Short gulped and nodded. The two picked up the pace as quick as they could, making their way for what they hoped would be shelter.

It seemed that luck was not completely on their side. They had been hoping that there would be a door that they could open to get inside and hide. Unfortunately what they found instead was a solid surface. The only way to get inside would be to try and break in. Not only would that take too long, but the noise would draw attention to them.

Sergeant Forest set Private Short down.

"Lean forward to keep the wound from leaking too much and wait here," the sergeant ordered. "I'm going to scout around. See if I can find the door and where The Great Eater might be." He gave the private a gentle pat, then moved along the wall. Pressing close, he followed along the edge until reaching a corner. His grip adjusted on his weapon, ready to use it just in case. Slowly he leaned forward, peaking around the corner.

Oh, my, Baker! he thought, staring at what he saw in disbelief.

There was another of them.

It was smaller, and darker colored, but it was definitely another Great Eater. This was something that he had not expected. All this time, they had been battling one, and had been losing quickly. What chance could they possibly have against two of them?

The creature turned its gaze toward the sergeant, causing him to jump back behind the corner once again. It was too late. He had been seen. It would be coming for him now. Maybe he could run. But where? Besides, if he did, it would probably find Private Short.

A crazy thought came to him. This one was smaller than the other. Probably less experienced. He might just be able to take it. To even have a chance, he would have to do it now.

Dear Baker, he silently prayed, Please grant me the strength to send this creature back to The Oven.

Jumping out of his hiding spot, Sergeant Black Forest let out a shout and ran toward the creature. He held his weapon out like a spear, aiming for its legs.

Before he could strike, an aura of dark blue encompassed his form. Sergeant Forest was suddenly lifted in the air, face to face with the smaller Great Eater. Its giant blue eyes narrowed, as it seemed to study him.

"Sister," the creature bellowed. "We wish to speak with you. We have been told that you are in here."

"Over here," another voice -- Sergean Forest recognized it as the other Great Eater -- called out. The younger one headed in the direction of the call, carrying the captured soldier with her.

Princess Celestia sat in the middle of the kitchen floor, licking her lips. All around her were pieces of chunks of cake, globs of frosting, and various types of serving utensils. One hoof patted at her stomach, which was the most swollen she had ever had it.

"What in the name of Equestria is happening?" Luna asked as she walked toward her sister. "We have come to ask you about the strange happenings that we have noticed through our window, only to find that you seem to have gorged yourself on a numerous variety of desserts. In addition, we find this -- " she held out a slice Black Forest cake with tiny arms and legs in her magic "-- attempting to charge us using a cake server."

"Oh you found it," Celestia said as she got up. "It managed to get away from me during the... battle I suppose would work." Her own horn lit up a she took a hold of the cake. "Tell me, did you also find the strawberry shortcake as well? I was starting to eat that one when an attack let it escape."

"Tia," Luna growled, "please try to focus. We wish for you to explain precisely what has happened." She then yanked the slice of cake from her sister's magical grasp. "Also, we are not permitting you to consume this... entity. At least until we are certain that it is not as sentient as it is animate."

"Very well," Celestia said. "Discord has returned."

"Discord?!" Luna cried out, eyes going wide in shock.

Sergeant Black Forest suddenly found himself free of the smaller Great Eater's magical grip. It would have been more of a relief if he had not still been in mid-air. Barely had he released that he was free that gravity took its hold. Sergeant Forest watched as the ground came up toward him, not even having time to utter one last prayer.

"Aww," Celestia pouted, looking at the now smashed piece of cake. "You dropped it."

"You have just informed us that one of the most aggravating threats to us and our country has returned," Luna stated. "Are you not worried of what shall happen?"

Celestia got up from where she sat and walked over to her sister. One of her wings stretched out, wrapping around Luna. Leaning down, Celestia nuzzled gently against her sister's neck.

"Of course I am worried. Even if we do not consider him a threat, he is still dangerous." She let out a sigh and looked toward the window. "But there is nothing that either of us can do at the moment. The Elements of Harmony are needed to defeat him, and we no longer bear them. For now, we can only wait and hope that Shining Armor and his friends are up to it."

"We dislike the necessity to rely on others to protect us," Luna grumbled, leaning into the hug. "More so when it is our duty to look over and protect them."

"I understand," Celestia replied. "However, it is necessary. Our little ponies must learn to take care of themselves without our aid. Plus, as I have already pointed out, we no longer hold The Elements. As much as it pains us, as much as it worries us, we must begin to step aside and allow them to do more on their own."

Luna sighed, but said nothing.

Tiara is Screwed

Diamond Tiara had refused to be cowed. She did not care how weird things were, whether it was pink clouds with chocolate rain, grass turning into blue carpeting, or sticks of butter flying around on bug wings. If she wanted to go outside and walk around, she was going to do just that. If it so happens to be at a time when most ponies are staying inside, all the better. Everypony that saw her out would see how tough and brave she was. It would show that she was a fearless pony that would make a great leader. Admittedly, she would feel a lot better about it if Silver Spoon had come out with her, but whatever.

Besides, Diamond Tiara knew exactly who was behind all the weirdness. If a certain blank-flank unicorn had enough magic to stick Tiara's head in a toilet -- and had a brother that claimed to be the personal student of Princess Celestia (Tiara had her doubts) -- then that same blank-flank could probably do something like this. Add in the fact that there had been no proper punishment for such a horrid act (say life in prison, hard labor in some deep, dark mine, or banishment from Equestria to some dark, cold place nopony has ever heard of), and it made total sense that the same pony that would do such a horrid thing would totally behind such weirdness.

Now was Diamond Tiara's chance. She was going to be the one to confront the pony responsible, bring an end to... whatever this was, save Ponyville and become a local hero. Then she could probably become a celebrity. Maybe she could use it to become a supermodel, or an actress. Maybe she could even become Princess Celestia's personal student, and then a baroness, countess, or duchess... maybe even another princess.

All because she was smart enough to figure out who was responsible (even if she could not remember her name), and brave enough to go face them despite everything going on around town. She just had to get to the library, and she would be able to put an end to this whole thing.

"My, oh my," a voice said as a weight was suddenly removed from her head, "what a lovely little crown."

Turning toward the source of the voice, Diamond Tiara could not believe what she saw. The strange creature stood up on its hind legs, and looked like it was as tall as a doorway. It also looked like a bunch of random body parts thrown together. The body was long and snake-like, but covered in fur. All four of its legs looked like they came from different animals. It also had wings, with one of them having feathers. The head looked like it came from a goat. On top of its head was a horn, an antler, and Diamond Tiara's namesake.

"How do I look?" the thing asked, posing with a grin on its face.

"Who, or what, are you?" Diamond Tiara asked, glaring at the thing in front of her. The reaction caused it to droop down, its face literally sagging. After re-solidifying, it crossed its arms and glared back.

"Maybe you should pay more attention in class, kid," it said. "After all, your teacher did introduce me to your class in the garden just yesterday."

"Yeah, right," Diamond Tiara huffed, rolling her eyes. "That was just a bunch of boring old statues. No reason to even have gone except to get out of that dumb classroom." And the fact that those three stupid blank flank friends ended up getting in a fight with each other.

"Fine," the creature huffed. "Whatever." It snapped one of its front limbs and everything went dark.

Diamond Tiara blinked in confusion, looking around. There was nothing for her to see. What was going on? Where had whatever that was gone with her tiara?

A click caught her attention. The creature's face was now eye level with her, a flashlight held under its chin.

"I am Discord!" he announced, "the embodiment of chaos and creator of disharmony and a mighty and ferocious Draconequus. Now, after a thousand years, I have returned to throw Equestria into chaos once more." There was a flash of lightning and boom of thunder as Discord threw his head back, letting out a maniacal laugh.

Diamond Tiara stood there, staring at him. That was disappointing. She had really thought that the purple unicorn blank flank was behind all this. It would have been real easy get whatever her name was to stop. After all, Tiara was older, bigger, and physically stronger than her. Tiara would just have to make sure that the blank flank never got the chance to use her magic.

This... Draco-whatever-stopped-listening thing was another matter. It was bigger than her, really weird, and it seemed to be able to cast spells pretty quickly. She had no way to physically threaten it, and she doubted that she could intimidate it into doing what she wanted. That meant Diamond Tiara was going to have to do something that she abhorred, back off and give up. That did not mean that she would have to let the Draco-ma-jigger know that. No reason to show any sign of weakness.

"Whatever," Diamond Tiara huffed, rolling her eyes. "Just give me back my tiara already you... you... weird screwball."

Discord's jaw clenched as he narrowed his eyes, glaring back at the irritating little filly for a moment. He took the tiara from his head, drumming his fingers along the surface. The scowl shifted into a smirk, then a full grin. He continued tapping his fingers, letting bits of chaos magic seep in.

"This?" Discord asked innocently, holding it up in front of him. "You mean you want me to just give this back to you."

"Yes!" Diamond Tiara snapped, stamping one of hooves against the ground (which made a rubbery squeak for some reason). "Give me, my tiara, back, now!"

"Fine, you can have it." Discord stuck it back on Tiara's head. "I prefer beanies anyway."

As soon the tiara touched Diamond Tiara's head, something strange started to happen. The tiara shifted, turning into a beanie just as Discord said the word. A small propeller then popped out of the top of it and began to spin. Diamond Tiara's normally well groomed and maintained mane and tail, twisted and curled until it became a wild mess. Her irises began to twist and spin, turning into a swirling pattern.

Diamond Tiara was not completely aware of these changes, she just knew that something felt weird. It was like something was taking her brain, pulling it into thousands of tiny pieces, then slapping them back together at random and seeing what happens. Not just memories either. Concepts of language, colors, shapes, even her senses were all being mixed together. She could taste purple and hear a cube.

Some portion of Diamond Tiara that was still sane began to panic. Turning toward Discord, she tried to cry out "what have you done to me?!"

Instead, all that came out was an audible "pblpblpblpbl" as the air escaped between her lips.

Discord raised and eyebrow and smirked.

"Now who's the screwball?"

Sugarcube Swarmed

It had been a slow day at Sugarcube Corner. More accurately, a slow afternoon. Several ponies had come in during the morning, mainly to purchase large orders just in case the strange things lasted for a while. Unfortunately, as the day progressed, things got weirder and fewer ponies were willing to go outside.

With Pinkie Pie off in Canterlot presumably to try and put a stop to whatever was happening, and the twins off to the library with their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Cake pretty much had the entire bakery to themselves. While there had been some flirting and suggestions of having a little fun in various parts of the bakery, they had not actually gone through with it (yet). Instead they decided to continue on with their work first.

No customers meant no sales, which meant no products needed to be replaced. Combined with the fact that there were no outstanding orders, there was no need to do any baking. The baking pans that had been used earlier in the morning had been washed and were currently on the drying rack. The floor had been swept up, but would not be mopped until they were leaving it for the night. Now the married pair of baking ponies were taking inventory. Mr. Cake was handling the refrigerated ingredients while Mrs. Cake did the dry.

Mrs. Cake paused in her work as she saw something brightly colored on one of the shelves, hidden behind some bags of sugar. Setting her clipboard down, she reached up to push the bags aside and see what it was. Behind the sugar was a rubber ball, an eye patch, a bag of balloons, a first aid kit, one of Pinkie's emergency party poppers (it was a small device that could be held in a hoof, but when the string was pulled, it somehow exploded to decorate an entire room for a party), and a note which read "replace emergency cupcake."

Reaching out, Mrs. Cake took a hold of the ball and looked at it. She smirked slightly and gave a small shake of her head. Pinkie could be such a strange and silly pony. Some times it was hard to remember that she was an adult, at least physically. With her energetic enthusiasm and child-like innocence, it always made her seem more like an over-sized filly. Although she did show the ability to be responsible and mature when she had to look over Sugarcube Corner or watch the twins when they were younger.

In some ways, the Cakes saw Pinkie less as an employee and more of a family member. She had pretty much been their first child. In fact, it was because of her that they had decided to try and have children of their own to begin with. Between taking care of Pinkie, meeting her family, and seeing how happy they were for her, it made the Cakes want a child of their own.

Now they had two wonderful foals... who were growing up a lot faster than Mrs. Cake would like. Soon they would be leaving the nest and going out into the world to make their own way. Although, she and her husband were young enough to have another, and they had discussed having more. Maybe the time had come for them to seriously consider trying to have another.

Mrs. Cake was just about to suggest this to her husband, when the sound of a bell ringing indicated that somepony had just come into the bakery.

"I'll see who it is," she said, setting the ball down. Letting her husband continue to count the eggs, Mrs. Cake made her way to the doors, stepping out of the kitchen and into the main room.

What she saw made her stop. Something about the pony looked familiar. At first, Mrs. Cake thought it was Pinkie Pie, but she was all wrong. The coat still had a pink tinge to it, but looked dull and drab. The mane, normally wild and poofy, was flat and laid down from one side of her face. There was no smile, and the eyes lacked a certain twinkle. In fact, they were tinted red and seemed to glisten with... tears?

"Pinkie Pie?" Mrs. Cake called out. "Is that you, dear?"

"Yes, Mrs. Cake," the mare -- Mrs. Cake could not think of her as Pinkie -- answered. She stopped trudging long enough to turn and look up. "Did you need something?"

"No," Mrs. Cake answered gently. "Just checking. Is... is everything alright?"

"Just... tired," Pinkie answered. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go to my room and get some sleep."

"Would you like to come into the kitchen, have a snack, and tell us about what happened?"

"No thanks. I'm not hungry."

That, more than anything else, shocked Mrs. Cake and caused her to worry. Pinkie Pie was turning down a chance to spend time with another pony and eating? In all the time they had worked together, Mrs. Cake could only think of one or two times either happened alone, and those were extenuating circumstances: Pinkie being asked after she had already promised to spend time with another pony, and an incident having to do with food poisoning. If she had been asked before today, Mrs. Cake would never have imagined that Pinkie would turn down both, especially without giving a very good reason.

"O...okay..." Mrs. Cake managed to get out. "Well... if you change your mind -- or need anything -- we'll be down here."

Pinkie headed for the stairs and climbed up. Mrs. Cake watched her as she went, listening to the slow, heavy thumps of hooves against the stairs. Once the sound had stopped, she turned to go back into the kitchen and made her way to where her husband still stood at the refrigerator.

"Cand-" Mrs. Cake started, then stopped. No. This was a very serious conversation. Now was not the time to use some sugary treat based pet name.

"Carrot," she said instead. "I'm worried about Pinkie Pie."

"So am I," Mr. Cake responded. "I heard what she said." Stepping away from the refrigerator, he moved closer to his wife and pressed against her.

A gentle sigh escaped Mrs. Cake as she leaned against her husband. Despite his tall and gangly build, he had always been a sturdy stallion. She had always been able to lean on him for support, both physically and emotionally. A claim that they were fortunate enough to work both ways in their relationship.

"I feel like we should do something to help her," she said, "but I don't know what."

"Maybe she actually is just tired," Mr. Cake suggested. "Maybe we should just let her rest and see if she's feeling better later."

The suggestion caused Mrs. Cake to move, turning to look up at her husband curiously.

"I don't really like the idea either," he admitted, "but we don't really want to push her either." He placed a foreleg around her neck. "If she actually is tired like she claims, then giving her some time to rest will help. If not... well... " he shrugged. "She knows we're here for her if she wants to talk about it. If she seems to get worse, we'll try to talk to her, or even take her to the doctor if necessary."

"I guess you're right," Mrs said with a sigh. She turned back to look at the doorway. "But I don't like it. Something is wrong with Pinkie, and I feel like I have to do something about it."

"Which is one of the reasons you're such a wonderful mother, sugar drop." Leaning down, Mr. Cake gave a gentle kiss on his wife's forehead, getting the faintest hint of a smile.

The moment was interrupted by the bell ringing once again.

"I'll go see who it is this time," Mr. Cake offered. Gently separating himself from his wife, he moved toward the doors and pushed them open.

"Welcome to Suuuuuuu....." The rest of what he was going to say was forgotten. His eyes went wide and jaw fell open as he stared at what was coming in.

Ants. A line of ants were walking into the bakery. The biggest ants that Mr. Cake had ever actually seen. They were not the size of carriages like he had read about once (thank Celestia), nor were they the size of a pony like in that one play Pinkie had shown him, but they were by no means small. If Mr. Cake got near one -- and he had no intention of doing that -- he would bet that they came up to his knee. A bite from their pincers could probably sever a hoof.

The ants continue to enter Sugarcube Corner and spread out. Most of them headed for the walls. Pincers opening wide, they moved forward and pressed into it. Chunks began to come out in the oversized insects' grip and carried out.

"Hey!" Mr. Cake suddenly shouted (surprising even himself). "Those walls aren't actually made out of gingerbread."

"What's the matter?" Mrs. Cake called out.

"We have ants," Mr. Cake called back. "Except I don't think our normal methods are going to work this time." He stepped back from the door way. "You get the hose, I'll see what I can do with the broom."

Bureaucracy

Discord watched as a gray pegasus mare in a mail cap and carrying a messenger bag stopped on a park bench. He watched as she pulled out a brown paper bag and opened it.

While not really a term that Discord used very often -- as in "never before in his life before this moment" -- he could only think of one way to describe the sight: weird. Trees were juggling bushes, there were chickens the size of buffalo and buffalo the size of chickens, there were trails with soap and ice all over the town (which had been funnier when there were more ponies out and about), even flamingos singing in barbershop quartets. Yet here is this one little mare, going about her business as if there is absolutely nothing going on.

As Discord continued to watch, this mailmare pulled a muffin, a box of juice, and a bagel sandwich. She smiled as she looked at her food. At least, he thought she was. One of her eyes was focused on the sandwich now in her hooves while the other seemed to be looking up and away. Whatever the case, she seemed quite happy as she took a big bite out of her sandwich.

For some reason, the look of joy as she ate was too much for him. Discord could not stand it any more. Floating over to the bench, he landed to stand on the backrest. Placing his hands on his sides, he crouched down to glare at the pony.

"What are you doing?" he asked, trying to look as annoyed and angry as possible.

The gray pegasus turned toward him, lifted his head to look him in the face, and gulped. That last part he would have appreciated if it had been a gulp of fear and not of her simply swallowing her bite of sandwich. One yellow eye looked at him as she smiled.

"Hi," she said in a cheery tone. "I'm Derpy. What's your name?"

The look of anger vanished from Discord's face as it was replaced by confusion. This... this... Derpy pony was looking at him in the middle of a town turned upside (or at least a couple of its buildings were), and acting like everything was perfectly normal, just smiling up at him. Why was she so calm, so cute, so relaxed and upbeat? She should be running in terror before he does something to her, not sitting in the park looking adorable and making small talk while eating.

"Discord," he answered with a sigh. After clearing his throat he straightened up. "Now, let me ask you again: what are you doing?"

Derpy took another bite of her sandwich before answering.

"Taking my lunch break," she answered with her mouth face. She held her stand out toward him. "Do you want a bite? It's alfalfa and cheddar."

"Nooo....." Discord said as he stared at the offered food. "And that's not what I meant. What are you doing out here?"

"Oooh," Derpy said, eyes going wide. "I'm delivering the mail."

"Delivering... the... mail..." Discord repeated slowly as it tried to sink in. The answer was so casual and normal, that Discord was pretty sure the hamster on the wheel that was his brain had just had a heart attack from the shock.

"Well, yeah," replied Derpy as she turned back to her lunch. "I'm one of the mailponies for Ponyville. It's my job to make sure that ponies get their letters, catalogs, and packages." She paused to take a bite before continuing. "I have a lot to deliver today. None of the others showed up today for some reason. So now I don't just have to deliver my mail, but the mail of the others as well."

"Delivering... the... mail..." repeated Discord a second time, giving a shake of his head. He could not believe it. "You mean to tell me," he growled, "that with all of this" -- he waved his paw around -- "going on, and you're not only going about your normal job, but are covering for your co-workers?"

The question seem to give Derpy pause. She turned to look at him a moment, her big yellow eyes blinking. She then shoved the rest of her sandwich into her mouth and swallowed.

"Well yeah," Derpy answered. "Haven't you ever heard of the postal service oath?" She jumped up on her hind legs and posed struck one of her front legs straight out in front of her.

"'Neither snow," she called out, "nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, stays these couriers from their appointed rounds.'" She then placed her hooves on her hips, spread her wings wide and puffed out her chest.

With a huff, Discord rolled his eyes and gave a shake of his head.

"That's all very nice, but it says absolutely nothing about tyrants, beings of chaos, or soap-covered roads."

Dropping back into a sitting position, Derpy lifted a hoof to her chin, tapping it as she thought. Her nose scrunched up and ears pinned back as she considered what she had just been told.

"No," she finally conceded, "but it does include 'gloom of night,' which means that if Nightmare Moon had taken over, we would still have to work. So why would this be any different?"

Discord opened his mouth to retort, then stopped. Two things came to him. One: that was sort of a valid point. If they were expected to deliver the mail while one insane nigh-immortal being tried to take over Equestria, why would they not expect the same when another was? Second -- and more importantly -- why was he even having this discussion in the first place?

With a huff, he turned his attention to her muffin. Grabbing it, he stood back up and held it in his talon. A gasp from the mare drew his attention. She was staring at him with her eyes wide.

"What are you doing?" she cried out. "That's my muffin."

Eyes narrowing, Discord pealed the wrapper from muffin.

"Stop it," Derpy growled out. "My daughter made that for me."

Discord threw the muffin over his shoulder, hearing a splash as it landed in something and a shocked gasp from the mailmare. He then shoved the wrapper into his mouth and chewed.

"She must not be a very good cook," he stated around the paper. "That is one of the worst muffin wrappers I have eaten in years."

After staring where her muffin had landed in a puddle, then got stomped by chicken sized buffaloes, then pecked by buffalo sized chickens, Derpy turned back toward Discord. Both eyes focused on him -- which he found strangely disconcerting -- as they narrowed into a glare. Her nose scrunched up as her cheeks puffed out with frustration. She was so cute when she was angry.

Before Discord knew what was going on, the mare was nose to nose with him, pressing a hoof against his chest.

"You're lucky I have to get back to work," she growled before turning away. Grabbing her mailbag and juice box, she gave him one last glare. With a final huff, she turned away and took off.

With a huff of his own, Discord took off as well. Taking a long, twisting path that let him look at different pieces of Discordia, he made his way toward what had been Ponyville's town hall. He landed on the sill of one window and walked in, stepping into The Mayor's Office.

The pony that had been the mayor of Ponyville stood behind her desk. Her jaw clenched as she watched the newly arrived Discord make his way toward her.

"Oh, don't give me that," Discord told her. "You were the mayor of Ponyville. Since it is no longer Ponyville, you're no longer the mayor. You should be grateful that I let you use the office for a little longer before I turn the place into my wreck room."

"You will never get away with this," Mayor Mare shouted. Although, the sounds did not come from her mouth, but the other end.

"Oh, blow it out your ass," Discord snapped. A grin spread across his face as he started to chuckle. "Although, I suppose you did that already."

"Somepony will try to stop you," the mayor continued.

"Oh I do hope so," Discord squealed out. He turned and walked back toward the window. Leaning against the frame, he looked out. "After all, what fun would it be if none of them fought back? It sounds like it would get very boring pretty fast."

He looked out at what had once been a dull, boring, normal little town. Now it looked so much better. Still... it felt like it needed something more. The curse of any artist Discord supposed. No matter how much effort a creature put into something, or how wonderful it seemed, there was always a feeling that there was something more they felt they could do to make it perfect.

"Part of the fun is seeing how ponies react and what they'll do about it." He waved his talon out toward the town. "After all, what would be the point of doing all this, if there was no response."

His eyes caught sight of a familiar looking form. Discord grinned as he moved toward the edge of the window.

"Looks like I see a familiar face down there. If you'll excuse me, Mayor, I have a little bit of rubbing in to do."

Rubbing It In

Shining Armor's head was held low as he made his way around town. He barely lifted his hooves as he went, just enough to keep from actually dragging them through the dirt. His tail was a little less fortunate, the tip of it tracing along the ground behind him.

A pole off to the side caught his attention, making him look up. In front of him was a sign that had a silhouette of a crab with the words "crab x-ing" written across it. It was at that time that hundreds -- if not thousands -- of crabs started moving across the road. It was certainly too many to count, looking more like a river of red water than of singular creatures. After a few stragglers made it across, Shining Armor resumed his walking.

Admittedly, he was taking longer than was necessary to get back to the library. Not just because he was moving slowly, but because he was kind of going a longer way. Shining Armor really had no interest in what was going on in the town. It was more that he really did not feel like going back. Right now, the place seemed like the worst place in Equestria to be. He could not even think of it as "home." Plus, going there would mean having to deal with his sister. The idea of telling her they had failed, of seeing the disappointment and sadness on that face, was too much. He already felt heart broken, but that would just leave it shattered.

The sound of laughter reached Shining Armor's ears. A part of him cringed at the familiar voice, but he tried to keep from noticeably reacting. Maybe if he ignored it, he would not have to deal with it.

"This has been so much fun," Discord called out excitedly. "Why, just look at all the wonderful chaos going around. Isn't it wonderful?"

There was a snap and Shining Armor suddenly felt a weight on his head. A tiny Discord twisted to look at him from where it held onto Shining Armor's horn.

"And just look at you," Discord continued. "Celestia's prized student, normally so optimistic and energetic. Now just a sad and depressed little thing."

"What do you want Discord?" Shining snapped, glaring at the mini-creature. "There's no way I could make it through The Everfree alone and get The Elements of Harmony."

The miniature Discord vanished from Shining Armor's view. The stallion was suddenly grabbed and lifted up, being held by the full sized version like some sort of stuffed toy.

"My dear boy," Discord stated, "I never said that The Elements of Harmony were at Celi and Lulu's silly old castle. You came to that conclusion on your own, and I merely didn't correct you. They were never actually there. If you had managed to make it all the way there, you wouldn't have found a thing." He paused, rubbing his goatee with his free limb. "Although, I bet the look on your faces would have been hilarious."

"But your riddle," Shining called out.

"Said 'find The Elements where you began.'" Discord gave a shrug, dropping Shining Armor in the process. "It's not my fault if you came to the wrong conclusion."

Ears pinned back, Shining Armor let out a grumble as he pushed himself back up into a sitting a position. He winced slightly as he did, his rump stinging from the landing. After adjusting himself to keep from sitting on the tender spot, he looked up at Discord again.

"Why? Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's fun," Discord responded. "Because I can. Because it's what I do. Maybe because I don't really need a reason."

"But..." Shining Armor shifted, looking down at the ground. "My friends..."

Discord crossed his arms and let out a huff.

"Yes," he grumbled. "Well you can consider this an important lesson, my pouty pony. You can't rely on your friends." He turned his back toward Shining Armor as he looked at the town. "Because sooner or later, they will let you down and leave you behind."

That was a strange statement. Shining Armor could hear a note of bitterness. Lifting his head, he looked at Discord, eyes narrowing to study him.

"Is that what happened to you?" Shining Armor asked. "Did your friends abandon you? Is that why you sta-"

The rest of the question was cut off as Discord flicked a talon against Shining Armor's nose. It did no harm, but stung a little.

"Don't you try your little mind games with me," growled Discord. He placed his forelimbs on his hips, narrowing his eyes. "Besides, it would do you no good. I am not something you could understand just from talking to."

Shining Armor wiggled his nose, but said nothing. He had touched on something, but really did not feel like trying to pursue it any further. Getting back up, he turned from Discord and resumed walking back to the library.

"You know," Discord said as he floated above Shining Armor, "you remind me a lot of Tia. So clever, so courageous, and oh so very boring." He rolled his eyes at the last word. "No wonder she chose you to be her student." He let out a hum, rubbing his chin.

"I wonder if your sister would be more fun."

The statement made Shining Armor stop. The gray of his coat faded slightly as he turned toward Discord. The stallion's eyes narrowed as his horn lit up with magic.

"What was that?" he asked, jaw tense.

"Your sister," Discord responded. "What was her name again? Fight Night Special? Nightlight Sprinkles? Highlight Spackle? Whatever. She seems like a pretty smart filly. I bet she would be a lot more fun that you--"

As he said "you," Discord turned toward Shining Armor, the sight of the glowing horn causing him to stop. It gave him just enough warning to throw himself to the side as a blast of raw magical energy was shot right at him. Conjuring an umbrella, Discord popped it open and held it out between him and the angry stallion.

"Was it something I said?"

"You will not touch my sister!" Shining Armor shouted, and unleashed another blast.

With a surprised yelp, Discord pulled the umbrella up in front of him. There was an audible thud as the magic slammed into it, followed by a sizzling sound as the energy burned away at the fabric. When the blast finally ended, Discord was holding the smoldering black remains of the metal frame.

"Well," Discord huffed as he tossed the remnants aside, "it seems somebody has a bit of a temper." Slapping his paw and talon together, he conjured a blue rubber ball. He then tucked at under his arm as he turned away.

"If you're going to be that way about it, then I am going home." He let out a huff and threw his head up. Nose in the air, Discord walked off and out of view.

Shining Armor stood there, body tense as he stared at where Discord had been for nearly half a minute. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He released his magic and opened his eyes again, now actually looking around.

He felt... different. In an odd way it was like he was more himself than he had been a few seconds ago.

Twiley! Giving a shake of his head, he turned and started running for the library. His sister was there, and she might need him. She was his little sister, his family, and his responsibility. He had to make sure that she was okay.

As he continued to run, it was as if something else in his mind clicked. He was not the only one with a little sister. Even of the ones who did not, there were still younger ponies that looked up his friends (former friends, a voice whispered in his head, but he tried to shut it up). Maybe those same young ponies could help the others remember who they are the same way the memory of his sister and need to protect her and helped him. Even if they could not help themselves, they probably knew the ponies they looked up to better than any others in Ponyville.

The tree that made up the library came into view. A thrill of excitement shot through Shining Armor at the sight. He was glad to see it, to call it home. It was where he lived with Twiley and Spike. It was where he had met the ponies he now thought of a friends (former). It was where they had all insisted on going with him to The Everfree Forest after learning about The Elements of Harmony. It was...

It's where all of this began! he thought excitedly. Picking up his pace, he ran as fast as he could. His horn glowed again as he got closer and closer.

Reaching the door, he threw it open and ran inside. Seven pairs of eyes all turned to look at him, wide with shock. He grinned, letting out a chuckle.

"Good," he called out. "You're all here."

"Shiny?" Twilight asked curiously. "Are you okay?' She was suddenly grabbed in her brother's magic and pulled into a hug.

"No," he answered as he held her close. "But I think I will be now." He ruffled her mane then turned to the others.

"Spike, I need you to find the book on The Elements of Harmony. The same one we found the information in the night we first got here." He turned toward the rest of the crusaders.

"As for the rest of you, I have some bad news and good news. More importantly, I have a plan to fix everything, but I'm going to need your help."

Scootacidal

If asked, Shining Armor would have to admit that his plan with the crusaders could have gone better. The fact that The Elements of Harmony had actually been in the book had been a nice surprise (he had been expecting some sort of trick or riddle, maybe something that would help him search the library for them). He had told the young ponies what he knew about what happened and started to explain his plan.

The main idea was simple. The crusaders would split up and go to one of the ponies. The younger pony would then try to get the older one to remember who they were and how they were supposed to be. Hopefully hearing this from somepony would help Shining's friends come back to themselves and get past whatever Discord had done to them.

Overall the choices of who would help whom was pretty easy. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, being the younger sisters of Applejack and Rarity, had known the older ponies their entire lives. Apple Bloom had practically been raised by Applejack and Sweetie Belle spent nearly as much time at Rarity's as she did her parents home. The Cake Twins were similar when it came to Pinkie Pie. Although not genetically related, the two of them had grown up with Pinkie, having her be there for them like a big sister.

That left Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

Twilight had volunteered to try and help Fluttershy. Granted, the filly was not a sister to the pegasus, nor had she known her very long. Still, Twilight liked Fluttershy, and wanted to at least try. If that did not work, then she could always try with help from Pound since he sometimes helped with the animals.

Everyone assembled had expected Scootaloo to be the one to try to help Rainbow Dash, seeing as the latter was the former's idol. For her part, Scootaloo was absolutely on board with helping save Rainbow Dash. Unfortunately, her plan to help was far different from Shining Armor's. The young pegasus filly grabbed her helmet and ran for the door.

"If Discord is that one that did something to her," Scootaloo announced, "then I'll find him, and I'll make him undo it." She then slammed the door behind her as she took off.

Shining Armor gave the remaining crusaders the element for the pony they were trying to help, told them to meet at Sugarcube Corner either way, and wished them luck.

Now he was running through town trying to find Scootaloo, carrying his and Rainbow Dash's elements with him. Between the head start she had and how fast she could move on that scooter, it was going to be difficult to catch her. Shining Armor was basically running around town hoping to find the young pegasus at random. The upside was that Scootaloo was probably doing something similar in searching for Discord. Shining just hoped the he would find Scootaloo before she found Discord. There was no telling what the creature would do the filly if he got his clutches on her.

Up in the sky, a spot of white caught Shining Armor's attention. Under normal circumstances, it probably would not even have registered to Shining Armor, much less have been given a second thought. But these were not normal circumstances. In this case, it was strange because of how normal it was. It was a regular, puffy, white, cloud. Not pink. Not releasing some sort of food. Just a cloud.

Well, not just a cloud. Shining Armor was pretty sure that he could see movement on top of it. That meant that there must be a pegasus up there.

"HEY!" he called out. "Hey, you on the cloud. Excuse me."

A familiar form shifted to look over the edge of the cloud, glaring down at Shining Armor. The coat was not its normal shade of sky blue, nor was the mane its usual rainbow array, but he still recognized the pegasus staring down at him.

"What do you want?" Rainbow Dash yelled back. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

While glad to have found Rainbow Dash, Shining Armor wished it had been under slightly different circumstances. Now that he had found her, he could try and get her back to normal. Except if he did that, he could not keep searching. He may not have known the filly very well, but if something happened to her...

"I'll let you get back to whatever you're doing," Shining Armor shouted up to Rainbow Dash. "I just need your help quickly. Have you seen Scootaloo?"

"Scootaloo?" Rainbow Dash repeated, sitting up more.

"Yeah. Pegasus filly, about this big," -- he held up his hoof to about her height -- "orange coat, rides a scooter, worships the ground you fly above."

"I know who she is!" Rainbow snapped. "Why the hay are you looking for her?"

Shining Armor shifted, ears pinning back as he looked around. He really did not want to tell her about what he had intended, or what Scootaloo was planning to do to try and help.

"It's... complicated," he answered. "Look, I take it you haven't seen her lately. Since you're up there, could you look around and tell me if you see her? I would really appreciate it."

"Fine," Rainbow Dash sighed, rolling her eyes. Standing up, she turned around and started looking at the town around her. Her ears pinned back against her head, wings and tail giving a flicker of annoyance. Rainbow's gaze scanned the town quickly, taking in the details and filtering them back out as they were not Scootaloo, her scooter, or a trail of dust indicating something moving on the ground at a rapid pace.

Finally, Rainbow Dash caught sight of Scootaloo. The filly was still on her scooter, wings flapping to travel as fast as she could. From what Dash could make out, Scootaloo was heading toward...

"Oh, no," Rainbow gasped out, eyes going wide.

"What?" Shining Armor called out. "What is it? Did you find her?"

Instead of answering, Rainbow Dash shot off from the cloud, causing it to pop in the process.

Discord sat upon his throne. He had been having a lot of fun creating chaos all across town, but now he felt like he could use a little break. See what is happening from what he had done already for a while.

In his paws, he held his own version of a toy puzzle cube he had discovered. The original was interesting in that he had not seen anything like it before, but rather boring. It was a cube, with each side a different color that was made up of nine squares. The idea seemed to be to move the squares until the colors were mismatched, then try and line them back up again. On the surface, it sounded rather dull. However, the anger and frustration created by some when trying to solve it was far more entertaining.

His own take on the thing was a lot more in line with his taste. He had not yet figured out how to turn it into a tesseract, so it was -- sadly -- still a cube, which still meant it was only manipulable in three dimensions. However, there were far more squares at a whopping six hundred and twenty-five. It had the six basic colors, as well as black, white, the alphabet, twenty-three randomly selected numbers (including Pi to the seventeenth digit), and a variety of pictures of himself. With all this, it would be impossible to solve the way the traditional one was, but the reactions of ponies who tried would be well worth it.

Although now that he thought about it, few ponies would probably be willing to even try to begin with. Perhaps he had gone a little overboard on this particular case. Still, it was fun for him to move the squares around.

"Discord!" a voice called out.

Looking up from his cube, Discord found himself staring at an orange pegasus filly in a helmet. She had her front hooves resting on the handlebars and was crouched down. Her purple eyes were narrowed as she stared at him.

Discord blinked at the filly, recognizing her. She had been one of the three whose fighting had helped him finally break free of his stone encasement.

"Who wants to know?" he asked as he returned his attention back to his toy.

"Whatever you did to Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo stated, "I want you to change her back. Now."

That was interesting. Here was a filly, not even with a cutie mark (which was supposed to be some big deal in their world for some reason) trying to tell him what to do. Not quite the same way as that Zircon Crown or whatever her name was.

Tossing the cube aside, Discord turned and looked at the filly before him. His paws tented together as he narrowed his eyes, studying her.

Under his gaze, the young pony shifted, looking away. Her wings gave a flick as she stared at the ground. Taking a deep breath, she looked back up at him and tried to look tough. Discord gave her credit for not being completely stupid. She was smart enough to be afraid of him.

"And if I don't?" he asked. "What are you going to do about it?"

Closing her eyes, Scootaloo kicked her scooter into motion. Her wings buzzed as they flapped, pushing her forward as fast as she could go. Scootaloo let out a battle cry as she charged, which probably would have been a lot more impressive if it sounded less like her screaming in absolute, abject terror.

Well, this is amusing, Discord thought as he watched the filly charge at him. Leaning his chin against his balled up talon, he watched her, curious at what she was going to do.

A bright flash of light drew his attention from the charging filly. As he watched a rainbow colored ring spread out, growing wider and wider. From it, a rainbow colored streak of light flew directly toward him.

No, Discord thought, his eyes going wide. It can't be. It's can't be. I defeated them. There's no way.

The rainbow streak continued to come closer toward him.

"Nooooooooo!" Discord cried out, throwing his arms up to cover his face. "I don't want to go back. I'm finally free again. I don't--"

He saw the colors of the rainbow blow past him, the energy slamming into his body. There was also the sound of an explosion ringing in his ears.

A second passed. Then another. And another.

Discord opened his eyes, looking around. Discordia looked the same for the most part. He had not actually paid attention to the place, and it was always changing, but it was still full of chaos. Discordia was still here.

More importantly, he was still here. In the flesh. He could still walk, he could still talk, and he could still cause chaos. Whatever had happened, it had not returned him to his stone form.

A grin spread across his face as he began to chuckle. The chuckle grew louder and stronger, building up inside his body until he released. Soon it became full on hysterical laughter.

Shining Armor blinked, blinded by the flash of light, then gave a hard shake of his head to try and clear the echo of the sonic boom from his ears. He was not entirely sure what had happened. One moment he was trying to get Rainbow Dash to help him find Scootaloo, the next he saw Dash taking off, and then there was a massive explosion of rainbow light.

Just like the one when I was applying to Celestia's School, he realized.

Before he could consider that fact any further, Rainbow Dash returned, carrying Scootaloo with her. The rainbow maned pegasus (and it was rainbow colored again, just like her coat was blue), held the orange filly against her chest. Scootaloo held her scooter too her just as tightly, her eyes wide and jaw clenched. After dropping the filly gently to the ground, Rainbow Dash landed and gave herself a shake.

"That," Scootaloo started, "was... the most awesomest thing ever!"

Scootaloo was grinning as she turned to facing Shining Armor, hopping off her scooter and bouncing up and down.

"You should have seen it," Scootaloo shouted. "I was all like 'grrr,' and Discord was like 'whatever.' Then I was like 'aaaahhh!'" -- she ran a circle around Shining Armor with her eyes closed -- "Then Rainbow Dash was all BOOM! Woosh!" She flung a hoof out as if in a flying motion. "After that, Discord was all 'oh no!' And tha...."

Scootaloo stopped in telling her story when she noticed Rainbow Dash's face was less than an inch from hers. The mare's ears were pinned back against her head, her jaw was clenched as she bared her teeth, and her eyes were narrowed as she glared. The entire effect was enough to make Scootaloo gulp audibly and take a step back.

"What," growled out Rainbow Dash, "were you... thinking?" Her wings flared out. "Why would you do something as crazy and reckless as charging right at Discord? Do you have any idea how dangerous that could be? What he could have done to you?"

"It's what you would have done," Scootaloo whimpered.

Between the statement and the look of being on the brink of tears from Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash paused. Closing her eyes, she rubbed at her forehead. Slowly, she took a long, deep breath, then let it back out. Her wings pulled back against her side once more.

"Look, squirt," Dash continued in a calmer tone. "First, sorry for scaring you, but you really could have gotten hurt or who knows what. Discord isn't exactly one you can guess what he'll do. I mean look at all he's done to Ponyville." She motioned a hoof to the town around them.

"Second, just because I do something doesn't mean you should too." She paused, rolling her eyes. "Ugh. Can't believe I said that. I always hated the 'do as I say, not as I do' argument." She then turned her full attention back to Scootaloo. "But I'm an adult, and have at least some idea what I'm risking. Besides, part of the reason I do stuff like that is so that other ponies don't have to. Just like the guard, or The Wonderbolts. Way I see... why are you hugging me?"

This last part was not directed at Scootaloo, but at Shining Armor. At some point during the conversation, the unicorn stallion had moved closer and was now hugging Rainbow Dash tightly.

"You saved her," Shining Armor said with a grin. "Scootaloo was in trouble, and you saved her."

"Of course I saved her," Rainbow Dash snapped, pushing free of the hug. "Why wouldn't I. I've told you before, 'I would never leave a pony hanging.'"

Except I did, she suddenly thought. On the train. Discord offered me my wings to save Cloudsdale, and all I had to do was abandon my friends. They needed my help with him and The Elements and I just took off.

A click drew her from her thoughts. She looked down to find that the necklace for her element was now placed on her.

"That's right," Shining Armor agreed with a smile. "And you have no idea how glad I am that you remember that."

"We did it!" Scootaloo shouted, tossing her front hooves up in the air. "Our plan worked."

"Oh, no," Shining Armor said, cutting off the filly's celebration. "You are not going to get out of trouble by sharing the blame. I had no intention of any of you putting yourselves in danger like that."

At that, Scootaloo sagged back down. She smiled, giving a slight chuckle.

"What's going on?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at the two.

Hoarding Pony

"Mine, mine, mine," Rarity chanted as she walked her boutique. Her horn was glowing with her magic as she went around: yanking outfits from the dolls, pulling the gems she had stored out of their drawers, grabbing her bolts of fabric as well as spools of thread and ribbon.

Pausing, she looked at her outfit. What had she been thinking, selling these things? These were works of art. Each of them were unique and one of a kind. Nopony could appreciate them. Not the way she did. They were gorgeous, fabulous, simply amazing. Only she and she alone could truly see that.

And the jewels. So shining and beautiful. How could she have possibly thought that using them in outfit was a good idea? It was nothing but a waste of valuable shiny things.

Still, she could not bring herself to pull them out. It would destroy the outfits. That was not something she wanted to do. Not after she had worked so hard to make them. Why she would sooner... would sooner...

Rarity turned to look back at her tail. There was... something about it. Something important. Something recent. What had it been? It was like she could almost remember, but something was keeping it from her.

Before she could think about it any more, something drew her attention to the boutique around her. A gasped escaped her as she realized a major problem: it was insufficiently defensible. A pony could simply walk in and take one of her precious valuables. She would have to fix that. Barricade the windows so that nopony could get through them. Maybe do something similar with one of the doors. No, with both doors. That way, there would no one in town could get in and take her stuff.

Except that she could not do that. Doing so would require her to go and get the necessary supplies to barricade the windows and doors. If she left, then a pony could break in and take her things. She could not leave them unprotected. Nor could she take them with her. If she did, everypony that she walked past would want them and try to take them from her. She would just have to stay here and make sure that her stuff was safe.

"Rarity?" a voice called out gently from the main room.

"Sweetie Belle," Rarity called back, with a smile as she ran to meet her sister. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you."

"Really?" Sweetie Belle asked, eyes wide. From what she had been told and the way Rarity could be some times, the was not what she was expecting.

"Yes," Rarity responded. "I need you to go down to the store and get a hammer, nails, and boards."

That was not what Sweetie Belle was expecting either.

"Why?"

"So they" -- she pointed a hoof toward the door -- "can't come in here and steal everything from me."

Taking a step back, Sweetie Belle stared at her sister. She looked odd. It was almost as if something had turned her completely gray. Even her magic. Numerous items were floating in the air around them, and it looked like it was gray instead of her usual baby blue.

"Okay," Sweetie Belle said slowly. "Anyway, I have something to give you."

"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" Rarity called out, running to her sister. Before Sweetie Belle could react, Rarity had found The Element of Generosity and pulled it out. A gasp escaped the unicorn as she looked at the necklace, clutching it to her.

"Oh, my dear precious," she whispered. "How I have missed you." She kissed it several times. "I promise you that we shall never be parted again." She kissed it again before finally putting it on. With it in place, she turned to look at herself in the mirrors.

Something about it seemed wrong. Rarity could not quite put her hoof on it, but there was something. It was as if it did not gleam as brightly as it normally did somehow. No. That could not be right. After all, it actually looked brighter than usual when compared to her coat. Still, it was so lovely, and was probably worth a small fortune. Although it would be worth far more if she were able to somehow get the complete set. Just imagine how envious everypony would be to find out that she had the entire set of The Elements of Harmony. She would just have to figure out how to get them from the others, and make sure that there was no possible way for another pony to take them.

"Not that," Sweetie Belle called out as she pulled out a piece of paper. "This." It was a drawing of Rarity that Sweetie Belle had made.

While Rarity went with her friends to the train station for Canterlot, Sweetie Belle had joined her friends at the library. None of them were certain what was going on, but they all agreed that whatever it was, the group of adults would be able to handle it. After the nachos, Sweetie Belle had decided to draw a picture of Rarity to celebrate her saving the day. Sweetie had even borrowed some of Spike's comic books to try and create a superhero style pose. Not being a very good artist, it was probably hard to tell, but she had tried.

Rarity took the picture from Sweetie Belle and looked at it. From what she could make out, it was supposed to be her, with one of her legs pointing out in front of her. There was some sort of purple circle around her, and above was what looked something similar to the necklace she was now wearing.

"What is it?" Rarity asked. "I mean, I can tell that's me and that's the element, but what's going on."

"It's you using your magic to save the day," Sweetie Belle answered. "Do you like it?"

Rarity bit her lip and turned her attention back to the picture. Like it? Like it? Why would her sister think that she could possibly like it? It was not worth any bits. There was nothing rare or valuable used in it. It was not a piece created by one of the great artist of history. It was just a basic, crude, crayon-colored drawing.

A drawing... made... by her sister... It had been drawn just for her. Sweetie Belle created it specifically for Rarity. Yet here she was, about to destroy it. And for what? Because it was not worth any sort of financial value? There were things in life more important than bits. That was why....

Why she had cut off her own tail to help. That was what she had forgotten about earlier, but now remembered. She had cut off her own tail to help sooth a serpent that was distraught over the loss of his mustache. Rarity had sacrificed it with almost no hesitation. She had given up something important to her because she knew it would make another feel better. Because there were more important things than what something meant in terms of bits.

"Using your magic to save the day," her sister had said. Except she had not saved the day, had she? Instead she had turned greedy, and selfish, thinking only about the value of material goods and keeping them all for herself. She had even abandoned her friends after accusing them of trying to steal from her.

Sweetie Belle watched curiously. Before her very eyes, the jewel for Rarity's Element started to glow. As it faded, Sweetie could see her sister's coat returning to its normal color -- starting around the necklace and spreading out over her entire body until even reaching her mane and tail. As it reached her horn, even Rarity's magic changed. It once more took on its normal blue before it disappeared, dropping everything around them.

"Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Rarity whispered. She turned to Sweetie Belle and pulled her into a hug, holding the younger pony close. Tears ran down her cheeks, smearing her mascara. Gently, she kissed her sister on the forehead.

"Thank you, Sweetie Belle. It's the most wonderful gift I've gotten in a long time."

Sweetie Belle smiled and returned the hug. She was so glad that it had worked. A part of her was worried that she would never get her sister back.

Unfortunately, the moment was ruined when the windows exploded in a loud boom and flash of rainbow colored light.

Author's Notes:

Just a small note to say that no, the rainboom will not be in appearing in each of the chapters where the others are restored. It was in this one and will be in the Pinkie Pie chapter since they are in Ponyville proper, which means they are most certainly in the blast radius.

Pie and Cake

"So, Shining Armor thinks that if we can get Pinkie Pie to laugh," Pumpkin finished, "we can remind her about being The Element of Laughter and get her back to being her normal self."

Mrs. Cake stared at her daughter, letting the story sink in. Pumpkin had explained what she knew about things and Shining Armor's plan while Pound had been helping Mr. Cake deal with the over-sized ants.

The entire thing was disconcerting to Mrs. Cake. The idea that a second threat that had been unheard of for over a thousand years would once more return was strange in and of itself. The fact that this creature could bend reality and manipulate ponies was frightening. That this same creature would use these powers to hurt someone that Mrs. Cake cared about... well... that mostly made her furious. Unfortunately she could do nothing to the one responsible, but at least she could do something for Pinkie.

"Pumpkin, do you still have that record Pinkie made you when you were younger?"

"Yeah," Pumpkin said slowly, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Get it for me, please," Mrs. Cake told her as she stood up. "I would like to try and help Pinkie Pie myself before we resort to your idea." She then headed for the stairs, Pumpkin quickly following after her.

Pinkie Pie laid sprawled out on her bed, Gummy resting on her stomach while she stared up at her room. She had never noticed how bright and colorful it was, with the yellow walls and ever present pink streamers always strewn about. Normally, it made her feel happy to live here: a bright, colorful room in shaped like a giant cupcake that was above a bakery.

Now, not so much. The whole thing just seemed... pointless and silly. The Cakes said that she could decorate it how she liked while she stayed there. Maybe she would re-paint the whole place. Give it a duller, more subdued tone. Except that sounded like too much work. As much as she disliked the color, it really did not seem worth the effort to change it. Maybe she could just toss a thick blanket or something over the window. At least that way, the room would not look so bright during the day.

A gentle tapping sound came from her door.

"Pinkie?" Mrs. Cake called out. "Can I come in?"

"I guess," Pinkie said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Several seconds passed before there was another knock.

"Pinkie, I'm just going to come in if you don't have any objections. Okay?"

Several more seconds passed before the door opened. Pinkie tilted her head just enough that she could see Mrs. Cake. The matronly blue baker was carrying something with her as she came in. As she came closer, Mrs. Cake smiled at Pinkie around what looked like a record sleeve. It was a smile that Pinkie had become very familiar with. She had been on the receiving end of it numerous times, and had seen it given to Mr. Cake as well as the twins. It was warm, gentle, comforting, and hard not to return.

Pinkie's lips pressed together. Not quite a smile, but closer than it had been. It was the best she could do for the time being.

Moving past the bed, Mrs. Cake made her way over to Pinkie Pie's record player. After taking the current record off the player and setting it away, she pulled out the one she had brought with her. Gently, she set it down, and started the player.

A faint hum of static filled the air for a second before instruments started to play. The song had a positive, upbeat sound to it. Something about it sounded familiar. It was a song Pinkie had heard before somewhere. It was connected to... something. Something important. It was somehow tied to a part of her.

"When I was just a filly, and the sun was going doooowwwn," Pinkie's own voice sang out from the speaker. That was why it had sounded familiar, because it was her song.

"Remember this?" Mrs. Cake asked as she walked over the bed. "How you recorded it for Pumpkin?"

"Yeah," Pinkie replied. "Pumpkin had me sing it every night for her before bed, so we had a record of it made. That way she could listen to it as much as she wanted." Her lips twisted up a little more, her coat becoming less gray and more pink.

"She looks up to you, you know." Moving closer, Mrs. Cake sat down on the edge of the bed. "She may not be as hyper or funny, but she does want to make other ponies happy. You're a hero to her, and a big sister." She reached out, placing a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. "You've been like a big sister to both of them."

Pinkie shifted and looked at Mrs. Cake more, but said nothing.

"Speaking of Pumpkin and Pound," Mrs. Cake continued, "they told me what they found out about what happened to you. That Shining Armor thinks Discord did something to you to make you sad."

Pinkie shifted, pulling away from the other mare's touch. She rolled away from Mrs. Cake, her ears pulling back once again.

"Pinkie--"

An ear-splitting boom filled the air, the window shattering as the entire building shook. Dazzling, rainbow colored light filled the room, blinding the two mares as everything turned bright and colorful. It was all so overwhelming.

It had passed as soon as it had happened, leaving Mrs. Cake extremely confused and shocked. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the bright white spots from her eyes. She gave her head a shake and rubbed at her ears, trying to get the metallic whistling sound to vanish. Once her senses had returned, she felt like there was no permanent damage to her.

"Pinkie?" she asked. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Pinkie answered. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the remains of the window, her mouth hanging slightly open. What she had seen was amazing. Simply mind-blowing. Just like it had been when she was a filly on the rock farm.

Although not the same as she normally looked, Mrs. Cake noticed that Pinkie Pie did look more like herself. The coat was more pink than gray, and her hair was puffier. Not the completely poofy mess it normally was, but not completely flat either.

"Pinkie." Reaching out, Mrs. Cake took a hold of the other mare's face and gently turned it to look at her. "Listen to me. A lot of ponies care for you, and don't like to see you sad." She held up a hoof. "Now that doesn't mean you can't be. We don't want you to pretend you're happy when you're not either. So if you really feel sad, if you need to cry or be alone, then go right ahead. Just remember, there are ponies here that love you no matter what, and want to help you. So if you ever need somepony to talk to, or a shoulder to cry on, we're here."

"Really?" Pinkie asked, wiping at the tears at the edges of her eyes.

"Right now, there are two young ponies downstairs ready to dump flour all over themselves just because they think that it would make you laugh."

Pinkie Pie blinked at Mrs. Cake, letting the statement sink in. The edges of her lips twisted up as she started to snicker. The snicker turned into a chuckle, then a full giggle. Soon, Pinkie Pie was rolling onto her back, laughing with all of her might. As her laugh grew louder and strong, her coat turned pinker and her main puffed out more. Finally, Pinkie laid on her bed, looking like her old self as she tried to catch her breath.

Pulling out the necklace that held The Element of Laughter, Mrs. Cake set it down beside Pinkie.

"I know this isn't the best time, but this is yours. When you feel up for it, your friends could use your help." Mrs. Cake bit her lip. She felt a little guilty. She had meant what she had said, but it felt a little hypocritical to also be pushing -- however gently -- for Pinkie to use her element and help stop Discord. After what she had been through, Pinkie deserved time to deal with it and genuinely feel better. Unfortunately, the longer they waited, the more that creature could do, and Mrs. Cake could not think of another way to stop him.

"Don't worry Mrs. Cake," Pinkie announced as she grabbed her necklace and put it on. "I'll teach that mean old grumpy grump that it's not nice to laugh at other ponies and make them feel bad about themselves." With that, she leaped off the bed, bounced once across the floor, and vanished out the doorway.

That's my-- Mrs. Cake was thinking before she suddenly remembered something.

"Pinkie, wait!" Jumping up, she chased after the the other mare. "They're coming here to meet up."

Trixing a Shy Pony

Twilight ran along the path from Ponyville, her mind working as she went. How was she going to get Fluttershy to remember what kind of pony she was? Once again, Twilight went over what she knew about Fluttershy: extremely shy around other ponies; is willing to help others in need despite that; likes animals; skilled at first-aid, both for her animals and for ponies; is a talented cook; can be extremely brave and protective when provoked; not a very skilled flyer.

The easiest way would be to get her to have to help some poor animal. However, there were no hurt animals as far as Twilight knew. Granted, that was a good thing, but it also meant none for Fluttershy to help. Maybe something could pretend to be hurt? Except Twilight did not have any sort of talent with animals. How could she talk one into pretending to be hurt? Even if she did, Fluttershy would probably be upset when she discovered the truth. Well... not upset. Just disappointed.

Maybe she could get Fluttershy to comfort her? She would just have to pretend to be scared, right? Just lie to a pony she looked up to and act like she was far more frightened than she actually was.

Twilight pushed that idea out. She wanted to help, but lying to do it was wrong.

"Sparkle!" a familiar voice shouted, causing Twilight to stop. Turning toward the sound, she saw the familiar form of a blue unicorn filly her own age.

"Trixie?" Twilight called out, staring in surprise as her mind tried to comprehend what she saw.

"You know something about what's going on," Trixie growled, "don't you?" Her ears pulled back as she leaned closer, nearly pressing their noses together.

"Why are you in a straight-jacket?"

The question made Trixie move back. Her ear pulled back against her head as her cheeks turned pink. The upper half of young filly was encased in the heavy canvas garment, sleeves crossing her chest to keep her forearms contained. Thick leather straps and steel buckles held Trixie in place in the outfit.

"Don't try to change the subject!" Trixie snapped. "Things are weirder than normal around here, and you know something about it. Now" -- she stomped one of her free hooves -- "tell Trixie what's going on this instant!"

Did she just refer to herself in the third pony? Twilight wondered, staring Trixie. It had to be uncomfortable to be in something like that. Having her front hooves trapped and her forelegs pinned down. She should be able to just magic her way out of the thing, right? Although, the ponies who made the things probably took that into account. There were probably ways to keep dangerous unicorns from using their magic. Was it possible to have something made into the straight-jacket that would keep magic from affecting it? It would probably be exp-

"SPARKLE!" Trixie shouted, causing Twilight to jump slightly.

"Sorry," Twilight said, shifting. "I'm...." She let out a gasp, her eyes going wide. "... sure that you could help me out."

"What?"

"Come on." Twilight moved closer to Trixie and lifted her up. "I'll explain on the way."

"What are you doing?" Trixie cried out in surprise as she found herself across Twilight's back. "Put me down and tell me what's going on."

"No time," Twilight answered as she started walking as fast as she could along the path again. "We need to help Fluttershy if they're going to save Ponyville. See, what happened was..."

Fluttershy stomped her way through her cottage, her hooves slamming against the floor with each step. She stopped in the living room, her glare scanning across everything.

For some reason or other, her animals were avoiding her. A lot of them had ran off from the cottage. The rest were hiding in their dens and burrows, barely even daring to peak out. That was fine with her. So long as they stayed out of her way, they would be no trouble.

Still, a part of her was disappointed. Why? Why should she care what a bunch of animals think? Why should she care if a bunch of useless, worthless... soft... cute... cuddly...sweet and adorable...

A jerk of her head shook those thoughts from Fluttershy's mind. Why was she thinking like that? That was not who she was. She was tough, vicious, mean. She was a pegasus that should be feared, that nopony -- no creature at all -- should cross. If they did she would... she would... Well, she was unsure what she would do, but she knew that it would be unpleasant and they would regret it.

There was a knock at the door.

"Go away!" Fluttershy bellowed.

"Fluttershy?" a voice called from the other side. "It's Twiley. I have a friend he--"

"We're not friends," another voice shouted out.

"Fine," Twilight huffed. "I have a classmate here that could use your help."

Fluttershy took a deep breath and got ready to tell them to buzz off, but stopped. Who was this filly that did not like Twilight and was in trouble? If this other pony was not friends with Twilight, then how was she able to bring her here? What kind of trouble was she in? Maybe it would be something that Fluttershy could get a laugh or two out of.

Opening the door, Fluttershy found Twilight. Across Twilight's back was a pale blue unicorn filly with silvery-white mane. For some reason, this second unicorn was wrapped up in what looked like a straight-jacket. She looked down at the ground, ears pinned back and cheeks bright red.

That was not what Fluttershy had expected. She was not really sure what she had expected, but not to find Twilight carrying another pony that was stuck in a straight-jacket.

"What happened?" Fluttershy found herself asking.

"She won't tell me," Twilight answered. "All I know is that she's stuck in it and can't get out."

"So what do you want me to do about it?"

"Help her." Twilight motioned at Trixie. "Trixie's been stuck in that thing since I found her, and I don't know how long before that. What if it cuts off the circulation to her forelegs?"

That seemed to get some of Trixie's attention. She looked up from the ground toward Twilight, raising an eyebrow.

"What if there's permanent nerve damage?" Twilight asked, causing Trixie's eyes to go wide. "Or what if the circulation is cut-off for so long they have to amputate?"

"What?!" Trixie shrieked out. "Oh, that's it. I'm getting out of here." Kicking and squirming, she worked get off of Twilight's back. After a hard twist, she slid off and landed face first into the dirt with an audible thump.

"Trixie," Twilight called out as she turned around. "Are you okay?"

"Get away from me!" Trixie snapped. Twisting her body, she managed to get her hind legs back underneath. She glared up at Twilight, blood running from her nose.

"I don't need your help." Pushing up, she got on her hind legs and stood upright. Trixie's weight forced her to take a few steps forward, but managed to stay standing upright.

"But Trixie," Twilight started.

"No!" Trixie took a step back. "I can get out of this by myself, and I will."

"Oh, really?" Fluttershy growled, taking a step forward. She placed a hoof against Trixie, and gave a gentle push.

The push caused the bound filly to stumble back several steps. A second of panic flitted across her face before she fell backwards, landing on her backside with an audible thump. After the impact, Trixie simply sagged, hunching over. Her ears drooped down as tears started to run from her eyes.

Fluttershy felt utterly horrible. So horrible, it made her literally sick to her stomach. A filly had been brought to her stuck, scared, and needing help. Now that same filly was on the ground, bleeding and crying. The bleeding was Trixie's own doing, but Fluttershy was still to blame for it, and was almost fully responsible for the crying. This was not what she wanted. The last thing she ever wanted was to hurt another pony -- or any creature really -- let alone one that was already scared and needed help. That was not who she was. She was a pony that wanted to help. Especially when it came to animals. When had she forgotten that?

"This is all your fault," Trixie yelled, glaring at Twilight who cringed and stepped back. "If it wasn't for your stupid brother chasing off Sunset Shimmer, I could be learning magic as her student. Maybe even her assistant. Instead I'm stuck here in this stupid straight-jacket."

Twilight took another step back as she was yelled out, looking like she was about to get hit. This was not her fault, not really. Yes, she had brought Trixie here, but that was it. Twilight had nothing to do with the straight-jacket. And Shining Armor had not chased off Sunset Shimmer. He simply stopped her from killing the Ursa. It had been the right thing to do, and in no way was Twilight's fault.

Unfortunately, she could not get herself to say so. The anger, the sadness, all of it being directed at her. For some reason, Twilight could not speak up. A part of her said that she should, but something else kept her from doing so.

"Now Trixie," Fluttershy said in a gentle voice, "that's enough." She took a step forward. "I understand that your upset and frightened, but lashing out and blaming Twilight isn't going to make things better."

Trixie turned to look at Fluttershy, tears still in her eyes. She then let out a sigh and looked away, just sitting there. A yellow wing wrapped around her.

"How about we go into my cottage," Fluttershy suggested, "get you cleaned up and out of this, and then we can have a nice talk over tea?"

"...and cookies?" Trixie asked, still not looking up.

"Okay," Fluttershy answered with a giggle. "And cookies."

"Okay," Trixie said, giving one last sniff.

"Come on then." Using her wing, Fluttershy gently helped Trixie up onto her hind legs and balanced the filly against her side.

"You too, Twiley," Fluttershy added. "I could use your help."

"Okay," Twilight said as she followed the other two into the cottage.

Apple Trap

Apple Bloom stood at the gates to Sweet Apple Acres, staring at the place with her eyes wide and jaw hanging open. It was all so weird. After seeing all the strangeness around Ponyville, she had thought that she would be ready for whatever was happening when she got home.

Turns out she was wrong. Seeing the farm -- her own home -- in such a state was shocking to the young filly.

Several pigs flew by, with wings flapping and mud dripping. What looked like a trapeze had somehow been set up near one of the barns, and Granny Smith was performing above the net. Big Macintosh was running across the yard, tongue hanging out and occasionally barking. Winona had climbed up a tree and was now standing on one of the branches.

Speaking of, the trees had become quite strange as well. The one Winona was sitting in was growing watermelons. Another had pumpkins and a third cucumbers. One of them even had broccoli growing on it. Broccoli. Apple Bloom had no idea how broccoli actually grew, but she was pretty sure it was not on trees. There was even one that had peanut butter. Not peanuts. Full glass jars filled with peanut butter.

Walking through the farm, Apple Bloom looked around, trying to come to terms with everything she saw while searching for Applejack. At one point, she stopped in front of the trapeze to watch Granny do a triple spin in mid-air before grabbing the handle of a swing. Moving further along, she was stopped when her brother brought a ball for her to throw so he could chase after it. Once again she found a strange tree. This one had some sort of white fluffy looking things, the shapes of which reminded Apple Bloom of Sweetie Belle's sister Rarity.

Behind the barn was Applejack. She sat on one of the bales of hay, watching as the cows played some sort of strange game with mallets, balls, and bits of wire and sticks stuck in the ground. The mare's normally orange coat and blond mane both looked more to be gray in color. Even her hat looked gray. How was that even possible? Although most -- if not all -- of what was happening was weird and should not have been possible to begin with.

"Applejack," Apple Bloom called up, walking up to her sister. "There you are. I've been looking for you."

"I'm really busy at the moment," Applejack said, still watching the cows.

It made Apple Bloom stare at her older sister. She had been warned that Applejack had been lying, but actually hearing it was a shock. Still, that was the reason she was here. To try and get her sister to be back to her honest self.

She just had to hope that it would work.

"You know all that weird stuff that Discord's been doing around town?" Apple Bloom asked.

Applejack's gaze glanced to Apple Bloom, then flicked away.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Orange Blossom," Applejack stated. "I've been working here all day. Haven't been to town."

"But you know who Discord is," Apple Bloom stated.

"Nope," Applejack answered with a shake of her head. "Never heard of her in my life. Doubt she's anything to worry about though."

"So you're not worried about Discord or what he's doing?"

"That's right."

Apple Bloom licked her lips and took a deep breath. She had known her sister her entire life. She had been thinking about what to do the entire time she was walking home. She knew it was not the best plan, but it seemed like it was pretty solid. She just hoped it would work. Otherwise she would have to come up with something else.

"Good," Apple Bloom stated. "Glad to hear it. Because I'm going to help stop him."

Applejack's eyes went wide at the claim. She turned to face her little sister, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow.

"Are you now?"

"Yep," Apple Bloom answered with a grin. "Shining Armor came up with this plan to stop him, and he's given me and the rest of the crusaders really important jobs to do." She turned around, facing away from her sister. "If everything goes right, Ponyville will be back to normal in no time." She started to walk toward the corner of the barn. "Wish me luck."

"Wait!" Applejack called out after her sister, getting her to stop and look back. The older pony's color looked brighter. Not quite back to her full orange, but not as deeply gray either.

"You can't go," Applejack said.

"Why not?"

At Apple Bloom's question, Applejack paused. Shifting to adjust her sitting, she looked away. She chewed on her lips as she thought, one of her ears giving a gentle flick.

"Well..." Applejack started, "... it's just that there is so much work to do, I don't think we can afford to have you wasting your time."

There was a slight surge of hope in Apple Bloom. Her sister was far from her normal self, but it looked like the plan might just work. Even being in a weird lying state, her sister was still trying to protect her and keep her safe. Now Apple Bloom just had to be sure not to get stuck.

"Don't worry," she said. "I'm sure once Discord's taken care of, our friends will help us. We'll get everything done in no time." She took a step forward.

"Now hold on," Applejack called out. "Uhm... wouldn't it be better if you let somepony that was more experience deal with the problem?"

"But Applejack," Bloom cried out, "didn't you just say that Discord wasn't a threat?"

Applejack shifted, looking away from Apple Bloom and toward the cows

"I don't recall saying that," she claimed.

"So you're saying that he is a threat?" Apple Bloom asked, now raising an eyebrow of her own.

"I'm not saying that either." Applejack shifted, rubbing one of her hooves against the bale of hay. Small beads of sweat began to form on her forehead as she looked back and forth between her sister and the cows.

This might just be it. Apple Bloom saw what may very well be the opportunity to get Applejack back. Either Applejack would lie and have a harder time keeping Bloom out of danger, or tell the truth and keep her safe.

"So, which is it?" Apple Bloom asked. "Is he dangerous or not?"

Applejack's jaw clenched as she squirmed on her seat. Larger drops of sweat formed on her brow. Her gaze shifted back and forth, looking between her sister and the cows, but never really resting on one of them or the other. It looked like the color of her coat was shifting, becoming slightly grayer one moment, and more orange the next.

"Uhm... well... uh... I... that is..."

There was a moment of disappointment. Apple Bloom had really expected that her sister would automatically answer honestly to keep her safe. The fact that Applejack seemed to be stuck was not what she had planned. Maybe if Bloom pushed just a little more, Applejack would be back.

"Well while you think about that," Apple Bloom said firmly, "I'm going to Sugarcube Corner to meet up with the others." Giving a toss of her head, she started to walk off once again.

"Like hay you are!" Applejack shouted, making Apple Bloom jump. Getting up, she walked to stand in front of her sister. "There is no way I am letting you go anywhere near that no good, lying, cheating, deceptive, trouble maker."

Apple Bloom had to bite back the urge to grin. As near as she could tell, her sister was back to her normal, orange self. Still, it would be better to make sure.

"But Applejack," she whined out. Or tried to. Admittedly, Apple Bloom was not much of an actress.

"No buts," Applejack snapped. "I am your sister, and I am not going to let you get hurt. Even if it means I have to tie your tail to a tree."

"But somepony has to do something."

"I will." Reaching out, Applejack placed a hoof on Apple Bloom's back. "I'm glad you want to help and protect others, but this is dangerous. I'm sure that whatever Shining Armor has planned, I can do your part."

Apple Bloom looked up at her sister and grinned.

"Sorry Applejack, but you'd be wrong about that."

The look on her sister's face was surprising to Applejack. The look that Apple Bloom was giving her was not her defeated pout. It was the look of a pony who somehow had gotten her way.

"And why is that?" Applejack asked.

"Because," answered Apple Bloom with a widening grin, "my part was to try and get you back to being yourself."

The claim sent a shock through the older sister. She was not entirely sure how to deal with that statement. Her sister had basically tricked her into being honest to keep her safe. She did not know whether she should be proud, or annoyed.

Her eyes narrowed and ears pulled back.

"Why you sneaky little so and so." Reaching out, she grabbed Apple Bloom and pulled her into a hug. "You must think you're pretty clever getting one over on me like that."

"Yep," Apple Bloom said with a grin. "So now you meet the others and go stop Discord, right?"

Applejack paused, and took a deep breath.

"I hope so."

"Well, you're going to need this." Apple Bloom pulled out Applejack's element and held it up to her.

Together Again

Shining Armor looked at the others. They had all collected at Sugarcube Corner and looked like themselves once again. Their colors were back to normal and each had their element with them.

Seeing them back together, talking and smiling, made Shining Armor feel better. Still, he could not bring himself to smile. Not yet. His throat felt dry and his stomach quivered. Was there tension between them? He thought he could see tension between them. But was it actual tension, or was he imagining it because of his own nervousness. He should probably say something to make the others feel better. He was the leader, right? Leaders are supposed to be able to give inspiring and motivating speeches in tough times, are they not?

A pair of hooves wrapped around Shining Armor's neck. Before he had even realized it, Pinkie Pie had snuck up behind him and pulled him into a tight hug. The sight of those big blue eyes and wide smile made him feel a little better.

"Don't you worry Shiney-hiney," she told him with a gentle pat. "We're back together and ready for whatever happens."

He sighed and leaned back, letting himself be hugged for the moment. It felt comforting and familiar. So did her confidence.

"I hope you're right," he almost whispered. After a few more seconds, he pulled away and stood up. Taking a deep breath, he slowly let it out.

"Okay," he said, his horn glowing. "So our last fight with Discord did not go well."

"He messed with our heads and kicked our flanks," Rainbow Dash stated.

"Be that as it may," Shining Armor continued, "he underestimated us." Turning, he looked at Twilight and her friends, then smiled. "He didn't think that we would have others who would support us. To help us remember who we are. He didn't think we would have friends who would stay by our side. Ponies that we will fight for."

Holding up his helmet in his magic, he gave it one last look. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and slipped it into place on his head.

"So, now we get ready to face him again. This time, we are together and we know what we are trying to protect. Not just each other, but all of our friends. Our families. Be it by blood or by choice. We are here for them and because of them."

He turned and looked at his friends.

"Ready?"

"Ready!" the other five responded. The sound of them all agreeing sent a thrill of excitement and hope through Shining Armor.

"Alright then." He turned and looked toward where Discord was. "Let's show him what we can do."

Discord slumped in his throne, having gone practically boneless. He felt so exhausted. Maybe he had used a little too much of his power in the thing, especially since he probably would not need it. Still, after what happened earlier, it would probably be better to have something ready. Just in case. Plus even if nothing happened to him, it would create so much fun and glorious chaos later on.

He could really use a snack.

Before he could get up and grab on, he caught sight of movement. Six ponies were walking together, heading right toward him. With a groan and roll of his eyes, Discord moved to sit up. He still had his pride after all, and did not want to seem weakened. His lion's paw and eagle claw pressed together, the first digits pressed together and pointing up. He smirked and narrowed his eyes, watching the approaching group and waiting.

To his surprise, it was Shining Armor and his friends. As expected, they had The Elements with them and none of them seemed to be in a happy mood.

Okay. That last part was inaccurate. Pinkie Pie seemed quite thrilled when she had stopped at one of the cotton candy clouds to get a drink of chocolate milk. The rest of them, however, did not seem to be smiling.

"So," Discord said once they got closer, "it seems your previous attack was too weak to harm me, so you've decided to try closer. Is that it?"

The statement gave the six ponies a moment of pause.

"What is he talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I think he believes that your sonic rainboom when you saved Scootaloo was us using the elements," Shining Armor answered.

Applejack took a step forward, eyes narrowing as she glared at Discord.

"We didn't try'n attack you earlier."

"Oh, Applejack," Discord said. He snapped his fingers, causing Applejack to float up and move toward the throne. "Don't lie to me." He pressed a toe-pad against the mare's nose. "After all, I'm the one who taught you how to lie to begin with."

Head low and ears back, Shining Armor called on his magic. His horn glowed as a bubble formed around Applejack, pulling her away from the Discord's grip and setting her back down with the rest of them.

Discord sighed and crossed his arms across his chest. He reached into his fur, pulled out a clock and looked at it.

"Listen," he told them. "I have a bit of a schedule to keep." He threw the clock behind him, creating an explosion and a foot wide crater. "Why don't we just hurry up and get this over with." With that, he put on a pair of sunglasses and made a motion over his chest to create a bulls-eye on his chest. "Go ahead then. Give me your best shot."

This was it. The moment of truth for the six of them. If it worked, they would be able to stop Discord and could start returning Ponyville back to normal. If it failed, they would have to flee and try to come up with a with a new plan. Each one of them closed their eyes and focused, trying to get in touch with their element's power.

"Come on, come on," Discord shouted, clapping his forelimbs together. "I don't have all day here."

Shining Armor's eyes shot open, glowing white. The jewel of his element lit off, giving starburst shaped beams of light. As the glow got brighter, it was joined one by one by the others. The energy engulfed the six ponies, lifting them off the ground.

"Just hit me already!" Discord shouted.

As if it had been waiting for that, a massive streak of rainbow colored energy shot out from the group. It rose high into the air before curving downwards and heading directly toward Discord.

He had just enough time to realize that this probably had not been the best idea.

As soon as The Beam of Harmony magic struck him, Discord found that he could no longer move. His feet were heaving, whiter, and much more stone-like than they usually were. As he watched, the petrification worked its way further and further up his body.

"No!" Discord shouted. "Not again. I don't want to go back!" His eyes grew wider and his chest heaved. "No! NO! NOOOOOOOO...."

With an explosion, the magic spread out from the now stone Discord and spread out across Ponyville. As the power spread further and further, it changed more and more of the town back to normal. The ground was once again dirt and grass. Cotton candy clouds and chocolate milk rain vanished. Fruit trees started growing the proper types of fruit again. Buildings were returned to their normal positions. Unfortunately any damage they had sustained remained. Ponies were also reverted back to their normal selves. This included a filly who was unable to fly normally and so ended up crashing face first into the dirt.

As the magic around them vanished, the six ponies dropped to the ground, letting out noises of exhaustion. Opening his eyes, Shining Armor looked around. A grin spread across his face as he saw the statue of Discord and what looked like good old regular Ponyville.

They had done it.

Confessions and Consequences

Shining Armor laid sprawled out in the main room with Twilight on one side of him and Spike on the other. None of them were asleep, but it seemed like just barely.

After the defeat of Discord and returning of Ponyville to normal, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna showed up, along with a retinue of guards. The statue form of Discord and The Elements of Harmony were once again taken to Canterlot, hopefully to be put in a safer place to prevent such an either the theft or the escape from happening again. In a couple days, Shining Armor and the others were supposed to go for an award ceremony, celebrating their latest victory.

Today there had been no party. Pinkie Pie had not even suggested it for some reason. Not that it was upsetting or disappointing, just surprising. None of them really felt like celebrating at the moment. It had been a long day... or had it been days? Whatever the case, as happy as they were that it was all over, they all just seemed to be really worn out. So tonight they would get some rest, tomorrow the town would have a party, and a few days after, an award ceremony in Canterlot.

A gentle knock at the door drew the groups attention. The three of them each moved enough to look toward the entrance, but none of them got up.

"One of us should probably get that," Shining Armor said.

"Well," Spike said, "technically, you are the librarian."

"And you are supposed to be my assistant," Shining Armor retorted.

"Don't worry," Twilight said. "I know what to do." Sitting up a little more, she took a deep breath and shouted as loud as she could.

"COME IN!"

The filly's bellow caused Shining Armor and Spike to both cringe as they were right next to her. Spike continued to glare as Shining Armor rubbed at his ears. Twilight grinned, looking rather proud of herself.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash walked into the library. The pair of them headed toward the sprawled out trio, stopping to look down at them curiously.

"Are you three okay?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well I'm going to be hard of hearing for a while," Shining Armor replied, glancing at Twilight again, "but otherwise I'm fine." He then turned to look at the pair of pegasus. "What brings you two here? Did you need something?"

Fluttershy shifted. She looked down at the floor as she moved one of her hooves. The long pink mane fell in her face, hiding her from the others.

"Uhm... actually, I came to talk to you. It's... it's kind of a private matter. So... if we could... you know, talk alone, I would appreciate it."

With a sigh, Spike moved to get up and stretch.

"I guess I could go read a comic in my basket for a while."

"I need to get ready for bed anyways," Twilight said as she got up as well. She then turned to Rainbow Dash. "If you want, you could come up and read me a chapter of Daring Do." She turned and headed for the staircase.

"Daring Do?" Rainbow asked as she followed. "Who is Daring Do?"

"This really brave and tough pegasus," Twilight responded. "She'd kind of be like you if you decided to travel all over Equestria and find rare artifacts."

This got a grin and slight chuckle.

"I like the sound of her already."

Once Spike, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were all upstairs, Shining Armor got up and moved to sit beside Fluttershy. Not right next to her, but close enough that he could easily put a hoof around her and give her a comforting hug. The long pink mane continued to hide her face, so he was not sure if Fluttershy could actually see him or not, but Shining Armor still gave her a gentle smile.

"Well," he said in a soft voice, "we seem to be alone now. So, whenever you're ready."

Several seconds passed in silence. Shining Armor was uncertain how long. It was enough that he started to feel uncomfortable. He shifted from one hoof to the other, his ear giving a flick. The stallion chewed on his lip as he sat there.

"Would... something to drink help?" he suggested. "I could make some tea, or we still have milk and juice."

"No thank you," Fluttershy answered. "It's....just..." She sighed and turned to look at him. "This... this is kind of hard." She licked her lips. "Well... harder than usual." Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. After a few more seconds, Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked at him again.

"I... I want to apologize. To you, I mean. About... about the way I acted toward you back on the train after..."

She stopped a moment, trying to figure out how to continue. A hoof touched her shoulder gently, drawing her attention back to the stallion.

"It's okay," Shining Armor told her. "You weren't yourself."

"No," Fluttershy said before her eyes went wide. "I mean, yes, but that's not it. It's just..." Her head dropped low as she let out a sigh of frustration.

"I'm sorry Shining Armor, but... I.... I don't like you in that way..."

The statement caused Shining Armor to freeze, trying to catch up with what Fluttershy had said and process it. He had been expecting her to apologize for being unusually aggressive and openly sexual.

"Don't... like... me..." he managed to get out.

"NO!" Fluttershy cried out, holding a hoof out toward him. She then continued in a calmer voice. "I... I mean that I do like you. It's just that I like you only as a friend. I really don't have an interest in you as a coltfriend. Or... uhm... I..." She shifted, her face turning a deep crimson. "I... I don't..."

"You don't want to sleep with me?" Shining Armor suggested, raising an eyebrow. His horn gave a slight glow as he called on his magic, ready to catch Fluttershy in case she fainted.

For her part, Fluttershy managed to keep conscious. A squeak escaped from her throat and her face was as red as Macintosh's coat. Her eyes did not meet Shining Armor's, but she did give a nod.

"The way I acted," she finally managed to say, "it... it wasn't because I was interested in you." She shifted, tears starting to run from her eyes. "It... I..." She took a deep breath. "I did it because it would make the others jealous and because I could see how uncomfortable it made you. It had nothing to do with my own feelings... Well, other than the joy of being mean that Discord had made me feel that is.

"I just thought you should know so that I don't lead you on or anything. I would like it if we could stay friends."

Shining Armor now looked at Fluttershy, who had let her mane fall over her face again. Admittedly, he had a slight interest in Fluttershy, but it was more because of Twilight than anything. He liked her, but had never seriously considered asking her out or pursuing her romantically. Now that Fluttershy had turned him down and said no, he found himself disappointed and more than a little curious. Why was she not interested? Was it him? Was there something wrong? Did Fluttershy have an interest in another pony? Did she like other mares?

Stop it, he scolded. It doesn't matter. Whatever the reason is, it's her business. If she doesn't want to share it, then you should respect that and leave the matter alone. She's still your friend. Say something to let her know it's okay. He considered joking about how Twilight would be disappointed, but was worried Fluttershy would misunderstand.

"Yeah," he said. "We can still be friends."

The answer got Fluttershy's attention. Turning her head slightly, she looked at Shining Armor from the corner of her eye.

"Really? You're not mad?"

"Really," Shining Armor said.

What happened next was something that Shining Armor did not expect. Before he even realized it, Fluttershy had lunged toward him and wrapped her forelegs around his neck. He could feel warm wetness on his shoulder.

"I'm so, so glad," Fluttershy sobbed out. "I don't really have a lot of pony friends, and I would really really hate to lose any of them."

"Hey," Rainbow Dash called out. "Are you two done yet? I'm getting bored up here."

The hug broke as Shining Armor and Fluttershy looked at each other. The two smiled at each other as Fluttershy reached up to wipe the tears from her face.

"Yeah," Shining Armor called back. "Yeah, we're done."

Rainbow Dash glided down along the stairway, landing at the base. She looked at the two as she stepped forward.

"Everything okay?"

"Yes," Fluttershy replied. "Shining Armor and I talked and everything is fine."

"Good." Rainbow Dash shifted, her gaze turning toward the bookshelf. "I think I'm going to stay a little longer. You can go on back home if you want."

"Are you sure?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah."

"Uhm... okay then." Getting up, the yellow pegasus started for the door. "Have fun." She smiled. "Stay as late as you want. You know where the key is if you decide to come back to my place tonight."

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said with a grin. "And don't worry. I promise not to wake you up when I come in." She paused. "Or that rabbit..." As she said this last part, she rubbed at one of her flanks.

"Oh, don't worry. Angel Bunny promised not to do that again."

That seemed to be the end of the conversation for the time being. Saying nothing more, Fluttershy headed for the door, and left.

PT: Pinkie Pie

Author's Notes:

Just a heads up before you read these chapters (of which this is the first). PT stands for post-trauma. It is going to be more about the others (Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity) dealing with what happened and what they did. They are probably going to be a little on the dark side. I can't say for sure, nor to what extent. Just thought I would give you a heads up.

Pinkie Pie felt tired. Not just sleepy -- although she was -- but emotionally drained. It was like she was worn out from partying too hard for too long. Except it did not feel as satisfying, and there were no satisfied ponies leaving to make her feel proud of herself.

In some ways, she was proud of herself. Pinkie had managed to pick up on Shining Armor's nervousness and make him feel better. While in Ponyville, she had been able to smile, be happy, and have fun. She had even been able to help defeat Discord, turning him back to stone and returning Ponyville back to normal.

For the most part.

Still, she did not feel like she used to. She could see it in the mirror. She would still smile, but it was not as wide. Her eyes did not have quite as much of that same shine. She could also feel it in the way she moved. When she hopped, her jumps were not as high and springy as they normally were. Walking normally, her steps were heavier and slower. Pinkie doubted that most others would notice, but she did.

Making her way downstairs, Pinkie Pie caught sight of Mr. and Mrs. Cake. The couple sat at one of the tables filling out paperwork. Not the typical paperwork of inventory, ordering supplies, and planning out any special orders. This time they were filing a report on the attack to their shop during Discord's escape and listing the damage done. It was fortunate that Princess Celestia was having the cost of repairs covered by the royal financial reserve. Less fortunate was that it would take a while for repairs to begin as there was a limit on construction ponies in town, and buildings with foundation damage took priority.

As Pinkie Pie moved closer to the pair, first Mrs. Cake, then Mr. Cake looked up at her.

"I would like to take a few days off," Pinkie Pie said.

"Of course," Mrs. Cake told her. "We're going to have to close for a while when repairs start anyways." She shifted, looking at Pinkie Pie fully. "I know it's not the best way to ask, but are you okay?"

Pinkie looked at Mrs. Cake, then at Mr. Cake. After letting out a sigh, she moved to sit down across from them.

"No," Pinkie said. "I mean... I'm better than I was, but..." She rubbed her head. "I... I don't feel the same as I did before. It's like..." she paused, looking down at her chest. One hoof touched it gently, about where her heart would be.

"You know how if you blow up a balloon way way too much, it pops? It can never be blown up again, and if you put something other than air in it -- like glitter or confetti -- it goes everywhere? It's kind of like that. It was like I had all these bad feelings inside me: sadness, fear, anger, that kind of stuff. Only I didn't want to feel that stuff. So I pushed it super deep deep down inside where I could no longer feel it. Except I didn't even know I was doing it. I had been doing it for so long I had no idea I had even felt that way before I hid it away. Basically I was putting all these bad feelings into a balloon inside me and pretending that it didn't exist until I forgot all about it.

"On the train, Discord basically took a big mean needle, and popped the balloon. When he did that, all these scary bad feels that had been hidden for years were suddenly going through me all at once. It was all way too much for me to handle, so I kind of just collapsed like a souffle. I was feeling so much sadness, it was like I forgot how to be happy.

"Our talk, the twins, and the rainboom all made me feel better. I really felt more like myself after helping Shining Armor and stopping Discord. A lot of those bad feelings are gone." Pinkie licked her lips. "But not all of them. There's still a lot of sadness and fear inside me. I can't push it back down again, and I don't want to. If I did, it would just be swelling up until it exploded again. Only I don't know if I can find myself again if that happened."

The two bakers stared at Pinkie Pie as she suddenly got up and walked over to their side of the table. As soon as she was close enough, she gave them both a hug.

"You and the twins have been like a family like me, and I do love you. But after what happened, I feel like I need to see my family. To spend some time with my parents and sisters. Maybe talking to them and being on the rock farm will help."

"We understand," Mr. Cake said, giving Pinkie a gentle pat on the back. "Take all the time you need, but we will miss you and hope you come back soon."

"Thanks," Pinkie said before pulling away. "Well, I should be getting to bed. We have a victory party to celebrate tomorrow and then I have to get ready for my trip. I'm going to need a good night's sleep.... and probably plenty of snacks..."

Leaving Mr. and Mrs. Cake to return to their work, Pinkie Pie headed back up the stairs and toward her room. Her gaze flickered toward the twins' room as she walked past. It was unusually dark and quiet. Neither Pumpkin nor Pound fell asleep right away. Normally the two would be talking or trying to read a little longer or something. Pinkie considered waiting a few more minutes, then popping into their room to surprise the twins and see what they were up to.

Turned out it would not be necessary. As soon as Pinkie Pie opened the door, she found Pound and Pumpkin Cake. The two young ponies were in Pinkie's room. They both turned up and smiled at her when she came in, standing next to their blankets and pillows.

"Surprise," they both said.

"We thought that after everything that happened, you would want some company," Pumpkin explained.

"So we decided to have a slumber party with you," Pound finished. His ears pulled back as he took a step backwards, blushing. "Just... let's not have any makeovers this time."

For a moment, Pinkie's face turned serious as she looked at the pair. She then gave a smile. It was not one of her large ones with full teeth, but it was genuine. It was comforting to know that no matter what happened, there were ponies that cared for her and wanted to make her happy.

"Okay," Pinkie told him. "No make-overs. Buuuut -- " she jumped onto her bed and grabbed her sheet "-- that means we're going to start with..." Turning around, she held the sheet out behind her like a giant pair of wings. "Spooky stories."

PT: Applejack

You're lying!

I don't need you!

Not my friends!

Hahahahaaaaa!

Applejack woke up with a gasp, jerking up in her bed. She gripped the sweat soaked sheets tight against her as she sat there, panting. Her lungs burned with each breath, and she could feel her heart slamming against the inside of her chest. She jerked her head from back and forth as she looked around, feeling like something was watching her.

There was nothing else that she could see. It was just her room, same as it always was. As far as she could see, there was nothing out of place. Slowly, her breathing and heart rate returned to normal. Applejack had no idea how long it took, but it was long enough for the sweat on the sheets to turn freezing. She hoped that it was that coldness that made her shiver.

Tossing the sheets and blankets aside, Applejack got up. She did not feel like going back to sleep. Maybe a snack or something to drink would help. She was not really hungry or thirsty, although her mouth did feel a little dry. At least going down to the kitchen and seeing what they had would get her out of her room and let her clear her head. Maybe she would be able to get back to sleep when she got back.

Normally, Applejack found the dark and quiet of the old farmhouse comforting. This had been her home her entire life, even when she had lived in Manehattan for a while. She knew every part of the place, including which floorboards squeaked when stepped on (which she did on purpose several times). It was like the entire place had been permeated with the love and kindness of her family, and it could still be felt even when the others were asleep.

Right now though, it felt wrong. It was probably just Applejack's imagination, but everything seemed... almost menacing. It just felt... empty.

The saying "as quiet as the grave," came to mind, and Applejack tried to push it out of her head immediately.

Once in the kitchen, Applejack looked at the contents of the refrigerator. She looked at the containers of food here and there -- leftover salad, fixings for a sandwich, pieces of cake and pie, a couple fritters -- but still none of them appealed to her. The same could be said for the stuff they had to drink.

They did have some barrels of harder stuff fermenting in the barn. Most of it was cider, but there was at least one that was her namesake. It was supposed to help relax. Maybe a cup or two would help her sleep. Maybe even--

No. Applejack stopped that line of thought. It was dangerous. Her father had warned them about drinking when feeling bad. Had made it pretty clear how dangerous it could be. Although he never did give the full story as to why. It was something he said he would explain when they were older.

The thought of her father made her miss her parents and wish that they were here. Well, more than she usually did. Her mother and father seemed so large, so powerful, and so smart. It had seemed like they could do anything and make everything right. But that was probably how all young foals feel about their parents. She probably would not feel the same now that she was older if they were still around.

At the same time, if her parents were around she would have to face them. That would mean she would have to explain how she lied to her friends, nearly ruined her friendships because of it, and had abandoned them when they should have been together the most. The fact that she had been tricked and manipulated into it really did not feel like it made things any better. She could just imagine the look of disappointment on their faces.

The sound of hoof steps behind Applejack almost made her jump. Turning around, she found the familiar old green form moving toward her.

"Granny? What are you doing up?"

"Ah, just stretching out my old bones," she answered with a smile. "Much fun as all that there flipping and flying was, it was a bit too much for my age. Already starting to feel as stiff as a board. Besides, I don't sleep as much as I used to. What about you?"

"Couldn't sleep," Applejack responded as she pushed the refrigerator shut. "Kind of wish ma and pa were here. Regretting some of the things I did when Discord got his claws into me."

"Did you kill a pony?"

"Granny!" Applejack yelled out in shock. "No! Why would you even think that?"

"Did you beat a pony 'til they went to the hospital?" Granny Smith asked.

"No! I didn't beat up on no innocent ponies!"

"Did you rob one?"

"Of course not. Why would you ask that?"

Granny Smith tilted her head and looked at Applejack from the corner of her eye.

"Did you burn a house down?"

"Granny!"

Granny Smith grinned. If it had not been so dark, Applejack would swear that she could see a mischievous twinkle in the old mares eyes.

"Oh, calm down," Granny said with a chuckle. "I'm just teasing ya a little. Come on now. Let's talk in the living room."

Applejack let out a huff, her face heating up in frustration and embarrassment. After a giving a shake of her head, she followed after her grandmother. The older mare sat in her rocking chair, turning on the lamp beside.

"Teasing aside," Granny said, "you didn't do anything that hurt another pony, did you?"

Applejack sat on the couch next to her grandmother and let out a sigh.

"Kinda," she responded. "I mean, I did kind of lie to my friends and leave them behind."

"Are they mad at you for that?"

"...No... They kinda understand that it ain't my fault. 'specially since they were going through the same thing themselves." Applejack gave a shake of her head.

"But it don't change anything," she continued. "Even if I didn't do anything to hurt anypony, even knowing it weren't my fault, I still feel like I betrayed who I was." She paused and sniffed. "Like I did things no Apple is supposed to. Like... like I let them down..."

"Applejack," Granny Smith said in a soft voice. "Applejack, look at me."

Applejack turned and looked at her grandmother.

"You have no reason to worry what your folks would think of you," the older mare stated. "You've helped keep this farm going, even helping to raise Apple Bloom, you've also helped a lot of ponies, and have even save not only this farm, but quite possibly all of Equestria. You have done a lot of great things so far. All the same, even if you hadn't done none of that, your folks would love you and be proud of whatever you had did."

"You really think so?" Applejack asked.

"I know so." Reaching out, Granny placed a hoof gently on Applejack's knee. "Because I was proud of your mama for everything she managed to accomplish, and I'm right proud of you too."

The sound of hoof steps on the stair got the attention of the pair. It had always been one of the most amazing things about life: somehow the smallest and youngest -- and thus the lightest -- somehow always managed to be the loudest when it came to walking or running. Applejack had known stampedes that did not seem as noisy.

"Is everything okay?" Apple Bloom asked as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "We thought we heard shouting." The "we" being her and Big Macintosh, who made his way down at a calmer and quieter pace.

"Everything is fine," Granny Smith answered before Applejack could say anything. "Applejack and I were just talking a little about your folks is all. In fact, Macintosh could you get me that old photo album over there?" She pointed at the shelf. "Apple Bloom, why don't you come sit down next to your sister?"

Apple Bloom ran over to the couch and hopped up before plopping down. Big Macintosh walked over to the bookshelf and grabbed the photo album Granny Smith requested. After she took it, he moved to sit down on the floor opposite his sisters.

"Now," Granny said as she opened the album, "I think it might be a good time to tell a couple of stories about your mother when she was growing up." She paused and turned to face Apple Bloom. "Before I tell you these, I just want to make something clear. Just because she did these things don't mean that you should. I ain't telling you these stories to give you ideas that might be right dangerous. Got it?"

"Yeah," Apple Bloom said with a roll of her eyes. "I got it. Why would you think you'd even have to tell me that?"

"Because I've known a foal or two who did just that," Granny Smith answered, at which time both of the older Apple siblings decided that it was a good time to contemplate the ceiling.

"Now," Granny continued as she opened the photo album, "where should I start?"

PT: Rarity

Rarity stared at the box. She had not looked inside it since she had taken it on the train. In her induced state of greed, she had simply desired to keep it from others all for herself, as well as anything else she found regardless of actual value. The spoons, forks, knives, and candle holders could all attest to that. After Sweetie Belle had helped Rarity get back to her normal self, the box and everything else was forgotten about.

Now, Ponyville was mostly back to normal. She was more settled and relaxed, ready to clean up Carousal Boutique and get it organized once more. Well... as organized as she tended to have it. While trying to decide where to start, she had found the box of fabric that had started the whole thing for her.

Rarity was staring at the box, wondering about it. Would the fabric still be there? Would it be as beautiful as she remembered it? If not, it might still be lovely enough to create something with. Horn glowing, she took a hold of the box in her magic and opened it to reveal...

Foil. Aluminum foil. It was nothing but a giant roll of aluminum foil. It was intended to encase leftover food, not for garments or accessories. She had been deceived and manipulated. She had become greedy, paranoid, selfish and suspicious. She had been willing to leave her friends and lock herself away from the world. To refuse to let anypony into her boutique or let them even buy anything she made ever again.

And why? For what? Aluminum foil! Something used in cooking. Something she could have gotten from the store. Something she had in her own kitchen!

Something inside Rarity suddenly snapped. The aura of magic around her horn grew larger as the faint blue color took on a darker tint. Jaw clenched and teeth bared, she threw the box of foil as hard as she could, slamming it against the wall hard enough to leave a shallow scratch.

A blood-curdling roar tore from her throat as she unleashed an explosion of pure energy. The entire building shook from it. The windows burst outwards and the mirrors shattered. Several of the neighbors jerked awake, some trying to figure out what was going on while others thought a storm had escaped from The Everfree Forest.

Huffing and panting, Rarity turned her attention to her drawing table. Sketches and designs went flying through the air before bursting into flames, burning to nothing but ashes before reaching the ground. Pencils were shattered and the tin they were kept in was twisted and dented. The entire desk was launched, slamming into one of the design dummies with a loud cracking sound.

Rarity turned her attention to one of the other dummies. Taking a hold of the dress, she began ripping it apart. Stitches popped as fabric tore as she reduced hours of hard work into nothing but a pile of shredded scraps. When none of the former outfit remained, Rarity lifted up the dummy and slammed it down onto the other. She then slammed one into the other again. And again. And again, and again, and again. She continued to to throw one dummy against the other, even as the canvas skin tore, the cotton stuffing went flying, and the wooden skeleton broke and poked out.

With a scream, she tore the remnants into her fabrics, sending the bolts sprawling all over the place. Walking over to one, she reached down and bit it. Rarity lifted the bolt and shook it like a dog with a toy before throwing it once again. Once it landed, she ran over and kicked it as hard as she could, sending it and some others spinning across the floor. Rarity continued after the same bolt, rearing up and slamming her front hooves down on it. With each impact the edges of her well-manicured hooves dug into the fabric, tearing furrows into it.

Rarity gave one last roar as she kicked the bolt for a final time, sending it through one of the already shattered windows. Exhausted, the young mare collapsed onto the floor. She curled up into a tight ball, hiding her face under her foreleg and pressing as close to her flank as she could get.

A knock at her door woke Rarity, causing her to jump up. She had fallen asleep, although it was hard to say for how long. It was still dark outside. So either she had somehow managed to sleep through a whole day without interruption, or -- more likely -- it had been for a short time and was still the same night.

"Coming," she called out. Her own voice surprised her. It was so rough and scratchy, as though she had been screaming for hours. She was aware that she had been vocal during her tantrum, but it had not seemed sufficient to strain her vocal cords at the time.

Rarity opened the door to find that there was a pair of guards standing on the other side of it. Her eyes went wide at the sight.

"Oh my," Rarity said at the pair. "Is everything alright?"

"That is actually what we are here to investigate," one of the guards stated. "Some of your neighbors reported hearing screaming and a lot of loud noises. We were sent to see if there is any trouble."

"Oh." Rarity shifted, looking back at the mess she had made of her shop. "No. No trouble at all." Turning to the pair, she gave her best smile. "It was just that I had seen a mouse scampering across the room, and was dreadfully frightened. Fortunately, my dear sweet Opal was able to catch the horrid thing."

The two guards stared at her, not saying anything. She tried to keep her sweetest smile on, resisting the urge to fidget under their gaze. How did she look? Had she been crying during her outburst? If she had, her mascara would simply be ruined. Was she wearing mascara? Yes. Yes, she had been certain to re-apply it prior to meeting Princess Celestia and had yet to clean it off. What of her mane? More than likely it was not in its properly well curled place. She might very well look horribly disheveled and unkempt. Such a fact would make the guards all the more skeptical. She should have checked her appearance before answering the door. Except... she had no way of doing so as she had shattered all the mirrors during her initial outburst.

"Are you certain everything is alright, miss?" the other guard asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Quite," Rarity answered. "I apologize gentlemen, but the place is rather unsuitable for guests, plus it is rather late and I have had a very long and arduous day. So if there is nothing else, I would like to go to bed and get some sleep."

The two guards looked at her a moment more, then at each other. One of them gave a nod.

"Alright," the first guard said. "We'll let you get back to your business. Have a good night."

"You as well," she called out as they walked away. Shutting the door, she let out a sigh, her shoulders sagging.

Once feeling more collected, Rarity turned and looked at the boutique. It had been foolish to take out her anger and frustration on her business. It was also horribly counter-productive. While it was true that she felt much better after venting, she now had a massive mess to clean up. All of the windows and mirrors would have to been replaced, plush she would need to clean up the shards both in and outside the shop. The fabrics would have to be checked to see what could be salvaged and what would need to be re-stocked. Her table looked like it had survived, so she would not need a new one. However, she had burned over a dozen different designs. Alas, those could never be replaced as it was all but impossible to create something the exact same way twice. Still, she could come up with new concepts. Although she would need to get new pencils first.

"It can wait," she said. "For now, I think I need some ice cream and sleep." She pushed off from the wall and headed toward the kitchen.

Library Late Night

Shining Armor and Rainbow Dash were now alone in the main room of the library. It was a little surprising to him that she had wanted to stay. Rainbow Dash had never really shown an interest in books. In fact, he never remembered seeing her reading much of anything.

"So..." Rainbow Dash started, looking at one of the walls as she spoke, "...that Daring Do book of Twilight's seems pretty interesting." Her wings flickered as she shifted, licking her lips. "I don't suppose you have... like... more of them or anything. You know. In case somepony might want to check them out."

It was kind of cute and funny how awkward she seemed to be about asking. Although he would never say that where Rainbow Dash could hear it. She probably considered being called "cute" a massive insult and would get really mad at anypony who dared to call her such.

"Yeah," Shining Armor answered. "A.K. Yearling is still writing them, but we have all the books that have been released so far." He shifted, looking at her from the corner of his eyes. "So, if you want to borrow one...."

"Maybe. I'll think about."

"Okay."

The two looked at each other. This was starting to get really awkward. Shining got the impression that something was going on with Rainbow, and he could guess what it had to do with a little. The problem was how to get her to talk about. That was if she even wanted to. More than likely, she would talk to Fluttershy about that kind of stuff if anypony.

Although, maybe he was wrong and Fluttershy was the one Rainbow Dash wanted to talk about.

"So, you're staying the night at Fluttershy's?" he asked. It was something to talk about. Plus, if it was her that Rainbow wanted to talk about, it gave her an opportunity.

The question got Rainbow Dash's attention. She turned, looking at him fully as though studying him. Her eyes went wide before narrowing again. She suddenly turned away, ears pinning back against her head as her cheeks turned pink.

"Not like that," she snapped. "Fluttershy and I are just friends. I mean sure we might have..." She shifted and gave a shake of her head. "Never mind. That's none of your business."

"Okay, okay," Shining responded, taking a step back. "I was just wondering. Didn't mean to make you mad."

The blush slowly faded and ears returned to normal. Rainbow Dash let out a sigh as she sagged, her wings drooped down from her sides.

"No," she said softly. "I'm sorry. We experimented when we were younger, but it didn't work out. We both kind of agreed that we were better as just friends."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"Just keep it to yourself. Fluttershy likes to keep her private life to herself. So I'm trusting you to keep your mouth shut."

"Alright," Shining said. "I promise I won't say a word." He got up, moving closer. "But, you are staying the night there, aren't you? Fluttershy wanting you to keep her company after what happened?"

Several seconds passed in silence. Rainbow Dash turned and looked away again. Her hooves moved as she shifted her weight from one to the other. Her eyes darted toward the stallion and away as she chewed on her lip. Closing her eyes, she let out a huff.

"What I'm about to tell you," she said, "is secret between us. If you tell anypony -- and I mean anypony -- I will buck you so hard, you'll end up at Twilight's wedding. Got it?"

"Yeah." Shining Armor took a step back. "I promise I won't tell. Pinkie Promise even. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Once again, Rainbow Dash looked at him. Her eyes were narrow as she moved closer, studying his features. She continued to walk toward him until her nose was nearly touching his. The mare's rose colored eyes stared into the stallion's blue ones. Finally, Rainbow Dash gave a nod and took a step back.

"It's not Fluttershy who didn't want to be alone," she finally said, her voice just above a whisper. "After all that's happened, I didn't really feel like being in my house alone, with everything being big, and empty, and dark..." One of her ears gave a twitch. "So I went to see if I could stay with Fluttershy for a couple nights."

"Do you want to have something to drink and talk about it?"

"...do you have hot chocolate?"

"We don't have any marshmallows," Shining Armor answered, "but I do have milk and chocolate chips."

"Okay," Rainbow Dash agreed.

The two made their way to the kitchen. Rainbow Dash grabbed the milk from the fridge while Shining Armor got a saucepan. The milk was poured in and the stove top turned on. While waiting for the milk to heat up, the two sat down at the table.

"So you're not handling this well?" Shining Armor asked.

"Of course I'm not," Rainbow Dash snapped, slamming a hoof against the table. "Who could possibly handle something like this well? He messed with my head."

"He messed with all our heads."

"I know, I know." With a huff she rubbed her forehead. "But that doesn't really make me feel any better. He convinced me that you guys didn't need me, especially since I couldn't fly! That if I ditched you and got my wings back, I could save Cloudsdale and become a Wonderbolt. I didn't even save Cloudsdale. I just found some bucking random cloud and thought it was." She slammed her hoof down hard on the table again, creating a crack in the wooden surface. "Plus if I had been thinking clearly, I would have realized that even if he was telling the truth, there's no way I would become a Wonderbolt. There's no way they would let a pony who abandoned others onto their team."

Shining Armor got up and headed to the pantry. He grabbed a bag of chocolate chips and found a container of marshmallows behind it. That second part was quite strange because he would swear up and down that there were none. Pulling them out, he set the marshmallows on the counter while taking the chocolate chips. Instead of measuring, Shining Armor started pouring the chips into milk and stirring.

"Well, you managed to come back to your sense and help save the day," he said without looking back. "As for you not needing you... You're our friend. My friend. Nothing's going to change that. Even if we don't need your help, we still want you around."

"Even if I could never fly again?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Even then," Shining answered.

The room turned quiet as Shining Armor continued to stir. The milk had turned a pale shade of brown as the chocolate melted and mixed with it. Horny glowing, he grabbed to mugs. Once filled, he brought them to the table.

Rainbow Dash grabbed one mug and the marshmallows. Despite the size of them, she dropped two into her mug, creating a large splash with each. She then took a sip. Shining Armor took only one marshmallow in his before giving a test drink.

"Thanks," Rainbow Dash said. "For listening, I mean. I'm not really used to getting mushy with other ponies, you know."

"I never would have guessed," Shining replied, getting a glare in response. "I mean Rainbow Dash, the rough and tumble tomboy of a mare who always has to look tough doesn't like showing her tender side? Who would have even thought that was possible?"

"Oh, ha ha," Rainbow grumbled, rolling her eyes. "You're a real laugh riot."

"Well I try," Shining responded with a grin. He kept it up as Rainbow continued to glare, even while taking another drink of her hot chocolate.

"So what happens now?" she asked.

The question surprised Shining Armor a little. Setting his mug down, he leaned back and considered it.

We start picking up the pieces.

Rarity stood in the middle of her now devastated boutique. Her horn glowed with magic as she held a broom, sweeping the shards of glass, splinters of wood, and puffs of stuffing. As she continued to work, she turned and looked at the one dummy that seemed to survive. Gently, she lifted it back up and set it back where it belonged.

Salvage what we can.

We try to remember who we are.

Applejack sat on the couch, looking at Granny Smith. The old mare was talking quite animatedly about how the parents of the three young apples had once tried to ride a cart downhill, having realized there was a problem when they had forgotten a vital detail in a little something called "brakes." A small smile spread across Applejack's mouth as she wrapped a hoof around her little sister.

And try to keep working toward who we want to be.

We find others we can depend and rely on.

Pinkie Pie sat on the edge of her bed. A flashlight shined at the underside of her face as she spoke, motioning with her free hoof. On the floor in front of her sat the Cake twins. The pair pressed close to each other, pulling their blankets tight around them. Their eyes were wide as they stared, listening to every word. When Pinkie suddenly lunged toward them, Pound and Pumpkin both screamed out and fell back. The scream soon gave way to laughter.

Ponies we can lean on and who will help us feel better.

Admittedly, things will probably never be the same as they used to.

Fluttershy looked at a picture, letting out a sigh. Setting it down, she went to bed and stretched out, getting comfortable. Angel Bunny jumped up and soon joined her. The little white rabbit pushed to slip himself between her forelegs, curling up tightly against her chest. With a smile, Fluttershy leaned down and kissed the top of the fluffy white head. She then curled up around him, snuggling the rabbit as she began to doze off.

But we can adjust and things will get pretty close to normal again.

Rainbow Dash took one last drink of her hot chocolate, upending the entire cup. When she finished, her upper lip was covered by a chocolaty milk mustache. She gave it a lick before wiping the rest of it off with her one of her forelegs.

"You talk alot," she said.

"You asked." Shining Armor then shrugged and returned to his own drink.

"Yeah. I did." She smiled. "You know, you can be pretty cool." The smile turned into a smirk. "For a know it all egghead, that is." Rainbow Dash let out a chuckle.

Shining Armor rolled his eyes and gave a shake of his head, but said nothing.

Twilight Dreams

Twilight Sparkle -- fully grown mare, hero of Equestria, world-famous treasure hunter, and former apprentice of the Daring Do -- made her way through the ancient temple of Abtenauer. The walls glistened with moisture and were covered with thick patches of moss, some of which even glowed. Most of the light came from Twilight's own horn.

It had been a lot of hard work. Hours had been spent in numerous libraries, searching through books, tomes, and ancient manuscripts. Dozens of places -- cities, towns, villages, even remote little places that seemed to be nowhere -- were visited, seeking out clues and lesser artifacts that would help. Hundreds of ponies, griffons, minotaurs, and even zebras were interviewed, collecting direct experience and family tales.

Yes, Twilight had put a lot of work into it, but now it was going to be worthwhile. She had made her way to the ancient forests of The Gelderlands and towards the mountains. After hours of searching, she had found a cave entrance that looked far from naturally made. She had found the entrance to The Temple of Abtenauer.

Inside the subterranean temple, had managed to evade traps, solve puzzles, and make her way through labyrinthine tunnels. After hours, she had done it, Twilight Sparkle had found her way to the entrance of the temple proper.

Standing there, she let her gaze study the main room. Her horn continued to glow with magic, not only giving off light to see, but spreading out to search for runes or spells waiting for use. Finding no indication of either magical or mundane traps, Twilight made her way forward. She moved as quick as she could, leaping from stone to stone and holding a shield spell at the ready in case she was mistaken and set off a trap.

Excitement filled the young mare as she reached the base of the steps. Grinning widely, virtually buzzing with excitement, she started to climb. This was it. She was about to find The Idol of Abtenauer. An artifact that not only pre-date the founding of Equestria, but supposedly the first meetings of the three tribes. All but forgotten with little more than a few legends and rumors surrounding it. Whether or not the legends were true did not matter, at least not entirely. What mattered to Twilight was that something lost and forgotten was about to be recovered. She could just imagine what kind of information of pre-Equestrian history could be unlocked. Her first solo mission was about to be a success.

Twilight's excitement faded as soon as she reached the top of the pedestal. What she had found was most assuredly not The Idol of Abtenauer.

"Really?" asked a tiny golden Discord that was sitting on the pedestal. "This is what you dream about? Sneaking around some musty old ruins to find shiny trinkets."

"They're not trinkets," Twilight retorted. "They are ancient artifacts of historical and possibly magical significance. Besides, why do you care what I dream..."

Twilight paused a moment. Her face scrunched up as she thought.

"Wait a minute." She blinked and looked at the tiny Discord again. "This is a dream."

Discord's eyes went wide. He let out a gasp as he brought his forelimbs up to slap against his cheeks.

"What?" he cried out. "I had no idea."

"Except I know it's a dream," Twilight continued, "which normally doesn't happen. I don't realize I was dreaming until I wake up." Her eyes narrowed. "So that means that something is different about this dream than most."

Leaning forward, she brought her nose close to the tiny Discord. For his part, Discord simply sat there, watching her.

"And I didn't know it was dream until you pointed it out to me. So that means that you probably aren't a part of the dream. Which means that somehow, you are actually here, aren't you?"

With a smile, Discord started clapping.

"Oh, bravo," he cried out, "bravo. You really are a clever little filly, aren't you?" He gave a snap of his fingers, turning the pith into a graduation cap. The grin on his face vanished as he suddenly sagged.

"You know," he sighed, "being able to break the laws of reality is far less impressive when they don't apply to begin with."

Twilight let out a snort of frustration as her pith helmet was now gone. Grabbing the cap, she tossed it aside. Twilight then turned her attention back to the tiny Discord.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought my brother and his friends turned you back into a statue."

Discord vanished only to reappear beside Twilight. He had reverted to his normal size and color. Reaching down with his talon, he ruffled the mare's mane, reverting her back to her filly self.

"Oh, don't worry Twinkie Sauce. Glittery Arcade and the others were able to defeat me." He let out a sigh. "Once more, I am stuck in stone, unable to move. Unable to spread my glorious chaos." He sniffed at this last part, making his eyes as wide as he could and tearing up.

"So...how are you here?"

The wide eyes and tears vanished, replaced by a giant grin. He picked up Twilight and held her up to his eye level.

"Well now," he said with a grin, "I can't take all the credit for that. It seems that somepony" -- he tapped her on the nose -- "ate one of my cotton candy clouds during her 'studies.'" He let Twilight go, allowing her to drop to the floor. "Since I made those clouds, they were pretty much pure chaos energy. When you ate it, you absorbed that portion of my power. So I was able to use that to come here before it faded away and I was stuck completely."

"Completely?" Twilight asked as she got back up. "You mean that after tonight, you'll be gone forever?"

"Well I wouldn't say 'forever," Discord replied.

He gave a snap of his paw and the temple disappeared to be replaced by a classroom. Twilight found herself sitting at one of the desks with an open notebook and a pen in front of her. Standing at the front of the room was Discord, wearing glasses, a dress shirt, tweed jacket, and tie. In his eagle talon he held some held the controls to a projector that shined onto a screen behind him. With a press of a button from Discord, the projector clicked as a giant number three appeared on the screen.

"There are about three ways that you could see me again," Professor Discord explained. With another click the three was replaced by a one "First" -- he gave another click to change the picture to one of him as a statue -- "would be if I managed to get free again." The picture changed to one of Discord surrounded by look like an explosion. "Then I would be able to travel around, see ponies and spread chaos once again.

"Unfortunately," he growled, "it would also mean having to come up with another way to keep them -- " the picture changed to Shining Armor and his friends with The Elements of Harmony " -- from stopping me again." He glared at the image before moving on, bringing up a giant number two.

"Second, would be you coming to visit me in Canterlot." He clicked to show the image of him as a statue, with a crudely drawn picture of Twilight at the base. "Which would mean that we would get to see each other, but only you would be able to talk." The picture became animated, the crudely drawn Twilight moving back and forth as the word "blah" kept appearing around her.

With a roll of his eyes, Discord changed the image to the number three.

"Finally," Discord said, "a pony -- you -- can allow me to continue to come visit them in their dreams." He moved to the image, showing Twilight sleeping in her bed. Above her head was a thought bubble with a picture of Discord in it. "Unfortunately, the last one has to be..." he let out a gagging noise, "...willing by the pony in question. Plus, it also means that a certain moonbutt" -- he clicked to a picture of Princess Luna -- "is more likely to find out about it."

"Why are you doing this?" Twilight asked.

The question gave Discord pause. The projector and screen vanished with a poof. Taking off his glasses, he stuck them into a pocket of his tweed jacket.

"What do you mean?"

"You're acting..." Twilight paused, considering. "Well... 'nice' isn't quite the right word, but you're not exactly being mean either. What are you up to? Why are you acting like this?"

"Would you rather I spent the little time I had trying to frighten or intimidate you?" he asked. With another snap of his fingers, the classroom and his teaching outfit vanished. Instead they were in the royal gardens at Canterlot. A picnic blanket was spread out underneath them as they sat beneath the statue of Discord. The living version of him sat at the base of it, the shadow of the statue falling over him.

"I lost, Twilight. Nothing I do while in your dream is going to change that. Scaring you, messing with you, in here it won't get me anything. All I can do is enjoy what little freedom I have left before it vanishes, and then plan for what I'm going to do next time I'm free." He let out a sigh. "Plus, I am pretty worn out. Everything has taken a lot out of me."

Twilight stood there, looking at Discord. Right now, he did not look scary, or mean. He really did not seem like some sort of monster that wanted to harm ponies. Twilight knew he was and that he could, but it really did not seem like it at the moment. He looked... small... sad... tired... and most of all, lonely. It kind of made Twilight feel bad for him.

"It... it doesn't have to end like that," Twilight said. She watched as Discord tilted his head and raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean... you don't seem completely mean." She moved closer to him. "If you promise to behave, you and I could hang out in the dreams from time to time. Not every night, but some times."

Discord shifted, looking at Twilight fully. His lips twitched as he started to smile. His chest rose and fell as a snicker escaped him. The snicker became a chuckle, then a full guffaw. Shortly, Discord was lying on the ground, forelimbs on his chest as he laughed at the top of his lungs. Rolling around, his hind legs kicked and tail lashed.

While Discord seemed to find something utterly hilarous, Twilight not so much. In fact, she did not seem to find anything funny at all. Ears pinning back, her face turned a bright shade of red as she narrowed her gaze. With a huff, she turned to look away from him. Her head slouched down as her back grew tense with anger.

A loud bang made Twilight jump and turn around. Discord was still there, lying on the ground and panting. There was a giant hole in his side that she could see all the way through. Fortunately there were no signs of blood or organs.

"Oh my," Discord panted as he sat back up. "Would you look at that?" He stuck his paw through the hole. "I laughed so hard, I busted a gut."

"Oh, please," Twilight huffed, rolling her eyes.

"Your offer was very nice," he said as he brushed the hole close, "but very naive and foolish. Really, you should worry less about me and more about your brother. He may not do so well against whoever he faces next."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Come now. Just think about it." He held up his front limbs and spread them out. Three empty bubbles appeared.

"The Elements of Harmony" -- Shining Armor's helmet appeared in the first bubble -- "are back in play and able to be used again. It has been a thousand years since they were last used. They were brought back after Nightmare Moon" -- who appeared in the second -- "returned also after a thousand years. Then I" -- he appeared in the third bubble -- "was able to get free once again. Also after about a thousand years." The bubbles popped, suddenly vanishing from sight.

"So tell me, Twilight, do you honestly believe that in over a thousand years, Nightmare Moon and I were the only dangers Equestria ever faced?"

Before Twilight could answer, a giant rooster appeared out of nowhere between them. It let out a massive crowing noise, the very sound seeming to make the ground shake.

"Oh," Discord said, "look at that. My alarm cock is going off." Reaching out, he pressed a paw against its beak to make it stop. "It seems my time here is now up." With a snap of his fingers, the statue version of himself vanished from its pedestal. Discord climbed up onto it, brushing himself off. His feet and the tip of his tail started to turn into stone.

"Before I go, two last things. First, other dangers do exist and they are going to come for your brother. After all, he is now a hero and bears one of The Elements. So he needs to be ready and so do you." The stone continued to travel up along his body, having now reached what would possibly be the bottom of his rib cage if he had some sort of proper anatomical skeleton.

"Second," he continued, "I have left a little something behind. It will take a while to be ready, but should create a little bit of fun." He gave her one last grin before the transformation reached his face.

Twilight sat there, looking at the statue of Discord before hearing a loud snap and having everything vanish.