Sleep had not come easy to either of them. Discord had let fatigue listlessly drag him into nightmares where the Flutterbot had actually been Fluttershy. Spike’s own anxiousness came from the Twilight they had been forced to leave behind. Both minds were still reeling from the last couple of days or at least what they felt had been days. Freya merely watched over the pair during the entire endeavor. Healing their bodies was an easy matter but even with her power the mind was one of the only things she couldn’t help. The underlying subconscious would constantly fight back and continually find ways to keep itself safe from the delusions of the world around them. While she could peer into their minds she could only watch the surface and the few spikes of emotion that broke the tension of that surface.

Discord woke up first. Looking around in confusion he slowly noted Freya watching them and calmed himself. He didn’t say anything but the polite nod of his head conveyed all the meaning either of them needed. Gratitude. While he hadn’t expected himself to stay the entire night near the light he remembered that something compelled him to stay and it wasn’t just fatigue. Strangely enough he knew that it wasn’t love either. He couldn’t explain his own chaotic mindscape even to himself. Spike yawned shortly after him dragging Discord’s attention to the small drake.

‘Seriously I have another good friend in a small dragon and I still don’t believe how sentimental I’ve been in this place. Still… No one should have to see the horrors that occurred in that base. Especially when the perpetrator looks exactly like the mare who helped raise him. Must remember to examine all the ponies who become element bearers for their chaotic tendencies so they only become tricksters rather than killers. It was far too easy for those Twilight clones to be corrupted into monsters. Even I made sure not to kill. Puppets who can’t fight back are just boring and death is the ultimate order.’ Discord quickly hid his feelings on the matter and walked over to one of the tables in the next room leaving Spike to his own musings. Hunger gnawed at him and sustenance would be a necessity.

Spike kept to the bed for a short while longer. While he was still a little put off by Discord pretending not to know DJ-PON3 it wasn’t what was bothering him. Something else had gotten to him.

‘How well are we going to handle these next worlds… We barely survived the world Applejack had been sent and then we had more trouble when we went into the world Fluttershy had been held within. Fighting robots sucked so badly. Glad Twilight isn’t around to hear my thoughts. Wouldn’t like to hear that lecture…’ Spike instinctively grabbed his tail curling as much as he could around him. He didn’t cry but he did feel that tears were trying to threaten their way out. The world Twilight had been held was something he wished he could have gone without seeing. How they managed clones without the Mirror Pool led him to thinking increasingly horrible things throughout his dreams. They only stopped when he finally couldn’t think any other horrible things. Luna wasn’t around to wash away the nightmares and he needed it to stop.

With a weary sigh he cleaned off his face from the tears that hadn’t fallen and joined Discord at the table. Both remained silent throughout the meal. Both seemed to share the same idea on the matter though and one look on both their faces shared the sentiment.

‘Caring about others is harder than it looks, isn’t it?’ Both ended up laughing when they realized they had the same look. The levity was welcomed enough.

“So we’re going into the DJ’s world then?” Discord opened the conversation with almost disinterestedly.

“Yeah. Some sources say she’s mute and others say that she is just a mare of few words who only speaks when it’s something important. Others say she’s just too lazy to speak and lets her wubs do the talking for her.” Spike explained trying to keep the information short and concise.

“Really? That sound vaguely interesting then.” Discord spoke up with actual growing interest. The wubs hadn’t actually brought it though. The fact that the mare didn’t speak unless she wanted to was a pretty chaotic thing but only on the smallest scale. He could see many applications of this should there ever be a dinner party and he wanted to annoy someone so thoroughly.

“Supposedly yeah. I think she told me that she wanted to raise some mystique on her profession or something like that. She was very short with her explanation because there were too many other ponies around. I did manage to keep in touch with her though so I got to meet a lot of the ponies in town. Luckily, if it’s a mark I know I’ll be able to tell which pony were involved with.” Spike thought back to the rest of his meetings. There were many ponies that were involved in some way with him and the other elements. The fact that thanks to him Twilight had more friends rather than just the five he met that first day in Ponyville was test of patience on his part. Twilight hadn’t been so receptive to the idea but stopped complaining when he mentioned telling Celestia about all the friends she made.

‘She couldn’t be awake at all times of the day. Plus she never looked over what I wrote after I wrote it.’ Spike thought as he lifted up his old backpack that Discord held out for him and stuffed in a few more gem shards in case of emergencies.

The two made their way to the door and slowly opened it. Both were flung into the new world by the strange force but kept themselves from reacting, They had been through the same song and dance seven times at that point and mostly nothing could surprise them. Then they landed in some water and immediately were forced to swim for their lives. Strangely enough the water wasn’t cold.

“Well this is just great. We landed in an ocean. Now where do we go from here?” Spike complained as he spat out some water.

“There probably?” Discord deadpanned as he pointed his thumb at a strange shaped island in the form of an ape’s head.

“Oh.”

The two managed to get to the shore without much problem still drenched from the sea water and the constant rush of the waves didn’t help. While the island wasn’t deserted there did seem to be very few inhabitants within the area. Discord kept peering around for anything explicitly out of place but the island was all natural. For some reason he felt as though someone had been making a factory on the island.

“Have you felt anything about the item we need? This place looks abandoned.” Spike muttered more to himself the last line. Seawater always made him feel weird though he never knew why. ‘Probably from Winter Wrap Up or something…’ Spike shut the thoughts out. It wasn’t cold and the tropical setting was very welcome.

“Right give me a sec… “ Discord dismissively waved his paw and focused on his surroundings.

The tug of the artifact seemed to pull from the center of the island but he couldn’t figure out where exactly. Similar to the incident with Rarity’s artifact it kept moving back and forth but it was always the same direction regardless of where he moved. It was in the center of the island. Somewhere beyond the foliage of the jungle canopy was an artifact specifically for the draconequus to use to empower himself into more of a demi god then he already was.

“Looks like it’s in there. Ready to go or do you want to give it a few minutes until we figure out your new ability? Elysium knows that that is the best part of getting new powers.” Discord poked at Spike’s cheek prodding him into action. Spike, for his part, seemed to contemplate the same idea. New powers and not knowing how to use them only left him a slight pang of dread from not being prepared. Without Twilight around he needed to keep up with the new powers.

Without any warning Spike ambled a short distance away and began the same process he had with his other powers. The tug at the back of his mind seemed to pull at that small desire. Taking a deep breath he tried to expel a large stream of fire from his maw. Fluttershy’s mark activated at that point and released a frigid blast of frozen air freezing the very ground before him. The mark on his back steadily drained while he breathed.

Taking another breath Spike tried to release the stream of frozen air only for a torrent of electricity to release from his mouth supercharging the very ground around him. Bolts of lightning seemed to crackle from the very ground confusing the small drake that something of that caliber came out of him. The mark on his back drained even faster leaving it only a quarter full.

Trying one more time Spike released another breath but this one was a sickly dark green and covered the land in a brown haze which killed the very ground around the clouds. The earth itself was saturated and any insects which flew too close instantly crumbled to ash just from touching the noxious clouds. The mark fully drained and started to refill even slower than the last mark. Spike fell over exhausted and slight out of his mind.

“Huh… Well that was interesting. You managed to change the property of your breath. So ice, electricity, and poison. Maybe you have more to offer then. A veritable variety of vile weapons that ventilate and violate various villainous weirdos.” Discord sat on his tail which he folded his arms in sheer intrigue from the sudden show before him.

“Did you really need the alliteration…” Spike groaned out. He didn’t know how he knew that but it sounded like something Twilight had done about politely panicking ponies or something to that effect.

“No but who can resist the challenge in the first place, huh?” Discord smiled wider as he waited for Spike to get back up. “Got any other breath weapons?”

Spike managed to get back up and the Fluttershy mark finally refilled itself. While he was also curious about his abilities there was also a need to continue on this quest gnawing at the back of his mind. Pushing that nagging thought to the back he let his own curiosity get the best of him.

Taking a deep breath Spike released a torrent of water out of his maw. The ground was soaked shorting out the still electrified floor, putting out the flames and drowning the poison, and freezing within the confines of the ice. Spike blinked a couple of times before closing his mouth. The water had been clear and strangely wasn’t made of drool. ‘Actually that is probably the best case scenario.’ Spike surmised.

Taking another breath Spike released a torrent of wind that blew away the breath weapons he had already used. The mark drained out once again leaving Spike gasping for breath on the ground. ‘Sweet Celestia I’m tired…’ Spike groaned out in pain. Taking several minutes to rest Spike looked back on his new arsenal. Fire breath was his main draw and could be concentrated but he now had access to ice, lightning, poison, water, and wind. It was a strange collection to say the least.

‘Next thing you know they’re gonna give me more breath weapons everytime I get a new element ability.’ Spike dubiously thought yet that small twinge at the back of his mind may him think otherwise. There was a possibility that it would happen when he got another ability. Discord, meanwhile, was examining the left behind fields where the abilities had effected.

“Looks like you got super charged. Versatility thy name is breath weapon. Part of me wants a breath weapon now but I still think it might be too powerful. I mean look at me. I’m already the pinnacle of amazing. Anymore might just blind the others.” Discord smirked as his tail slapped away the ice covering the ground still. The ground beneath seemed to be fine and was luckily not ruined by the sudden frostbite.

“Well at least it wouldn’t be lethal…” Spike trailed off when he noticed that the poisoned ground actually turned to slop and bubbled foully. “At least mostly not lethal. So I have a variable breath weapon system. Seems like we’ll need it later. Especially for a world like this if it’s as dangerous as I think it could be.” Spike finished off his thoughts before breathing a gout of flames at the poisoned ground melting away the slop into ash so that the tainted earth could be purified in a sense.

“Shall we then. As much fun as it’s been watching you test out new powers I think it’s about time we get me something new to work with. A draconequus can only work cotton candy and telekinesis into perfect art forms for all eternity.” Discord playfully chuckled at his professionalism which wasn’t all that proper without him using something for the gag.

“I don’t know. You’ve been doing really well with what you have regardless. Managed to toss a robot like it was nothing.” Spike pointed out.

“Perhaps but I need something flashier. Everything I’ve got has been too practical and straightforward. That’s not this being’s schtick. I need explosions or sight gags to make it all complete.” Discord flared his arms out in a circus leader’s fashion towards an invisible crowd.

“You have lightning for shock and awe.” Spike bluntly deadpanned.

“Not enough.” Discord pointed out making Spike roll his eyes in exasperation.

Wasting no more time the pair started their trek into the dense foliage of the jungle canopy through seemingly marked trails already in place. They seemed to be pony made, at least, in Spike’s mind. The trails had been painstakingly carved out and sent in a particular line. Discord remained wary throughout the trip. Every once in awhile he would summon a cotton candy cloud and fling it into the depths. The the jungle would be more lively as the thrashing of the trees and the sudden buzzing noise filled the area deafening all other sounds out. Spike nervously stepped past where the next sounds came up when the two were suddenly swarmed by a pack of large bees.

“Ah horseapples…” Discord muttered as the next cloud came out and shot lightning out at the swarm. Several of the yellow coated ones instantly fell off into the jungle while the red ones tanked the lightning. Eyes widening in shock Discord backed up while Spike stepped forward. Charging up his breath he released a stream of cold air which froze the wings on the bees making them fall to the ground.

Angered but unable to walk due to the lack of legs, the bees flailed about unable to get much distance in their hops. They tired themselves out leaving the duo the chance to run past the carnage. The bees had proven to be strong enough to tank lightning and freezing their wings still left them able to move. At least the red ones had been dealt with.

“Those bees were as big as me!” Spike cried out unable to keep his panic from growing. Instead Spike smacked himself across the cheek forcing him out of his revelry and fear.

“I wonder if the saying what is the sound of one hand clapping fits here.” Discord wistfully stared at the drake who eyed him with a slight bit of confusion. “ Because that broke the scale.”

Instead of laughing a cricket began playing in the distance while Spike groaned at the pun. Discord merely laughed it up though it seemed more forced than anything.

“Ya done?” Spike facepalmed and rubbed his forehead in thought.

“What? I can’t pull jewels out all the time.” Discord growled out. Though a part of him looked apprehensive because he knew he was stretching the joke.

“Just… just lead the way please. We’ll sit down and figure out some jokes when we get back to the room.” Spike groaned out

“Fine…” Discord rolled his eyes and grunted in annoyance. The feel of the artifact soon began to pull him towards a trail that seemed to be going up the mountain. Steeling himself he started up the path only to duck out of the way when a barrel came rolling straight at his head, Spike, instead, shot a blast of fire supercharged by Applejack’s mark and incinerated the barrel before it could get any closer.

“Let’s get going before another one comes.” Spike spoke too soon as another barrel shot out at them. On the side were three letters. ‘T-N-T’.

“Oh ponyfeathers…” Spike muttered as he shot out another fireball. Everything exploded. A large crater was left on the trail but the duo managed to circumvent the terrain when several more barrels began flying down at them. Every dodge and every weave left the ground a tattered mess of craters and ash. Several times Spike has to shoot off a fireball making a chain reaction of explosions leaving the two partially deaf and covered in soot.

As the reached the end of the path they finally found the culprit. A large orangutan was chucking barrels at the pair. The problem came when they noticed that it had magically charged red eyes staring down the two. When Discord attempted to use telekinesis to move the barrels away it flung a steel barrel much faster than it should possibly be able to do. Releasing his hold Discord hopped to the side as the barrel struck a tree and snapped it two. In retaliation Discord trapped the creature in cotton candy… which it started to eat it’s way out of.

“Curse you delicious confectionary made of sugar, you have betrayed me to no end!” Discord cried out as he got on his knees in mock sadness. Pulling himself together, without making his body parts fall apart, he snapped his fingers and electrocuted the creature into submission. It stumbled around a bit before falling over in a daze. A large red cloud was released from its body and fled into the jungle and seemed to head higher into the mountains.

“Discord, are we going the right way?” Spike breathed out. He was tired once again. The explosions had forced him to run much longer than he was used to. Discord was also heaving from the physical activity. While he would never mention it, he had been very lazy until the events of that kidnapping event. Feeling around with his talons Discord felt the pull of the artifact still leading him up the mountain. Now he knew for sure where the feeling was coming from since it stopped hovering on the up and down axis settling for up.

“Yeah. I have a good feeling I know where the item is now. We just have to keep climbing up. Towards those black clouds off in the distance. Yes, I know they look scary but they can’t be all bad.” Discord smiled while his back was turned to the clouds. Spike, on the other hand, saw.

Lightning shattered the very landscape from the area where the dark clouds were. Then a gout of fire erupted from the area while hail fell from the sky in that exact same area. Spike blinked once, then twice, then thrice waiting for the punch line. ‘Nope that’s actually what happened just now…’ Spike quickly averted his eyes and motioned for Discord to continue. When he did turn around all the insanity that Spike had seen had disappeared.

“OH COME ON!” Spike screamed out knowing he had been pranked by the second oldest circumstance of Murpneigh’s law. Discord luckily didn’t react negatively.

“Let me guess… Something bad happened while my back was turned huh?” Discord stared at the small drake who merely nodded in agreement. “Well damn… I missed some great chaos then.”

Spike stared at the draconequus then facepalmed when he realized once again that he was dealing with Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. ‘Hello, you know who you’re hanging out with.’ Spike chastised his own mind while the two kept walking up the paths that were left behind.

Every couple of trails another orangutang would come out of the canopy and start chucking barrels at them. They were all explosive barrels as well making the landscape exactly how Tirek made the landscape when he fought against Twilight. The cotton candy trick worked each time while Spike sniped the barrels that did make it through their precision teamwork. Though the steel barrels had been the most dangerous of the attack. Even with a full charge Discord’s telekinesis couldn’t hold back the force of the attack, merely redirect it into something else.

“These guys sure are stubborn. Where do these guys come from anyways?” Spike thought aloud while he ducked before another steel barrel flew past his head scraping the tips of his frills. As the last creature fell Discord sat against a tree and waited for his breath to catch. While using his powers in that limiting manner didn’t tire him out the overuse and combination of several powers gave him a serious migraine which would disappear after resting for a while.

“Does it matter? I mean we’re barely holding our own against these creatures yet we managed to walk away from other problems with nary a scratch. No, the robots don’t count.” Discord swiftly cut Spike off from his retort. The robots had been a blind spot and the robotic Fluttershy was still in his thoughts. It was not a good day.

Discord’s migraine soon left him as he pulled out some food from the pack on Spike’s back. Spike followed suit and also ate something. Regardless of the danger around them their abilities would serve them well enough to stop anything before they could finish eating. Plus the trek had made them hungry enough to scare away a bear. ‘Watch out Harry, there’s a new predator on the prowl.’ Discord hummed to himself as he finished the sandwich he had brought.

Finishing up the dynamic duo reached the end of the trail. Before them stood a grand quarry with a large factory sitting in the center of said quarry. It seemed to ooze with pollution and tore into the very landscape marring the otherwise pristine view. The pull of the artifact seemed to come from somewhere within the dilapidated factory forcing Spike to groan when Discord had pointed it out.

“So a ruined factory in the middle of a quarry on an otherwise uninhabited island with local orangutans who managed to somehow make explosives in barrel form and craft steel barrels which can snap a tree in half. Am I missing anything or have I freaked out enough?” Spike growled out with the frustration on his face appearing to be very evident.

“Don’t forget that we have no idea what’s in there.” Discord innocently enough chimed in leaving Spike to groan into his claws. Frustration would be all he got today.

“Thanks for reminding me.” Spike managed to snark in a sarcastic tone. Discord ignored it and in the most genuinely kind tone he could muster made Spike want to scream out.

“No problem buddy. Can’t have you get off your toes now. We need to press on.” Spike merely curled up and started mumbling to himself.

‘Sweet Celestia help me…’ Spike mumbled his mantra while Discord smiled at the scene. He wished he had a camera. Regardless the two waited until Spike recollected his marbles to explore what awaited them within the ruins of the factory.

Author's Notes:

Spike has scales. I'm not sorry for the horrible pun but I'm sorry for the horrible delivery.