The chaos energy emanating off of the creature was stifling. It had been worse than when the shadow ponies had been taken over by harmony magic. Cracks appeared over the octopus shaped head leaving only the eye intact. It was glaring down at them as the lid that held the eye protected grew sharper teeth surrounding its edge. Nothing changed the that there was still sentience in its glare. It wasn’t being controlled and it wasn’t being used. It seemed to know what it wanted to do if the tentacles were any indication. Each wriggled around finding better angles to strike at but staying in place once they did.

Spike was still calmly keeping his arm raised. His eyes betrayed what he actually felt though especially when you took into account how badly his legs were wobbling and the constant deluge of sweat dripping off his forehead. Discord kept it better hidden but the clouds he had summoned barely lasted a few seconds before nervousness made them dissolve.

“Have t-t-that problem m-m-much D-d-discord?” Spike managed to stutter out though his tone told of how badly he wanted to keep his cool even if it was such a crass joke to make in such a situation.

“Better than not even reaching the mark in the first place.” Discord managed to smirk allowing the clouds to keep their shape ready to act. Spike couldn’t see the smug look but knew it was there. He was glad for it. If the traps wouldn’t work they would be skewered. Confidence seemed to be a problem when it came to the clouds and while Discord wouldn’t say anything or show it, he was afraid. Vulnerability and dealing with it wasn’t something he handled well. From what Starlight had told Spike he was all gung ho and risking himself all to save Fluttershy and that cut away his fears. This though was not Fluttershy’s door.

The first tentacle shot out getting caught in the cotton candy but managed to skewer through regardless. It stopped a half hoof away from Spike’s head. His whole life had flashed before his eyes but he managed to make one conscious decision. A large stream of fire blew out of his mouth charring the tentacle to ash causing the creature to scream out while the chaos energy attempted to repair the damage. It didn’t.

Discord took the chance and crawled down through the open passage while Spike kept up his breath. As more tentacles shot forward the cotton candy stopped them from getting too close giving Spike the chance to crawl through as well. After a few minutes they managed to get back to their feet.

“Was that the plan the whole time?” Spike muttered out entirely confused and some more tentacles started to snake their way through the passage. A few shots from Spike’s gauntlet caused them to falter away retreating from the energy blasts. Discord summoned more clouds blocking off the passageway leaving them relatively safe.

“Nah… But I had no other ideas that would work out should it start using chaos magic. We do need to at least take care of things before it grows out of hand. Also I doubt the door would even appear until we deal with whatever is being changed here. Besides… I don’t think we’ve escaped.” Discord looked around dragging Spike’s attention as well. All around them was the billowing blue flames of the spirit realm covering every single place on the walls.

Within each flame was a hint of red electricity coursing through the gaseous blobs. The red grew within and a tentacle pierced out jutting forward and right at Discord. A well timed duck only alleviated the first strike as more tentacles started to assail the two in random fashion. The entire hallway was littered with the flames but not every flame was turning red.

“At least they aren’t gonna make more.” Spike squeaked out just after dodging one particularly dangerously placed strike forcing the two to climb up the main shaft once again while the assault of tentacles continued their chase.

“How is that a good thing? We’re still being chased by them!” Discord roared out while contorting his body to account for the sudden shift in focus from the attacks.They had gotten past the main hallway they had entered and were climbing further still. The debris made it challenging for Discord to climb around but a few well placed tentacle strikes had cleared that mess out of the way.

As they reached the top of the shaft the entire floor below them was consumed in blue fire and was acting more like a liquid than anything else. The small fireballs had faded away but then they saw the entire lake of fire with small lines of red electricity. Out from below sprung all the tentacles in several formations attempting to mutilate whatever got in their way.

“Why must this be more dangerous than the zomponies? Multi dimensional creatures and ghosts are too damn dangerous.” Spike screamed out as a tentacle grazed one of his spines. They were getting more accurate in their strikes.

The ceiling finally tore open letting the two access one of the other halls above and escape from the relentless assault. Discord grabbed Spike in his tail once again and ran off to the left while the torrent of blue flames followed after him. Spike activated his gauntlet once again firing off shot after shot whenever another tentacle appeared. Even with him auto-firing the cannon he couldn’t keep up with the sheer amount trying to kill them. Several strikes managed to graze by the two of them. Even using the cotton candy clouds as shields they were still being grazed very badly by the constant assault. As the hallway’s end came closer and closer Discord created a large cotton candy cloud covering them and poked it before he ran off. As the tentacles pushed through the cloud’s electric properties activated catching the tentacles and frying them from the chase.

Spike shot out the door leading out as the flames enveloped the clouds burning it off while the stunned tentacles fell off to the side. The outside was less inviting than they realized seeing as the planet was covered in a large layer of rain clouds. The rain swept landscape left the two drenched and partially frozen when the creature decided to break through its dimensional barrier. In its full glory it stood even larger than Tirek at full power and strangely enough it only had six tentacles left. These six were covered in chitinous armor that seemed to radiate heat as they swiped at the intrepid explorers.

“We really planned this out badly Discord… “ Spike kept firing his gauntlet at the tentacles merely knocking them back instead of vaporizing them. They were stronger now and seemed to absorb the brunt of the energy attacks. Trapping them, in Discord’s mind, seemed to be the best option leaving them the chance to evade the rings of blue fire that would fire out at random intervals. It had not revealed it’s eye once during the chase seemingly knowing how vulnerable it was at that point.

“Honestly I was following you this whole time. Since this was a harmony seal remember? No matter we just have to be smart now about how we handle this and we have a lot more open room meaning we can at least get out of range of its attacks.” A group of clouds appeared above the creature’s body and with a snap of his talons lightning burst out of the cloud striking at the tentacles. While the brunt of energy used was absorbed into the chitinous armor the tentacles were left stunned on the ground. Another snap signaled more clouds which trapped the tentacles down leaving the creature struggling.

With it trapped once more Spike led the way out of the area towards a small alcove out of the creatures sight. Still, the blue fire made it difficult when it managed to track them slightly every step they took. A few careless shots left the landscape dented but them safe from the trailing fires. One of those shots revealed a small passageway leading to another door back inside the abandoned ship.

“One of these days I want to know who would put me through this much backtracking.” Spike muttered more to himself than Discord and opened the door.

“Probably the hack writers trying to get a good story out of us.” Discord chuckled to himself and followed soon after. The little banter was lost on the two as a groaning roar and the shifting ground told them exactly what happened with the monster chasing after them. It had broken loose.

Escaping to the next room revealed a long corridor covered in sharpened debris. Everything jagged or pointy that could be imagined was embedded into the corridor’s floor leaving no way through. Seemingly out of nowhere Spike lifted his left gauntlet towards the ceiling shooting out the energy whip. It latched onto the first available section of the ceiling pulling him out over the debris. A little momentum allowed him to swing across a small section. Looking back at Discord he waited for the nervous draconequus to act.

One serious jump later Discord was being held up by Spike as the two swung across to the other end of the room. The mark on Spike’s back was glowing almost constantly throughout the entire venture. With a few short gasps the two landed on one of the only safe places left within the debris which turned out to be a staircase. Then Spike collapsed to the floor.

“Wake up there dragonborn we need to keep moving before that thing figures out where we are going.” Discord poked at him earning a muffled Ow every time he did poke him.

“I don’t know why but my body feels so tired… “ Spike tried to reach into his backpack only for his claw to flail around limply. He was exhausted yet he didn’t know why. When Discord looked on Spike’s back he saw that Glimmer’s mark had gone gray on his back. Examining it for a few seconds revealed even more as the color started to slowly return. It wasn’t going as fast as he thought it would.

“How long have you been using the mark to power yourself up Spike?” Discord questioned him only to see Spike look off into the distance uncertainty clouding his gaze.

“I don’t really remember. I think I might have used a lot while we were escaping the creature that was after us. I also felt tired while using these gauntlets but not by much and then I get back on track to doing more important stuff. Like surviving ya know.” Spike tried to get back to his feet only to skitter along the floor uselessly.

“I think using these marks is like using a battery. So far it looks like they recharge while we rest or are incapacitated. You have been pushing yourself haven’t you? And now I’m gonna have to carry you around… again.” Discord smirked and poked Spike around mocking him for his lack of moving. Spike grumbled slightly but remembered that they were in this together and this was just another one of those banter things he had read about.

The blue fire returned enveloping the room above them turning the debris of spikes into large shards of jagged glass. Tentacles broke through the flames reaching for the pair but they had tumbled down the stairs when the fire had appeared. Another door appeared before them allowing them to escape into the next room with Spike wrapped up again in Discord’s tail though unable to lift his gauntlets.

“Why does it feel like fate wants to make me embrace physical fitness now? Seriously I’m getting tired of the constant running though I’m surprisingly not smelling sweaty from all that activity. Perhaps Freya is being told to keep us unchanged? Without time we can’t exactly make smells or what not.” Discord weaved in and out of bursts of flames being tossed as him with the odd cloud conjured just to block the more persistent trackers.

“I don’t think it works that way. Maybe it’s just when we enter the main room we get cleansed or something. Not as thorough as a shower but works on the same level. I know Twilight has a spell like that but she only uses it whenever her schedule gets too hectic otherwise Rarity drags her over to the spa just to get things done ‘right’.” Spike yawned slightly. While he still feared for his life fatigue had reared its ugly head. He needed energy and the mark was still only half full.

“I’ve been wondering why is it that we have to be chased around by these monsters. I mean we found what we needed but these spheres seem to delight in torturing us somehow or someway with whatever is present in whichever world we are in. We have what we need yet we’re still here.” He had pointed to the gauntlets around his claws with his eyes. The gesture was lost on the fleeing Discord but the sentiment was felt.

“They are sociopathic or downright ancient beings. I thought we went over this already during the last chapter. Anyways hurry up and recharge. Clouds are useful but paralysis is only helping us against the tentacles not the constantly summoned fireballs floating all around us acting like dimensional portals for the tentacles to hit us!” Discord screamed slightly as veins started to pop out of his forehead. The constant running was grating on the draconequus’ nerves leaving him a few steps away from a tantrum.

“I thought I was irritated by this.” Spike muttered softly just as a small beep alerted them. Spike moved his arms around once again and aimed out the right gauntlet targeting the first fallen tentacle in sight. Even with it paralyzed the shot merely knocked it aside as if only made of kinetic energy at this point. They needed a more permanent escape.

The next two hallways were barren of other enemy types as the creature made its presence known bursting in front of them blocking off their escape. In its own haste though it had opened its eye allowing Discord the chance he needed.

“Take this!” He flung several smaller clouds around the edges of the mouth hiding the eye and forced the jaws to stay open. Spike was swung around next allowing him unimpeded access to shooting the eye out. Beam after beam struck the creature's eye but the only noticeable indication of damage was the reddening of the creatures skin which was hard enough to tell when it was bristling with chaos energy.

Several tentacles reappeared and struck at the two only for Discord to electrify the clouds he had previously summoned. Every jolt against the eye made the tentacles falter or fall leaving Spike clear to keep firing. The chaos energy started to dissipate from the creature leaving it at the pair’s mercy. Wasting no time it shifted dimensions once again leaving the two behind before it could incur more damage.

“Finally!” Discord threw his arms up into the air and fell to the ground exhausted. The mark on his back was nearly completely empty and started to recharge slowly. Spike managed to get out of his tail which lay still nearby unable to even coil near its owner.

“Huh. So that’s what happened to me? Seems like an oversight if nopony is gonna tell us about this. Wait… in this situation should I even use that? It should be nobody right now right?” Spike puzzled over this dilemma mostly due to his upbringing and it drew his mind away from the constant dreariness that the ship had brought upon the pair.

“Does it really matter? Just use the pony equivalent since it’s easier like that. Jeez with all ponies needing to find the right terms for every being to fit in their small slice of self it sure is difficult to talk to a collection of others without it seeming off. It’s either somedrake, somezebra, somegriffon, or somepony yet we find it difficult to even use somebody when we all have bodies already.” Discord fumed slightly since somedraconequus was a mouthful and unwieldy to say.

It took a few more minutes before Discord could continue on. Spike had stopped thinking about the right terms because he didn’t want to be just like Twilight. ‘One is enough…’ Spike surmised before leading the way forward.

The next room led back into the main shaft but the wall in front of them wouldn’t budge. They had been trapped in place. Discord took a few steps forward only for the floor to give way causing him to fall unceremoniously on the floor below them. Spike jumped down rolling to keep the shock from the impact from hitting him. When he looked closer there had been a cotton candy cloud right underneath Discord who smugly looked around the ship’s interior.

“Hah! You thought you could get me. I’m the only trickster around here and I’m not getting dropped. I get the drop on others.” Discord guffawed loudly. A piece of the ceiling then fell on his head causing him to bite his tongue. A small scream and a paw against his muzzle left Discord frustrated and cursing situational irony. Spike kept his chuckling to himself managing to look around for a sense of direction.

‘We’ve been wandering this place for a while now but I haven’t seen a door out of here. We must be getting closer but even I can’t tell where we need to go. We didn’t even defeat the creature that had attacked us. I wonder if it’s still out there or maybe it’s gotten the message and fears us now.’ Spike rubbed his chin with his claw lost in his thoughts. It had been a long day… or days. He still wasn’t sure if the realm with Freya even had days pass by but the worlds they visited seemed to. Then he felt something tug at him.

Instinct told him where to go. That instinct also wanted to lead him back down the main shaft towards where the creature first appeared. He then felt like kicking his instinct into the dirt and making it sorry for wanting to go back down where they had been trapped and nearly gutted.

“You good there Sir Spike the brave and glorious.” Discord smirked even wider when Spike shivered at his title. While he didn’t mind the attention the title was a mouthful and brought a lot of weird attention whenever he was in the Crystal Empire. Spike groaned at the mention of his nickname.

“Yes. Fine, Thanks for asking. Anyways… ,” Spike shuddered at what he was about to suggest, “ We probably have to go back down near where we were first attacked to get out of here. I can’t tell you why though. I just… feel like there is something there.” Spike wringed his claws together uncertain of his actions while a deadpan look fell across Discord’s face.

“Lead the way.” Discord stated bluntly.

“Huh?”

“I said lead the way. Like it or not we’re gonna have to trust those little nudges we get every once in awhile because we don’t have any other way to reliably figure out just where we are going. Right now I think we have to deal with the creature in some way that makes it possible for whichever bearer is in this world i.e. Applejack to get through with the minimal amount of problems.” Discord stood back up finally feeling his strength return and waited for Spike to stop making fish impersonations.

“Right… follow me.” Spike hobbled down the stairs which for some reason had frozen over. They didn’t cause either to slip around though. Spike felt the chill pierce his very heart filling it with the icy chill of death and despair… the blue fires hadn’t even burned him when they nearly glazed over his scales.

“Now that I think about it. Were those fires even hot? I saw them melt the cotton candy but they never got close to us.” Spike looked up to Discord who seemed to shiver as well but muted his more comical actions.

“This place is full of death regardless of how long ago it was. The flames of the underworld and some places in Tartarus have cold fire that blazes from a special guardian. That particular guardian uses the cold to specifically target creatures that were expecting the old fire and brimstone approach talked about in those old pony legends. When there is an abundance of death in one area that land becomes tainted but because this area doesn’t have magic in it the shadows and scars of the past keep the area cold and desolate with only the hardiest or more brutal of life being able to thrive in such areas.” Discord put on a cotton candy cloud on his head shaping it into a scholar’s cap as he answered the question.

Spike mulled over the new information he received. Discord knew a lot more than he would ever let anyone ever know about through his own facade or just because he enjoyed the role of the jester too much. Either way the pair kept quiet as they made their way down the stairs. As they did they passed by the corpses of several of the insectoid creatures that had attacked them earlier. Each had turned a dull shade of blue and one shattered the moment Spike had touched it. The strength of this spirit was not something to be trifled with.

When they finally reached the bottom level the entire chamber was covered in a thin layer of frost. Both were chattering and Spike’s own attempts at breathing fire seemed to die on his lips with how cold it was. They quickly waddled off in the direction Spike chose. At the end of the hallway was a door with three apples emblazoned on it shining readily for them to enter through.

“Finally we can get out of this place… “ Spike mumbled under his breath while the two traipsed through the frosted hallways. Then the creature made its reappearance. Foregoing the dimensional shifting it slammed itself into the pair from behind. They were closer to the door but now laid out on the ground from the sudden attack. It opened it’s eye and shot out as much fire as it could muster only to be shot back by the precision shots of the gauntlet.

Wounded and flailing around in pain the creature backed up flinging a tentacle into the dragon who had kept shooting it in the eye. A piercing shriek sounded out as the tentacle flung towards Spike at incredible speeds only for him to roll to the side at the last minute. Unknown to either side the tentacle had pierced one of the main power lines within the ship sending volt after volt deep into the dimensional being’s body frying it slightly. The spirit shifted once again before being dragged into the very core of the ship trapped as its guardianfor eternity and more.

“Woohoo... “ Spike managed to groan out before falling over a few feet away from the door. Discord was huddled over shivering uncontrollably. The cold had gotten to the both of them but Spike managed to pick himself back up.

“I guess fur doesn’t always help in the cold huh?” Spike managed to break out over his chattering teeth while Discord merely glared daggers at him. Opening the door Spike dragged Discord inside the room away from the dessicated remains of the ship and back into the sight of Freya.

Freya hovered off for parts unknown once again leaving the two to try and keep warm from the glacier they just left. Dealing with restless spirits and the cold chill of death was something they didn’t think they would be dealing with so often. Spike managed to breath out some fire warming the two up enough to stop the uncontrollable shivering. Discord managed to get back to his feet as the gauntlets fell off Spike’s claws fading to dust while the three apple marks floated over to its respective spot.

“Glad we are out of there now… Ghosts are always the toughest to get around. Still cold… “ Discord muttered out of his chattering teeth. The freezing had passed but they needed to keep moving on with this and the new door made him dread it all the worse.

“Celestia help us all… “ Spike mumbled when the door revealed itself. Right on it were three colorful balloons shining as a beacon for the criminally insane.

“I don’t know about you but I’m sleeping on this and not going into that kind of nightmare without a lot of caffeine and some kind of sedative for when things get too crazy. She may be my favorite to deal with but even I know that without my powers I could barely comprehend the crazy that could come about from that.” Discord mused to himself while watching his nearly blue paw.

“I thought you couldn’t look into the worlds we were being ushered into?” Spike raised his eyebrow at the dubious statement he just heard.

“We’ll keep this secret then Freya. Think you could figure out how to patch us in some information while you do so. I’m sure there is more fun to be had even now. Also aren’t you aware they are listening?” Discord’s smile slightly faltered but the fact she had brought this to their attention. The spheres were always watching.

“You mean our friends…?” Spike felt the comment slide off his tongue before he could fully think it through. The word elements didn’t immediately turn to his friends who all held Elements of Harmony around their neck sans Twilight. The tone she had taken had become almost… devoid of hope when she said it.

Neither said a word about what they heard. The concept of harmony and chaos working together while not unheard of thanks to Discord working with Equestria willingly lately was unsettling, to say the least, in this context. The two spheres had managed to work together to take the pair away but they didn’t seem keen on continuing to help each other. The circumstances changed a lot of things now plus the new information on who else got involved as a new bearer was something Discord found intriguing.

The two walked off for the baths made for them. Exhaustion had claimed them and they prepared for the next door and everything that it entailed.

Author's Notes:

Sorry this took a day or two longer than I anticipated.
Main points for the delay.
- I'm sick. Still am and it hurts every time I sneeze now. It really sucks.
-I have two jobs. I had to work the holiday for both places with no chance for a break. Though I did get overtime I'm still overly exhausted from the pain it caused.
-Writer's block. Seriously I had so much trouble just figuring out where this chapter was going but I finally figured something out. I thought I was gonna have more trouble dealing with Pinkie's or Rarity's but I actually know where those are going without going into details.