The room was filled with only the sound of a clock ticking, the atmosphere heavy. Crystal sighed, leaning her back against the sofa, feeling…..tired. Fatigued. She rubbed her face and groaned. She had always wondered if it was that the Gods just hated her. Or maybe she was given this kind of life out of pity? Was her life far better now with what she’s got?

She chuckled, but she knew inside she really just felt like screaming. Her hands trailed from her face to the top of her head, gripping onto her hair as she suddenly felt frustrated. Mad. Guilty maybe? Her feelings were too mixed up for her to even differentiate. ….She can’t know. She just can’t. My…..doings are justified. It is- it is!

Was immortality really real? And if so, was it really a blessing? She felt like it was rather a curse in disguise. For once in her life, she finally got to experience the true meaning of outliving a friend. ….it can’t….it just can’t…… It had been years, but still she wanted it to be a lie. A ‘fortune’ that was ‘fortold’ only to spook them. She didn’t want to outlive anyone…..she really didn’t.

Why would you want to live forever in a world that would have no worth to live? She…..she knew that she had even gotten that far only because of her sister. Now she didn’t even want to talk to her. The loath that seeped from her sister’s tears as she would glare at her, questioning her older sister’s action. “Why. Why did you do that?” her sister would ask, pained and confused with what happened.

But she had to. She just had to.

A hand trailed down to her neck, fondling her ‘precious’ pendant. She looked down at it as she held it up close to her eyes. A blue stone, tied to a golden chain. The stone itself was smooth. For some reason, it felt like as if the thing had betrayed her. What she had always thought to have kept them safe….

…got them into more danger than they could’ve ever gotten themselves into.

Her hair was brightly colored, with a random white streak in the front. It used to be a beautiful brown, however after having the amulet, she had suspected thast it was the cause of the change of her hair color. It was the same with her brother too.

….brother….

…heh, what a shame it was to call him brother.

She dropped her pendant and with a sigh looked around in the room. Her eyes trailed from the coffee table to the shiny screen of the TV, the shelf and finally, just the walls. Her eyes scanned through the pictures hung on the walls.

A certain picture frame caught her eye as she remembered the context behind it. It was a picture of her, Eliza and……

He was smiling……was that faked too?

She pondered of all their old memories they had together. Was it all a big act? Why? Why did he do it?

.

Eliza never forgave her.

.

She would never.

.

Would you forgive a murderer?

Her thoughts were interrupted as a knock sounded by the door. She jolted upright immediately, turnig her head towards the front door behind the sofa. Who could it be? The blinds were closed, she never bothered to open them as she got home, so she couldn’t see who was out there. Annoyed but curious as to who it was, she got up to open it.

“….?” She gave Chloe a look of question. Why….why is she here?

Chloe’s hair was a vibrant pink, tied into pigtails. She had dyed it after reuniting with Crystal and her sis and bro, and after being explained about their odd hair colors. She didn’t want them to feel odd. Most of their friends joined in on the hair dyeing thing.

She wore yellow overalls and a blue button shirt that day, with a noticeable basket of what appeared to be sweets by her legs.

“…..Heya, Crystal,” greeted Chloe, offering a smile. However, she wasn’t returned a smile at all. Only the same look of question. What are you doing here? I….I hate that name. “…..uhm….” she tilted her head a little, a little disappointed to see her friend depressed as she was then. She extended her arms instead, signaling for a…..hug? Crystal didn’t respond, however Chloe was insistent on the hug as she gave one to her anyway. “….h-how’s it goin’, pal? Have you been…..out?”

“….no.”

Chloe kept smiling, even more disappointed with that dead answer she had just given. “….come on, Crystal, cheer up. I….” she let go of the hug and reached for the goodie basket beside her. “…got you some goodies. Well not me, but Ben. He had a friend that came back from Tokyo with cool snacks, I’m sure you’ll wanna try some?.....”

“I…..” I don’t……I don’t want it…. I…. “….thanks,” was all that she said, eyeing the basket suspiciously but other than that was obviously uninterested. Chloe handed the basket over to Crystal, who hesitated at first but took it after.

“…….soooo……you plannin’ to go out? We’re planning to have a picnic by the falls- would you want to join?” she asked with a smile.

Crystal hesitated to answer. I don’t want to…… “I…., Chloe- is….Elizabeth coming?”

Chloe opened her mouth to reply, but hesitated at first. “……Eliza…..she said she wouldn’t be interested if you came along- but! But! I feel like maybe you need a break from the house and……you can spend time with your buddies without having to worry about anyone else?” she laughed nervously.

“I…..I don’t know, Chloe-“

“Michael said he would bring his new cupcake recipe for us all to try! Chocolatte surprise, huh?” she nudged her elbow against Crystal. “…..it isn’t a surprise anymore considering the title but- you have to admit it does sound good, doesn’t it?”

“……..”

“…think about it, Mia?” she finally said, giving her puppy eyes. “It’s not always that we can get together like this. I know you’re sad and you need time- but getting yourself cooped up isn’t helping. Please?”

Crystal looked down at the goodie basket, eyeing the packets of snacks labeled with words she couldn’t understand. She looked up to Chloe, who gave her hopeful eyes. “……got it, thanks for, uh, ya know, comin’ by.”

Chloe lit up at that response. “That’s what pals are for! I’ll let you think about it- call me if you need anything!” she said as she waved a goodbye and left, knowing that Crystal still needed time to process what happened.

Crystal entered the house once more and closed the door. Looking back down at the basket, she smiled. “…t-thanks, Chloe.”

She and her brother had always been fascinated by the wonders the universe hid. From magical spells to sci-fi, they tried their best to look through what they can. One of their proudest achievements was learning to travel to other dimensions. Their proudest invention- the warp pad.

It was a small tablet, however it had the ability to send them to places with only the click of a button.

She stood in the middle of her bedroom, holding the device in her palms as she contemplated where to go. She needed fresh air. She needed to roam for a bit. Take the edge off a little. Who knows- she might even start smoking a hookah with some gang of aliens. Whatever, she just needed to think of something else for once.

She had her satchel, filled with the goodies given by Chloe, her phone and some other stuff she was not bothered by.

She turned on the tablet, with its screen beginning to glow a fine blue. Scrolling through a bunch of codes, she thought of travelling somewhere she haven’t been before. With that, she swiped down as far as she could, eventually reaching untouched codes she could key in. !!!! her eyes read one of the codes, and she looked at it with confusion. Most of the codes she’s seen had been consisted of numbers like 466658 or 399786. Never had she seen such a code.

She was tempted to click it….however hesitated. It looked….off. Somehow. Instead, she just pinned the code for future research maybe. And she clicked a different code to key in. As she did, a message popped up asking for her confirmation. She sighed, looked around, and clicked confirm. From there, immediately a bright glow shined from the tablet, enveloping her with light, and from there she was teleported.

Her eyes opened as she took in the view and the…..familiar scent of alcohol. Along with the noisy crowd of people that went around there. The light faded as she lowered her arm that held the device. She examined the place.

She stood by some sort of walkway of a……tavern? Beside her immediately was the bar, with odd looking creatures drinking happily and caroling tunes. The bartender was just wiping mugs casually. Behind the bartender was a huge glass dispenser accompanied by several other smaller ones. She assumed it was what was considered beer maybe here? The liquid in it was a bright purple substance.

She jolted suddenly as she was surprised by the sudden loud thuds and laughter coming from another table. She turned her head to her left and saw creatures playing what appeared to be poker and gambling some fine looking chips. In the corner of the tavern was a jukebox, playing God knows what as it sounded horrendous. Imagine slapping a plate of mash potatoes and chewing on biscuits, along with a kid violently screaming and throwing a tantrum asking for the best and most expensive toy in Target, and you’ll get what I mean.

She backed up slightly as she tried to process wherever in the galaxy she was, and as she did she had accidentally stumbled into…some sort of wetness. She looked down to her shoes and saw that she had stepped in an odd puddle of some unidentifiable goo.

"....shit," she cursed as she raised her goo covered shoe. She looked around helplessly for a stallroom maybe, and was relieved when she saw what seemed to be it. Two doors with signs hanging on it, one with a picture of a donut and the other a…… “....aight then,” she stumbled hurriedly stumbled towards the donut door. Hopefully it was the right stallroom. Hopefully.

She managed to clean off the goop with a few tissues in one of the vacant stalls. She was relieved that it was empty. God forbid she actually did just enter the wrong stallroom and get caught. Or maybe not- who knows, it’s not possible they’ll know what gender a human even is.

"….it’ll do," she mumbled as she flushed the tissues down into the toilet and opened the door of her stall. When she came out however, she was taken aback as she noticed two creatures staring at her from the corner of the room. "...uh…..hi?” she said, rushing herself towards the sinks to wash up a bit.

She could see them from the stallroom mirrors, and they were undeniably still staring at her. She frowned, not knowing what their intentions were. She inspected them a little. The taller one’s skin was of a reptile, purple with a tint of blue. The shorter one also had the same type of skin, but instead had the color of orange with a tint of yellow.

As she rinsed off, she could hear a conversation unfold between the whoevers. “See? I told you it came into here!”

“What even is it?” the taller one whispered.

“Ain’t got no fucking clue! That’s why I called ya in!”

“We gonna get caught sooner or later lurkin’ in the ladies loo room….”

She frowned as she heard that. Perverts. She hurriedly washed her hands. She could hear them whispering even more quieter, following a sudden look of surprise on the shorter creature’s face. But the whispers continued anyway.

While drying her hands on her own clothes, she noticed from the mirror that the shorty started to walk up to her. Upon noticing that, she felt slightly uncomfortable. Maybe a little scared too. And her suspicions were confirmed as she jolted when he tapped her shoulders. She turned to face the creature slowly. “….uh….c-can I help you?”

“…” the Creature looked back himself to the tall friend of his, who gestured at him to go forward. The shorty looked back at Crystal. “…my- uhm- buddy, dared me to come and uh…..kiss you. You mind?”

...how fucking straight forward.

She looked at 'it', both disgusted and scared. "..uh….look, I’m sure there’s someone way more better to kiss than me- o-okay? I’ll be going now….” She tried to walk away but was stopped when he gripped her left arm, tight.

“W-wait- please?” he asked again.

This time, Crystal didn’t hesitate. “No!” she pulled her arm back. “Get lost, I’m not doing anything for a rando. What- he payin- you or something?”

“…50 quid,” he said. Crystal blinked.

“….boy, you’re trading your dignity for some flimsy quids here. I’m out,” she tried again tyo walk away, but was surprised when she felt his arms trying to hold her hips. “Wha-hey!” she tried to push him away but was met with only the stickiness of his body. “Eww!- WHAT THE FUCK!! GET OFF ME YOU FUCKER!” she kicked him in the stomach, which affected him greatly as he yowled in pain. She heard the other guy giggling from the corner of the room.

Desperately, she tried to ran- but again he tried. This time, he pulled on her leg as she tried to run, which tripped her. Taking chances, he towered over her on the floor, faces meeting. “L-look, I don’t wanna hurt you…”

“WHAT IN THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN?!” she yelled as she spat into his face and finally kicking what she knew immediately was his groin as he yelped, his voice cracked and turning him into sounding like a little girl. He fell over, grasping his crotch in agony. She quickly ran into one of the stalls, took out her tablet and pressed onto a random code, not caring which one she had clicked. And confirmed.

"....f-fuckin'- OI! COME BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE-" she was immediately teleported.

Her eyes opened immediately, and was met with an….odd view. As she tried to scratch her head however, she noticed something even more odd. She felt so…..naked. So….fur. Fur….she looked down at herself….

"....whAT?!” she jumped, and as she tried to stand, she fell backwards. “H-holy!!-“ she raised her hands up…. “…G-GAH WHERE ARE MY HANDS?!” Stubs. “WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES?!” Fur. “MY FWACE!!” She rubbed her face around as she felt her muzzle. It trailed all the way to….a horn? “….waHHh!!”

She was more concerned with how she looked like more than anything. Her eyes scanned the area for a lake or something to see her reflection in. Fortunately, not far away was a….murky puddle. Whatever, she quickly stumbled towards the puddle. Having stubs was a hard change for her, as she struggled to even walk and tripped at almost every step. Luckily the puddle wasn’t far, and as she got there she stared in surprise at the reflection she got.

Horn……hooves? Wings…..a weird butt tattoo in a shape of a music note. She turned to her own flank and was surprised. She then thought…..

She….she was a….pony?

She then looked around at the odd place she landed in. Fuck, traumatised by her friend's death, almost getting kissed by a weird turd and now turned into a possibly cute and adorable pony? How could this day get any worse.

She scanned her surroundings. Indeed, it was an odd place. Candy canes protruded from the ground as the roads were lined with giant Skittles apparently. She looked up into the sky and saw…odd and demented looking birds- flying upside down?! She could’ve also sworn she heard them moo. “….what is this?” The sky itself was pink and lined with…..

"....cotton candy?" She saw pink fluffy clouds floating above her, and as she saw a drop fall, she immediately gave way for it less she wanted to get soaked by….chocolate milk? She stuck her tongue out and let a drop fall onto her tongue. It…it was! “….holy shit, is this the Wonka factory?”

“I would like to be viewed as an original artist, Mr Wonka was a plageriser and that’s final, thank you,” said a mysterious voice suddenly, making her jump.

“Wh-what?! Who are you?” she looked around her, but was met with nothing. “….w-where are you?!”

"So many directions, so much time, what other directions have you missed?” the voice seemed to tease. “North, South, East, West- have you tried North West? Or South East maybe? Quite a dilemma.”

She finally realized where the voice was coming from. She panned up, and what she saw was….surprising.

It laid on the cloud, holding a cup of what appeared to be the chocolate milk the cloud produced. Mismatched legs, wings, arms, horns….those eyes! “…dear Lord what are you?”

“The better question is who are you?” the creature asked. “I’ve been alive for plenty of centuries but never have I seen another alicorn besides the star princesses and the love horse. What are you?”

“…A-alicorn?” she repeated the word. What’s an….alicorn?

"Well duh. What did you think you are, a zebra?" he said. He floated next to her. "Although, if that is a fantasy of yours then lucky for you, your wish could be fulfilled," he said as he trailed his talon along her body, stripes appearing following the trail.

“W-woah!!” she yelped in alarm, making him grin at the surprised and confused, maybe terrified reaction she gave. His gaze returned back to his beverage.

She gave a puzzled look as he drank the glass instead of the chocolate milk. "I know I’m rather charming but I really do want to know your name,” he asked, holding a solid chunk of chocolate milk apparently.

".... C-C-Crystal Miamori," she stammered, but cursing herself afterwards for stuttering.

"C-C-C-Crystal! What a m-m-m-marvelous name you got there! I’ll make my name like that too, D-D-Discord! L-L-Lord of Chaos! How fun this is!” he mocked her. His eyes trailed down to her pendant suddenly. “….so what’s that thing around your neck, is-is it some lucky charm or some cursed amulet? Whatever it is it gives me the heeby jeebys- huurghh!” he shivered all over.

She looked down to her pendant. It caught his eye apparently? “…u-uh….w-what’s that on your….arm?! …..uh…..bye!” she said suddenly and ran off, leaving Discord staring at her in confusion as she did. She ran towards some forest of candied trees in the distance. When she got far enough, or well- when she could look behind and not see the thing anymore, she hurriedly dipped her hooves into what became now a saddlebag? And pulled out her warp pad. As she took it out and tried to turn it on, it suddenly announced a message.

“-Low Battery, Power Off-”

“Oh no- not now!!” she exclaimed abruptly but caught herself in case he heard. However she couldn’t help but feel frustrated at that point! She should’ve charged it fully before she left home. Her efforts to silence herself came too late, as again his voice boomed in the distance.

"How rude of you! Running off while we were having such a pleasant conversation……" said Discord, his snake-like body coiled on the tree branch above. "And Celestia said I'm the immature one..." She tried to run away, but tripped on a branch along the way, face planting into dirt. "What's the hurry? The fun just started!" he said, as a burst of confetti came out of nowhere.

She turned onto her back to face him, and stammered. "...y-you don't scare me..." she said, glaring at him.

His grin widened. "Oh, but you should be," he said as his face started contorting and leaning towards her. His eyes shined a bright red as his ‘sharp’ teeth shimmered. "The big bad Discord is feared by everypony, and if you don't fear him, something bad might happen, muahahahah......" he laughed, mockingly and obviously impersonating the cliché villain laugh from movies.

“I…..I’m not scared! I just….need to go home……” she said, although her eyes closed for a moment when he tried to scare her previously.

He turned back to normal after that remark. "…hmm. Welp, so sad. I would help you, but I just have so much chaosing to do! Maybe later, see you soon, ta-ta!" he said finally, snapping his talon and enveloped himself in a white flash. She covered her eyes as it shone bright.

She slowly lowered her hooves as she watched the light fade, and he disappeared. ".....I didn't say I needed your help anyway….” She mumbled. She looked around again, and sighed.

Just where was she?

What do I do? What do I do?

She looked up to the sun, which seemed to be in the same position since like a while ago.

She had been there for a possibly a few hours? Or maybe a few minutes. However long it had been, it felt like damn ages. Her phone time was all hay-wired for some reason, making checking the time there useless. She sighed. Poor thing can't figure itself out. She looked back to the sun. "Wasn't the sun supposed to set hours ago?" she said, confused.

"But then the day would end. And I'm just having too much fun today!" said a familiar voice. "Have you found a way to your so-called ‘home’ yet?" said Discord as he hovered atop of her.

She blinked, but didn’t react much as she felt tired with his antics at that point. “I……oh, you won’t get it.”

"Oh, but maybe I will! Come on, we won’t know if we don’t try….” he mused. She merely rolled her eyes.

“Leave me be already, patchwork. I’m tired.”

"Names won’t repel me, my dear. It’s still so early in the morning!” he exclaimed as they looked up to the sun.

"Well, no shit, you left it that way,” she deadpanned. She started to walk away, trying to get out of the conversation as she felt more and more annoyed the longer he stayed by. “I’m heading this way. You go do your chaosing elsewhere, please.”

"...oh hoho, you really mean that?” he asked, starting to perk up slightly as he had a sudden plan in mind. He grinned, although it went unnoticed for the pony.

"Have a blast, patchwork. Not like I care,” she said, not even batting an eye as she went her merry way. Or at least, tried to.

However, she gasped in surprise as she felt herself being lifted up. Discord held her up as if she was a cat. “Ooh! What a grand statement you have made! I wonder how Sunbutt would react to your words- shall we see for ourselves?”

“What- hey! Drop me, you big jerk!” she struggled in his grasp, however with their size differences, it didn’t work. He didn’t even flinch, it just made him grin even more.

This time, he rolled his eyes. “Stop squirming, will you? It’ll be a quick in and out of the castle- not biggie!”

“In and out? Castle?!! Where are you planning to take me to?!!” she shrieked, hitting every part of his body visible to her. He wasn’t affected at all.

“Wait and see~” was all that he said before snapping his talon, teleporting them.

In a flash, Crystal’s eyes widened as they were indeed teleported to….somewhere. The room that they were in was big and fancy looking, as if they had walked into those fancy old fashioned mansions. “W-where?”

“Here my friend, is the castle of Canterlot. Home to only the snobbiest of ladies-“

“DISCORD, RELEASE US THIS INSTANT!!!” boomed a voice in a deafening volume. Crystal looked around in surprise, not knowing where the voice came from.

“-and the loudest of royal tongues. Really Lulu, is there no volume control to that mouth of yours?” he panned up to the ceiling. Crystal furrowed her brows in confusion and panned up as well. And there, she saw what the whole commotion was about.

Three other ponies were…..stuck onto the ceiling. And with what she could tell is….gum? A huge load of it apparently. One of them had a pure white coat, with chewing gum wrapped around her horn. Her mane was a mixture on blue, yellow and pink. Her condition was similar to the one beside her, whose mane was a beautiful night blue, her coat was quite similar actually. On the other side of the white pony was a pink one, her mane a beautiful mix of pink, purple and yellow. However, as wondrous as the colors of their manes may be, it was then ruined by small sticky parts of gum.

Crystal could tell which one of them was the one that yelled bloody murder, as the blue one glared down at Discord menacingly, huffing from the possible anger she had just let out. She eyed the white one again, who surprised her as it stared back eye to eye with her.

“….wait, who’s that wth you?” asked Celestia, looking at her with question and suspicion. Crystal gulped, but was surprised when Discord suddenly pulled her face up beside his. Holding her by her cheeks, he mocked.

“Aw, you mwean thwis wittle twhing?” he cooed, however retracting his paws as she tried to bite his fingers. He looked down at his light blue friend, who stared back daggers at him. “Hmpf, rude.” His gaze reverted back to Celestia, who raised a brow. “This is- what is your name again? C-C-C? C-C-C-C-Crystal! Yes! Oh, but only three Cs though, I only added an extra for effect.”

“Once I learn how to use my magic properly you’ll watch as I make you c-c-cry……” she grumbled. He responded with a pat on her head.

“I’m afraid she’s been a little grumpy from the ride to here,” he joked, and this time however, she managed to kick his hip in. “OW!~” He looked down at the pony, who in returned blew a raspberry. “….whatever. Anyway, hello my dear Princesses! How is the view from up there?”

“Don’t play these games with me, Discord!” Celestia spat. Her gaze was still fixated on Crystal, who was mildly confused and uncomfortable from it. “You better not have hurt her….”

He shook his talon in defence. “Oh- no no no! It’s nothing of the sort! I’ve been nothing but friendly to her-“

“Friendly my arse-“

“-and that’s that. No, I’ve brought her here because I want to state a case,” he simply explained. Cadence raised a brow this time.

“Come again?”

He cleared his throat. Luna sighed. He was obviously preparing for another stunt of his. And she was right, as he dropped Crystal and clapped his hands. At that gesture, the room suddenly went dim, and a showlight shown onto him. “Well, let’s start from…..exhibit A,” as he said that, another light flashed, and this time a projector screen appeared. From a ‘pocket’ of his, he pulled out an extendable pointer. As he tapped the pointer onto the screen, an image showed. It was a view of Ponyville, covered in all kinds of chaos. “This is Ponyville now.” He then tapped the pointer again, and the slide changed to an image of a poorly drawn pony crying. “Exhibit B! This is a sad pony. Now, you have always said how ponies are affected by my chaos in bad ways and how ‘Discord, you should stop your nonsense’ blah blah blah….” He mocked in the voice of Celestia, which made her huff. “However! I have a statement to make. You had always said how ponies hated chaos, they want none of it- nadda. And I’m here to prove you wrong.” He tapped his pointer again, and the image changed…..

Celestia squinted in suspicion. Crystal, who was momentarily dusting herself off, paused abruptly at his words. She panned over to the screen in suspicion as well. Wait…..

It was a still image of her, at the forest previously with him. “Let’s play the footage shall we?” he said, smirking at Crystal as her eyes widened.

“You go do your chaosing elsewhere, please.”

"...oh hoho, you really mean that?”

"Have a blast, patchwork. Not like I care.”

And after that statement, the video ended. She stared. Mouth agaped. “…..there is no context to the video, I’m being accused, I swear!” she looked up to the princesses, who stared back at her in surprise.

“However, there is no defense behind the phrase that you didn’t care. You didn’t care of the chaos I wreck. And even if you do have a defense, what could it possibly be?”

She hesitated to answer. “I…….freedom of speech?” she laughed nervously. She watched as he panned up to the princesses with a grin.

“As you can see from this short presentation I had prepared less than a few minutes ago, it is clear to say that my chaos is perfectly fine, and that your citizens are just whiny snowflakes.”

“I-“ Celestia was interrupted by Luna.

“Is no one really going to question that she’s an alicorn as well??” she exclaimed suddenly. And on double inspection, Celestia realized it was true.

“….in my defense, I thought you two had already noticed,” was all that Cadence had to say about it.

“I….that’s not important now!” said Celestia. “What’s important now is that you release her and us. I don’t know what you are planning, but whatever it is can’t be good.”

Discord stared at her with a dead look of boredom. “….you’re really going to just gloss over my case like that? Really?” he said as the room slowly lit up again. “Pah! Whatever, I’ll leave you three here to mope all you want about it. See if I care!” he picked Crystal up once more, who was trying to escape at that very moment too late. “I think I’ll be off now. I have some more chaosing to do, as my buddy would say!-“

“Don’t you buddy me!” shrieked Crystal.

“What-ever! Goodbye, too-da-loo, my fellow girls! Let’s see how your little purple smart would stop me this time!” he waved a goodbye to the princesses.

“You coward, don’t you dare teleport-“ he didn’t hear the end of Luna’s cry as he teleported the two of them back to Ponyville.

They reappeared in front of a large oak tree.

As if on cue, in the distance stood five other ponies, four of them grayish in color. However in the midst of them stood a purple pony, who saw and stared at him in surprise momentarily but immediately glared at him. “Discord!”

Discord dropped Crystal into her own personal lawn chair. "Enjoy the show, Miamori~ Watch and learn from the expert himself!” he said, striding over to the group of ponies. She didn’t respond, clearly starting to grow dull with his antics already.

Once he approached them near enough, he snapped himself up his own lawn chair, along with a pair of cardboard 3-D glasses and a bag of popcorn. “Hello to you too, Twilight. I see you have the whole gang with you….” He looked to the four others standing behind her, who all seem uninterested in the whole event. “Or- more or less most of them. Welp, here’s a target, ladies,” he gestured to his chect, where magically a target appreared. “Have a blast.”

“We’ll still stop you no matter what!” said the purple pony. Her mane was a dark purple completed with pink highlight streaks in the front. She wore a crown with a pink gem embezzled into it. Another princess perhaps?

"I didn’t even get popcorn….” mumbled Crystal.

"Everyone, places,” called out Twilight, and on cue the others just…..stepped a few steps forward. They had their own jewelry, amulets. Although, compared to Twilight’s, they were also colorless and dull much like the owners. As she looked back at her ‘friends’, she shook her head as she noticed something. "Rainbow Dash! Get over here!" she called out again, and from behind one of the dull ponies came running a blue dragon, also wearing a dull amulet. Only difference is that he himself wasn’t dull, which was quite confusing for Crystal.

".....what kind of gay name is ‘Rainbow Dash’? Rainbow Dash? R-R-Rainbow- who names their child Rainbow? Unbelievable. Discord- who names their kid Discord??.... This place is wack,” she said, leaning back into her lawn chair as she didn’t care to know what’s up with the place anymore.

For a moment, she noticed a look of hesitation in Twilight eyes, however she shook it off as her horn lit up, magically glowing up the gem in her crown. And from there, a rainbowish aura was created as it was released from the gem and reaching towards the other amulets, as if it was connecting them somehow. The magic content in the air was high too as Crystal’s pendant could sense it somehow. Well, it was no wonder, Twilight was even beginning to float from the sheer strength of her magic.

Crystal then looked over to Discord, whose calm and mischievous façade earlier slowly turned to a worried look as the glow of the magical rainbow aura grew stronger. But, as the glow grew brighter and brighter, it……was no use.

Suddenly, Twilight’s eyes flashed into panic as she fell from the air from floating, landing dizzily onto the ground, along with the rest as well. The aura dissipated as fast as it appeared. Crystal tilted her head in confusion, and slight disappointment. Well darn, that anticipation for nothing. She saw as Twilight’s eyes wore the look of confusion, and worry, and disappointment herself.

"I-I….but I thought it would work......" mumbled Twilight disappointingly. She turned back to her friends, who began to walk away, tossing their amulets aside, with one of them trailing from behind catching all the thrown amulets.

Twilight looked at them helplessly, and began to chase after them. Discord grinned wider, getting off of his lawn chair and following her along from behind. Crystal couldn’t help but feel bad for her….whatever she was trying to do.

…..wait a minute.

"….what am I still doing here?! This is my chance to escape!" she told herself as she crawled off of her lawn chair, looking back to Discord from time to time hoping he didn’t notice as she snuck herself away to the forest.

She thought back to the incident, and how Discord reacted to the pony’s disappointment.

….was he always that cruel?

Perhaps it was because she had only been there for awhile. She didn’t know him long enough to know how his personality actually was like. From first sight, she thought he was just some candy-crazed mischievous maniac. Not…

Not that.

The grin he had.

It was almost sinister.

She shook her head, trying to stop thinking about it. She should stop thinking about it, he’s not a good person to begin with. Hell, she saw the princesses trapped on the ceiling earlier. Why…..

…why didn’t it feel right?

It didn’t feel right to think of him badly for some reason. Maybe it was just the situation they met up in. You know, he was joking a lot, the place was just candy- it didn’t seem that harmful at first. But…. Now that she thought about it, she kind of understood why ponies would be afraid. Hell, if it was her, she’ll be scared too if her hometown was invaded by candy canes.

She tried to think of other things, maybe for a place to rest at least. She felt quite tired with the day. She sighed, she also needed to figure out a way to charge up her warp pad. She didn’t know how to create a charge or rather create the charger itself for the warp pad from scratch, since the person that made it first was actually…..

No.

The trip was to get her mind off of him.

She should stop thinking about him.

Anyway, she first thought of the clouds, since she could actually attempt to fly with her wings…..somehow. However, she was reminded that the clouds were cotton candy. She shivered at the thought of having candy stuck onto her fur.

She lurked around in the forest some more. The trees were all candy canes, she noted. And if she wasn’t wrong, the ground was probably some sort of Nesquik of something as she remembered tasting a little as she fell face flat into the ground earlier.

As she lurked, she noticed something in the distance. Curious, she went ahead and headed towards it. She didn’t seem to fear getting hurt by anything or anyone. It’s a town full of fluffy cuddly ponies, what harm could there be? As she reached it, she realized it’s a cave.

“Bingo!” she celebrated in her mind. A cave sounds like a secluded enough place to rest for a bit. Quickly, she entered it. She noted that it didn’t seem to be affected by any chaos related magics at all, which was good. She thought of curling up in a corner somewhere in it. Maybe nap a little. She felt exhausted.

However, as she did found a spot, she felt….off. She looked around, however could not pinpoint what was wrong. Well, it didn’t help that the cave was very dark as well. Suddenly, she felt like something was amidst the darkness, watching her. She squinted. “….h-hello? Uh…..anybody….there? Out of nowhere however, a ridiculous stench hit her. “W-what in the….” Was there an animal in there with her?! Perhaps decided to do the loo in the cave because of how normal it was? She backed up a little, and realized the stench was growing stronger. Even with the agaped opening of the cave, the smell was suffocating.

With a hoof to her nose, she tried to run out of the cave, but was scared shitless as she suddenly heard a growl. She looked around worriedly, wondering from which part of the darkness the growl came from. Little did she know that it was merely inches away in front of her…..

It growled again, and immediately her head panned forward, and she didn’t need to squint to see…..it.

It was…..some wood creature. It was made entirely out of wood sticks and what appeared to be bark, however she could see some sort of green gas coming out of its mouth, which is probably what the stench was. It looked like a wolf, almost. And boy did it look hungry.

“……uh, h-heyya…..this your cave?” she asked, hoping for dear mercy that it was also some odd sapient creature that probably just always looks like it wants to gobble anything and everything. Frankly, that wasn’t the case. It growled again, this time scaring her even more as she could see in detail how terrifying it looked. “…f-fuck me….” It looked at her hungrily, walking towards her, as if attempting to intimidate her. Suddenly, it just lunged at her, taking her by surprise as her mind was riddled with a mix of confusion, fear and shock. “A-AHH!!!” she yelped as it lunged onto her, pinning her onto the ground. She struggled, but was no match as it suddenly bit her wing. She cried in pain, realizing that her wings were actually really sensitive and fucking hell did it hurt.

She tried to hit it away, but it continued to try to bite her. Desperate, she tried to light up her horn, but with the intense pain in her wing and the sheer fear, she couldn’t even focus as her eyes watered. Fuck….I-I can’t die like this!..-

However, a flash of light caught the attention of both her and the ‘woodwolf’ as it filled the room, blinding them. The wolf winced and backed away, as Crystal shut her eyes. As the light dissipated, she opened her eyes and gasped as she felt so much lighter. The….t-the wolf?

“Honestly, you can really get yourself into a buck load of trouble,” said a…..familiar voice.

“…D-Discord?”

She laid shocked on her back as Discord floated above her, looking down at her with a raised brow. “So you do remember me. What a shocker, I must say,” he said casually. “And before we continue, might I add that this cave is too dead for me. Sooo, let’s head out first, shall we?”

“W-what?” she managed to say before being teleported away.

At a blink of an eye, they appeared outside. She was immediately greeted with the brightness of the sky, which hurt her eyes as she’s been in the dark cave for quite awhile. She also realized she….was floating. Or so she thought. She looked up, and was met with Discord’s eyes staring back at her, half lidded as if he was tired with her antics.

"…..you know, for a cautious pony such as yourself, you seem to be fine with entering a wolf’s den,” he said casually. “…….” She stared back at him silently. He raised a brow. “…..are you going to thank me or am I getting that ‘thank you’ after this one staring contest?”

“…..I…..why?” she asked straight forwardly. She…..she didn’t know what to think anymore. “You….” You were so cruel to other ponies earlier….. “….you were busy earlier, why’d you come to get me?”

“I may be cruel but I will not let a pony get mauled to death on my playground. Ponies are for me to torment, not some splinter model of an inbred dog. Plus,” he smirked, “-would you rather me leave you there to die?”

“I….well no,” she said quickly. She was….quite thankful for that. “B-but you could’ve.”

“I wouldn’t. Or….would I?” he questioned himself. She shook her head.

“P-please no.”

He looked down at her and grinned. “Well if you say so, madame…..” For some reason, he snapped his talon again. And it took her awhile to realize what he did when she suddenly flexed her wing. It….felt fine suddenly. “…wait a minute…”

He grinned as he felt proud of himself. “Two favors in a row? How generous am I?” he announced proudly. “Boy, aren’t you glad to have a pal like me?”

“….I….guess?” she said. She flexed her wing. It….really did feel fine. He healed it….somehow. “….thanks.”

“Ah ah!” he suddenly added. “I think two favors in a row needs some repaying to do….” he hinted as he looked down at her with a look. “Hmmmmm?”

“I…..all I have is candy, n-no money…”

He huffed. “Pah! What use do I have of your pathetic currency! Anything you can buy, I can make a better version of it! So no, it’s nothing like that at all…….”

She thought for awhile. What could a magic charged man want that she can give and he can’t make? “Uh……alright, what are you thinking?”

“Oh my, I’m glad you asked!” he exclaimed, and with a snap of a talon, she reappeared on the ground in front of him, her saddle bag dropping down onto her back lightly as did she. She was surprised, but was even more surprised when she looked up to see Discord, garbed in a fancy mantle, the ones you’d see those kids dressed up as kings would wear for Halloween. He also had a ridiculous paper crown on, covered in glitter. Like, a shitload of glitter. She raised a brow. “You see- I’m a busy man. As the Lord of Chaos, I have errands to run left and right- I hardly have time for myself….”

“Pretty sure all the errands you’ve ever run are for yourself,” she deadpanned.

“Why, how selfish do you think I am?” he said. She gave him a look, which he didn’t really respond to. “I’m doing this for the good of Equestria! For the ponies! Don’t you care about the ponies?-“

“What good does trapping their princesses and ruining friendships bring?” she asked.

He blinked. “Why- experience, of course! Imagine they’ll need to get a job in the future- as an experienced ‘imprisoned princess’ or ‘bad friend’, screw that reference sheet you thought you had to work on, they’ll hire you instantly!”

“In what world would that work in?”

“In my world of course!” he exclaimed proudly. “Right right, I’m sure you’re wondering where I’m leading this up to- and you see, It’s simple. Every Lord needs a minion-“

“You want me to be your slave?!” she yelled abruptly. “Wh- no way….”

“Well if you put it like that it’s no wonder you don’t like the sound of it!” he said, shaking his head. “No- I want you to be my sidekick.”

“Have you seen superhero films? We all know the sidekick is always a personal butler just with a fancy title! And also, no way! I’m not into whatever this is that you like to do. You like taunting ponies, well I like impersonating Tommy Wisaeu in my spare boredom of time. I don’t want to be afflicted with you in your odd businesses.”

He sighed dramatically. “…ah, very well. Guess I’ll just be alone…..no friends….no one to talk to when I’ve done something good in life like maybe found a filly’s lost dog or perhaps giving half a chocolate bar to another kid for free. Guess I’ll be friendless forever……”

“Yeah uh with that attitude, no shit you’d be lonely,” she deadpanned. “Look- try to guilt-trip me all you want, but it ain’t working. I’m grateful for all that you’ve done for me, just- I don’t want to do this, you know?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, I know- you don’t have to be so dramatic!” he said. “It was just a question, I didn’t think you’d agree anyway. Welp! I’ve spent enough time dawdling by you as is, time to check on the others!” he raised a talon. “And oh! Remember!- you still owe me!” he said finally, snapping himself away.

Crystal kept the conversation in mind as she walked away. She opted towards town, hopefully she could meet with Twilight. She seemed nice. She still couldn’t understand why Discord did what he did to them, though. She also wondered what the amulet deal was, too. And the grey ponies. And Rainbow Dash.

As she walked through town, she realized how renovated the place was. He certainly spent some time remodeling it. The ground was now checkered, and there were some soapy roads she saw on the way to the Oak tree from before. Her attention had been caught plenty of times by ponies running about, scared for their lives. She even remembered seeing this one mare who desperately tried to run but failed from a pepper raining cloud, making her sneeze endlessly. It was then that she witnessed the true affect of his actions.

So apparently he just liked being a jerk. Not surprising.

Still, it didn’t explain why he had helped her earlier-

“What the-“ she heard his voice from the distance, and looked around. There is was- the Oak tree. And there he stood, staring dumbfounded at….holy shit.

It was the previous group of friends, however they were no longer dull and grey. Instead, they were lively, and so were the amulets. She guessed that those were what caught him off guard.

Twilight stood there proudly, practically beaming as they stood their ground in front of Discord. And she saw a familiar amulet that belonged to….Rainbow Dash. This time, instead of the dragon, it was a blue winged pony with rainbow mane…..

Makes sense.

There was the rest like the orange pony with a cowboy hat, the pink pony with frazzled hot pink mane, the yellow winged pony with a shy look to her and the white horned pony with beautiful curled purple mane. The amulets shaped….seemed to match them? Kinda similar to their butt marks. She still had no idea what’s the butt mark all about.

As the situation unfolded, she slowly started to understand some things that happen.

For one, Discord probably tried to prevent them from getting together and forming their team. Two, probably because they have the power to stop him. He just stared at them, dumbfounded. For awhile, she could see him getting tense. His eyes wore a look she never thought she would see in a man like him. Terror.

Although, he still tried to keep the façade apparently. But everybody surely knew that it was but a façade. Crystal went and hid behind a post box, watching from there to not show her out and disturb them or even him. She wondered if he’d escape, or just let it happen. Whatever it was, she anticipated for the worst.

Twilight, this time with confidence, lit her horn. As her amulet glowed, so did the rest. The same rainbow aura enveloped, and the same process occurred. They were connecting. And this time, it glowed brighter, carrying them off the ground as the magic enveloped them. And then was when Discord dropped his cool. His grin dropped to fear, she could see him back up slightly. And then was when it happened.

The rainbow aimed at him.

Launching at him, it enveloped him. And for some reason, he….he howled! Was it painful? Was he…..

Is it killing him?!

The light grew ever so bright, and as he howled, the whole town was then basked in the aura.

She blinked, adjusting her eyes to the sudden change of light. The sudden….change….

She looked around. The town…..it looked normal! Trees were trees, the roads are dirt paths, the clouds were white and the sky was blue! It’s normal……

However, she looked around for….him.

There he stood, stoned. The pony group stood by him, rejoicing in success and embracing each other. Crystal stared at the statue in disbelief. He…..was actually stopped. She didn’t know he would’ve….let it happenlike that. She thought he’d escape….

….why was she so bothered?

She then turned her gaze back at the group of friends. She wanted to….meet them. Face to face. However, after the meeting with the princesses, it appears that she had learn one thing.

Alicorns are princess form apparently. Or, that’s what she’s perceived from it. She hasn’t seen another alicorn anywhere, she doubt she’d be looked at easily without being questioned. And with that, she tried glowing her horn to summon…..aha! A cloak garbed her in a flash. She rolled her eyes. “Oh- so now you work?”

As the group rejoiced, Rainbow’s eye was caught when she saw a cloaked mare walking towards them. “Hey, isn’t that the pony?-“

Crystal reached them panting, excited to finally be able to talk to some other ponies for one. “…h-hello! I-“

“Hiya there! Aren’t you that pony Discord’s been dragging all over town?! I’ve heard about you! Hey, is it true that you almost been eaten by a timberwolf cause’ that is loco!” exclaimed a pink pony in one huge breath that she had to inhale right after.

Crystal stared in surprise. “How’d you know that?.....”

“Just a hunch!” was all Pinkie had to comment about that.

“Before we talk about anything else- yeah! You were the pony Discord’s been dragging around! What was with that?” asked Rainbow suddenly. Crystal was taken aback at how brash her words sounded, or maybe that was just her voice.

“Did he hurt you?” asked the white pony. Crystal blinked, but shook her head quickly.

“N-no….he didn’t, I-“

“I saw you earlier- you had them alicorn wings if I’m not mistaken!” commented the cowboy pony. Pinkie nodded as some others gasped in surprise.

“You’re an alicorn? That’s not possible….” said Twilight, examining Crystal up and down. “….who are you?”

“…..my name’s Crystal. And uh…..” she looked back to her hidden wings. “….I didn’t need this cloak anyways, huh….”

“Nope! We saw!” said Pinkie with a grin. “My name’s Pinkie Pie! This here’s Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash! You might be confused with the dragon earlier- but don’t worry! That’s just Spike!”

Crystal blinked. “…uh- yeah that makes more sense now that I think about it.”

“What were you even doing with…him……” asked Fluttershy, gazing up to the statue that stood only inches away from them.

Before Crystal could respond, Spike came running out of the Oak tree…house. Huh, she never noticed it. It’s a house apparently. The dragon came running out and panting, then pointing into the sky. “Look!”

Twilight looked up into the sky, and gasped. “T-the princess!”

In the sky flew a golden chariot, led by two armored winged ponies. In the chariot was- Celestia and Luna! They flew above the group of friends, Crystal staring in amazement. Was it just…..solid gold? It would be heavy if that were the case.

It landed beside the group, the princesses looking regal as ever. Huh, they seemed to have made it fast. It didn’t seem like Canterlot and Ponyville was near. Perhaps Discord had released them earlier?

As they landed, the first thing Celestia’s eyes laid upon on was the statue. Crystal turned back to it too, and it still felt….cold. Celestia’s gaze also seemed to have an odd feeling to it. As if she was disappointed?

Crystal backed up as two extra guards came out of the chariot. But as she did, she winced as Luna suddenly called out for her.

“Oi! You there! Come here!” called out Luna as she pointed at Crystal, who stared back in surprise. Celestia’s eyes widened as well as if she had just recognized Crystal from somewhere.

Oh fuck.

"....shit," she cursed herself, turning to the princess duo and forcing a smile, waving at them. "H-hiii!" They're gonna give me shit for the video thing, I just know it.

Twilight raised her brows. "You met the Princesses?" she asked Crystal.

"Did I?....." she mumbled back. The princess duo got off their chariot, Luna darting directly towards Crystal. One of the guards followed her from behind, which added to the anticipation of terror that might be brought upon her.

Luna stopped towards the mare, glaring at her. Celestia followed along after having greeted the mane six and congratulating Twilight. Crystal maintained her forced smile, however it trembled as Luna stood in front of her, mere inches away from her face. "You!"

"...m-me?"

Luna stared at the mare intensively, eyeing her up and down as well. Celestia came by and tapped on her shoulders. "Sister?"

"....you...." she repeated again. Crystal awaited for the whole 'how dare you!' scolding to start, and she flinched in reflects to prepare for the yelling. However, she was caught off guard when that wasn't the case. ".....are you hurt?" Crystal blinked. "You expected a lecture, didn't you?" her cold demeanor quickly changed to a smirk.

That was unexpected.

"...I..... m-maybe?"

Luna then offered her a soft smile. "I may look menacing, but I assure you that I have a soft heart inside. Now, Crystal, was it?" Crystal snapped out of her own mind and nodded, although she was still surprised that things didn’t go the way she expected. “How are you, my dear pony?”

“I…..I-I’m fine, I guess.”

Celestia offered her a smile as well, she noted. “I’m glad that you’re alright. I can’t imagine what chaos you had endured under his supervision,” she glanced to the statue, her smile fading ever so slightly.

Crystal noticed it as well. “It’s fine! He was….not bad,” she said, and with that statement, stares were drawn towards her. “I-I mean as in he didn’t treat me that bad…. he’d tease me sometimes but other than that, I’m fine!”

“Whaat?” said Rainbow, dashing towards the mare and pulling the mare’s face towards hers. “You can’t be serious! Just him being present is already bad!”

“I…..” Crystal hesitated, not knowing what to reply to that sudden reaction. She then sighed. “….look, I don’t know what he did or who he is, so I don’t really have much to judge on. I’m…..not from here, you could say.”

“A foreigner?” asked Celestia. “Wherever you’re from, I assume you’re some form of royalty?”

“What?” asked Crystal, tilting her head in confusion.

Applejack lifted her cloak slightly, poking at her wings, which startled her. “You are an alicorn…..”

Crystal flexed her wings, folding it and drawing it away from Applejack. “Alicorns are some kind of rare breed or something?”

“Is your home populated by alicorns?” asked Fluttershy, confused along with the others.

“I…..I’m not an alicorn originally.” From there, she introduced herself as a human, who at first just intended to visit their dimension then be gone, but one thing led to another. “I bumped into him accidentally. I have no connections with him whatsoever, I swear.”

“And he didn’t hurt you or anything?” asked Rainbow, feeling unsure with the mare’s words.

“Nah. Actually, with how everything went on between him and I earlier, it was kinda hard to believe he could even hurt anybody.” Rainbow gave her a look.

“….dude, did you not see the state of the town earlier?”

“Well, in my defense, between your dimension and all the others I’ve visited, yours is quite on the toned down and normal side,” she said. She then looked back at Celestia, who had been eyeing her a lot as she spoke earlier. “You are….a princess? Are all alicorns princesses?”

Celestia gave it a thought before responding. “……well, not necessarily. But alicorns are usually the sign of high power and authority. For us, we’re born royals, therefore born alicorns.”

“Same with Cadence, the other alicorn you saw with us at the Castle earlier,” added Luna. “Although, she has returned safely to her own Palace down at the Crystal empire. Crystal took in those words, then looked down, thinking.

“….why am I an alicorn then?” she mused. She then raised up her pendant, meeting eye level with it. “Maybe….”

One of the guards coughed, taking Celestia’s attention. He then gestured something. Celestia squinted, understood then nodded. She then nudged her sister, who nodded as well. “Ah- it appears we must take our leave. Crystal, will you be fine on your own?”

Crystal thought for awhile. “I….don’t know. I can’t go home, my warp pad is out of charge. And I’m not really….familiar with this place…..”

Pinkie then jumped up from behind her out of nowhere. “HEY! Maybe you can stay with one of us!” she stated. “We can guide you around, greet new friends with you- it’s like a sleepover! But you get to stay for as long as you’d like!” she said, smiling uncontrollably.

Twilight then spoke as well, nodding and agreeing to the idea. “Yeah, you could stay with us. We won’t mind, right girls?”

The others agreed in unison. Crystal smiled, glad to have met such kind fellows. However, Celestia spoke. “I’m sorry, but I think it would be best if she comes with us,” Celestia commented, which confused the others greatly. Crystal looked to her, who gave her a worried look. “My apologies, but- I’m afraid it’ll be a tad risky if we had left her here. With her being an alicorn, if she gets seen, ponies would surely speculate. However, under our watchful eyes, ponies dare not question much as long as we say she’s with us and under our care. Crystal, I hope you don’t mind?” she asked politely.

Crystal nodded. “I understand what you mean. And either way, I don’t mind staying anywhere as long as I at least have a place to crash for a bit.”

Luna looked up into the sky. “Sister, is it almost time for the moon to set. Do hurry.”

“Right,” said Celestia, changing the topic. She looked to her guards then gestured for them to carry the statue. They saluted and went on with it.

“Where are you going to take him to?” asked Crystal, curious as to know what they were planning to do with it.

“To the castle gardens,” she merely stated.

Crystal frowned. “That’s pretty harsh.”

“He should be used to it by now- we’re just taking him back, is all,” said Luna, and flew herself into the chariot to be seated.

“What does that mean?....” asked Crystal. Celestia put her hoof on her back to reassure her.

“I’ll explain it to you later maybe. Come, it’s time to leave.”

Crystal said her goodbyes to all the other girls, feeling unsure with the decision she had made of staying with the princesses. However, she shook the feeling off. They should be fine, they’re friends, they’re nothing to worry about.

After the guards had tirelessly lifted the statue onto the chariot, they waved their final goodbyes as the chariot lifted off, with Crystal glancing back at the statue from time to time.

Soon, they were flying above what she then had learned was Canterlot. It was a beautiful place, as if she were in one of those fairytale books with the princesses and whatnot. The castle stood amidst it all elegantly, towering over the areas. It was truly beautiful.

Crystal quite enjoyed the breeze in her face and the marvelous view, and was a tad disappointed that they had arrived so soon. She watched as the drawbridge of the castle lowered, letting way for the chariot. They landed swiftly, and she was amazed at how smooth the landing was. The inside of the castle outer walls was something to marvel at, with nicely trimmed tree bushes lining the path and the nice white walls of the castle. Fancy.

However, the inside of the actual castle walls was even more impressive. Being in a compromising situation earlier, she really didn’t have the chance to notice the fancy details of the castle itself. As they got off the chariot, two guards hurriedly went to push open the doors for them.

From the front door, floors were lined with beautiful red carpet. As she stepped hoof onto it, she marveled at how soft and smooth it was. Almost softer than hotel carpet. “Soooft……” she cooed. Celestia noticed, and giggled slightly.

“Just wait till you see your room….” she said, grabbing Crystal’s attention. Celestia looked around and called for a maid. Then she instructed for a guest room to be readied. She looked back at Crystal, then gestured for her to follow the maid. “Wash up, and I’ll call you down for dinner after an hour or so.”

Crystal eagerly nodded. And from there, she followed the maid to her room.

The room was great. The bed was lined with white sheets embroided with golden silk at the ends. The floor itself felt just like the carpets she had just previously walked on. She swear even if she had no bed, the floor was comfortable enough to sleep on.

After the maid had finish tending to and explaining safety measures for the room, the maid hurried along out of the room, leaving Crystal alone. Happily, she jumped face forward into the bed, and was much appreciative for the soft bed she had been given. “Very very sooooft……” she purred. However, after a while she forced herself up to avoid herself from accidentally falling asleep. It was just way too tempting.

After an hour of washing up and marveling at how good the soap smelt and how shiny the mirror was, she heard a knock on the door and went to open it. As expected, Celestia stood on the other side, smiling softly at her. “Dinner?”

Crystal nodded, and they walked to the dining hall. It was a far walk, to say the least. It was expected of such a big castle. However, to break the silence, Celestia spoke up. “Might I ask a few questions about you and Discord earlier?”

“Hmm?” she perked up. “Oh, uh sure.”

“Well, I just want to ask how were you two doing earlier. What did you two do? How did he treat you? I’m sorry- but with how calm you sound when it comes to him is quite questioning.”

Crystal pondered for awhile on the question. “How he treated me? Well, like I said, he was quite teasing. However, he wasn’t all that bad. He……did save me from this ‘timberwolf’ as he called it, and fixed my wing. He was nice, kinda. But…..” she hesitated. “After seeing how he treated the girls and how he…..basically almost ruined their friendship, I started to have second thoughts about what I thought of him. He had that….cold look when he saw Twilight chasing after her friends desperately. It was almost….surreal.”

Celestia took in what she had said, and gave a short pat on her shoulder. “I understand what you mean. And, you’re right actually. He isn’t that bad at all. Not….not at all,” she gave a sigh, which perked Crystal’s curiosity. Just who was Discord?

“….what did he do? Well- aside from the obvious pony fooling every once in awhile, but- what did he really do? What made him the way he is? Why is everypony so afraid of him?” she asked, maybe a little bit too much all at once. She was just curious. Rainbow Dash reacted brashly when she said that she didn’t think Discord was all that bad. Sure, he turned their town practically upside down- but it sounded like that wasn’t just the case.

But in a short moment of time, they had reached the dining room. Celestia sighed. “Maybe….that’s a story for another day. Now it’s best that all you think about- is food,” Celestia joked as two guards who were guarding the dining room door pushed it open. Celestia stepped inside and was greeted with an already eating Luna.

Crystal noticed it however- Celestia probably just didn’t want to talk about it. Meaning that maybe…..

….maybe it had something to do with her also.

After dinner, everypony decided to part ways. Celestia ‘said’ she was going to bed, Luna stated she was off to her night shift, while Crystal also ‘said’ she was going to bed as well.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she decided to take a stroll in the ‘Castle gardens’, as the princesses had said. She needed some fresh air after the long day, she didn’t really eat during dinner either. A few pieces of potatoes here and there, but otherwise nothing much. Her mind was swarming with new thoughts and theories every minute or so, it drove her crazy. Maybe Discord and Celestia were past enemies? Maybe they had an epic duel to the death a few years ago? But then, what could explain her slight expression of sadness towards the mention of him? Maybe they were old friends? She couldn’t think straight at that point, just who was he?

Anyway, she carefully and quietly sneaked through the castle. After awhile, she gave up trying to find the door to the gardens and insisted climbing out of a window. Luckily, she was on the first floor which made it easier for her.

The gardens itself seemed cold and dark, well it was expected in the night. However, she knew if it had been brighter and had allowed her to see the gardens much more clearly, the gardens must be beautiful to see.

However, her attention was soon caught by some voices seemingly from a distance. She hid behind a bush and peered around. And from there, she could see what caught her attention. There were a few guards, perhaps patrolling the gardens? But after squinting for awhile more, she finally noted what they were doing.

In the distance, she spotted the statue of Discord, being lifted and framed on a base. The base had engravings on it as well, “The Lord Of Chaos; Discord”. Suddenly, something came clear to her mind.

He had been stoned before?

Well, it made sense! With what Luna meant as to “bring him back”. She remembered back to when it happened as well, and he remembered the terror that went through his face, as if he had known what would happen to him had that blast hit him.

She then wondered what could’ve possibly gotten him imprisoned for so long that he even had a base for himself in the gardens. As she looked around, her eyes are caught by all the other statues as well. Statues of different ponies, and other creatures like that….big eagle with….lion arms…..and that fish pony with….talons….

….wait….

Are they….also imprisoned?

She fell into deep thought. Knowing that if they were imprisoned, that was a hard fact to swallow. Imagine just plenty of statues, all actually living beings trapped in stone, staring down at her. She gulped.

Her train of thought was cut short however, as she heard the guards walking away from the statue. As she peered from the bush again, she panicked as she realized they were coming her way.

She turned to her right, but saw that she was blocked by a bush. She turned behind, another bush! The only way was through her left side, but then they’ll see her! She panicked, not knowing what to do at that point. Fuck, what if they see her?

Then, an idea occurred. However, she knew that the plan would only work if she focused hard enough. And with that, she closed her eyes, regulated her breathing and calmed down. As she heard them drew nearer, she then held her breath in.

And then, her horn glowed. So did her amulet. In a flash, an aura enveloped her and then she disappeared. She kept it up until the guards had fully passed her, and it relieved her when none of her noticed at all.

She waited until they entered the castle. And at the sound of a door shutting, she quickly dropped her invisibility spell, inhaling as she panted heavily. That was close. “…..phew….”

She peered from the bush again, this time not fearing getting caught by any guards as she was confident that they were all gone by then. And with that, she rushed towards the statue. The night light glistened over his eyes, she noted. That fear stricken face, forever holding its shape to be just that. Sheer fear. Possible regret.

She reached the base, and looked up from below. Even as a statue, it felt like he was really there. Well, he was. Just not….you know.

But as she thought about it, she wondered if he was still conscious in the statue.

Could he see her?

Could he be able to hear her?

“H-hello…..” she greeted out loud at him. As expected, no response.

“…….”

What did she expect? The statue to come alive and talk to her? Still, she wondered if he was conscious in that case of statue. She tapped his goat hoof in curiosity, and wondered:

Did he feel that?

What if something happens and the statue breaks? Like his leg for example….

Would he feel that?

More thoughts came to mind, and they were making her head spin. She looked up to him again, and she swear she could feel his eyes speaking to her. To feel his pain, maybe.

He was still a villain, but that didn’t stop her from taking pity of him.

She sighed. She then realized how cold the air was. She was shivering almost.

To think that he was conscious on the statue was….unnerving as well.

“….just who were you, Discord?” she asked again out loud. If he could hear her, would he even have an answer?

“The draconequus had many names,” said a voice suddenly. Crystal turned her head back in surprise, and was greeted with the friendly gaze of Celestia. However, her gaze was directed at the statue, not her. Crystal got her front hooves off of the base, then sat by it instead.

“Princess is still up?” she asked, tilting her head. “I was just getting some fresh air. I’m not malicious or anything, heh….”

Celestia smiled, although her eyes seemed pained from…..him. “It’s quite alright. I too needed some fresh air after all that’s been going on for the past days or so,” she sat herself beside Crystal, and they both stared up into the dark night sky. “….hmm, perhaps now would also be a great time to tell you more about the draconequus?”

“Draconequus?” she questioned curiously. Celestia nodded.

“That is his race. Legends say that there used to be hundreds- no, thousands of them long ago. But after the wars between draconequui and the ponies, not many remained. If I’m not mistaken, he was one of the few that managed to survive the cold harsh eras of war, although there was no clue as to what happened to the rest of them,” she explained.

Crystal pondered. “War? Between draconequui and ponies? How come?”

“Racists, I would say,” she said. “Ponies used to riot with any race that would stand in their way. They used to always claim they were superior, the Gods’ chosen race of conquer. And most races are either not bothered to entertain the ponies in any way, or they fear getting themselves or other citizens hurt. Ponies had many ways of showing authority- through intimidation, death threats, and such. Griffins, seaponies, yaks- they didn’t dare get into their way. For the sake of their citizens, they dared not to. However, not the draconequuine. Instead, they powered through. At each blow ponies throw their way, they retaliate back. It wasn’t that they didn’t fear for their citizens- no. It was the citizens that retaliated back. It was…..actually good that they did. Imagine if ponies actually did win their way towards superiority, wonder where we’ll now.”

“It doesn’t sound like they managed though,” commented Crystal. She looked up to the statue that towered over them at the moment. “Is….he really the last of his kind?”

“I would predict so. Many wars had been held against them. And if I’m not mistaken, they only stopped once all draconequuine were slaughtered. If not all, most. But I’ve never heard of any other survivors aside from him.”

“So you guys became….close friends?”

“We were childhood friends, I’d say,” Celestia smiled as she reminisced. “I still remembered it like it was yesterday- I caught him lurking in this very gardens. I was merely waiting for Luna to have a ‘tea party’ with me. I turned my back on my tea set and when I came back I caught him red handed stealing my biscuits!” she chuckled slightly. “But….I wouldn’t blame him. Poor thing was skinny to the bone. It took me awhile to get used to him, but when I finally did, we did everything together. From skipping classes, to eating together, even annoying my dear sister Luna! We kept him hidden for awhile- I didn’t dare let him roam around on his own. I had only learned about the war between ponies and draconequui a few months after I met him. Heavens know what would happen had ponies found out about him.” She suddenly frowned, that glint in her eyes fading. “I……I missed those times. Sometimes, I wonder if I could go back to a time like that. No fighting, no grudges, no enemies, wouldn’t that be nice….” Her eyes hinted sadness, almost as if she was holding back tears.

“…..maybe you can?” she asked, hopefully. She gestured her head pointing upwards towards the statue. For a moment, Celestia smiled. “I….”, but it faded as fast as it appeared, “…no. It might not be possible.” She stood up suddenly. “But if you’re willing to be hopeful, that’s great of you. I’m quite tuckered, I best be heading to bed,” that was all she said that night as she went her own way back into the castle.

Crystal watched from that statue base, wondering if she had accidentally said something she shouldn’t have. But….. she looked up to the statue once more. “….”

“…Maybe I will be hopeful then.”

Crystal kept on pondering on the conversation. She felt restless, she couldn’t sleep. She had woken up at least 3 times to turn the lights on and off as she was unsure if she wanted to sleep or not. After awhile, she decided to rummage through her saddlebag. She dug through layers of snacks and candies until finally she got her hooves on….their album.

Their album.

Theirs.

She hopped onto her bed and laid on her stomach. It had been awhile since she flipped through it. It was a brown hard-cover book, edged with gold lining. A few scraps of paper stuck out from it. She flipped through it, and smiled to herself as she viewed the content.

Many memories, in that one album.

She paused on one of the pages, which seemed to be highlighted in the most eye-bleeding of colors, neon yellow. The real problem however was the fact that the whole page was highlighted. The page on the left was a journal entry; and the one on the right was a picture to go along with it.

“(Pro tip- highlighted part is the most important part of this entry :D)

Hello reader![s]Chloe here ben c-CHLOEEEE”

Crystal smirked. Seemed some people had a fight on who wanted to write the entry.

“We all went to France! We all saw Max on stage- it was great! Ben also joined in on sooooo many shots with the other people at that convention he got so drunk he

ben doesn get drunk he a good boi aight

I tried to get Michael to drink but he wouldn’t because his dad told him he can’t drink! Same with me;D just that I don’t like the taste of alcohol that much…..

SAME WITH ME I CAN DRINK AS WELL ARGHHHHH

-MICHAEL

Anyways! Making this quick :D Happy 23 birthday, Max!!!!!! { SIGNATURES}

CONGRATS -TIFF/ happy old day? - SamTheLam/BIRTHDAY HOMIE WOOOO- Mikeeeeee/ achieve immortality and forever celebrate our bdays bro cmon- ben the goddess princess/ happy birthday, brooo- Miaaa”

She then remembered the context. It was Max’s birthday…..

Max…..

He’s always been a liar, huh?

An act.

That smiley face in the picture, one arm holding her sister, the other holding a beer as the other posed for a picture.

It was all a lie, wasn’t it.

In sudden anger, she threw the book off the bed. She felt sick. How long…..how long had she been lied to?! How long had everyone been deceived…how long…how….

Her horn ignited, and she switched off the lights.

Hope you all like it:)

[17 Nov. 19]
-rewritten-

Crystal woke up groggily the next morning. She didn’t exactly have a pleasant time trying to sleep, but the album had been poking at her ever since she pulled it out. She regretted doing so the previous night. However, then wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things. She sat up, and attempted to get off the bed…..horribly wrong as she fell suddenly face flat onto the floor. “Gah!!”

She raised her head, rubbing her muzzle as in stung from the impact. Feeling her muzzle, she then remembered something. “…..right….hooves,” she grumbled, annoyed with the fact that she had to endure being some animal for however long she would be stuck in the dimension.

She walked towards the bathroom, and decided to start up her morning routine. Reaching the sink vanity, she got up on two hooves with the support of the vanity, and began to clean herself up a little. She was thankful that the place had provided disposable daily necessities like the toothbrushes and soap bars you’d get from any fancy hotel. She managed to do so with her magic, as she realised that using her hooves to pick stuff up is nearly impossible….that or she didn’t know how to yet.

“Young madam, the princesses are waiting. Are you ready for breakfast?” she heard a meek voice reply on the other end. She assumed that it was a maid.

“I’ll be out in a sec!” she replied back as she hurriedly rinsed the soap off of her face and the toothpaste foam from her mouth. She stumbled towards the door. She was getting the hang of her new ‘form’, to say the least. Exclude the part where she fell earlier- and you’d have a perfectly normal pony! She opened the door, and met face to face with the maid she encountered the day before. “Good morning.” The maid was a young light red coated mare with her red mane done in a simple bun. She was dressed in the classy maid outfit.

“Good morning to you too, young madam. The princesses are waiting at the dining hall for you,” she explained briefly. Crystal also noticed a supply cart the maid guided behind her.

“Oh- are you here to also?.....”

“Ah, yes! I am now your personal room maid tasked by Princess Celestia earlier in the morning. I hope you don’t mind me coming in to clean for awhile while you dine, I wouldn’t touch anything that is yours….”

“I don’t mind, thank you,” she nodded to the maid and stepped out of the room, giving the mare way to drag her cart in.

She remembered the way to the dining hall, thankfully. Although it took some sharp turns and misguided head scratches later. As the guards swung the doors open, she was immediately hit with the familiar whiff of……pancakes?

She walked up to the dining table, where Luna was already beginning to show down on what appeared to be a few bananas and a plate of pancakes. Well, she had thought so. All that was left was syrup drizzle, she noticed. Celestia sat regally in her chair, greeting Crystal with a smile as she noticed her. “Good morning! I hope you’re hungry- I’ve made some delectable pancakes and I’m aching to see how you find them!”

Crystal greeted her back, and went to sit beside Celestia. She then stared amazed at the huge stack of pancakes in front of her, decorated with fruits and whipped cream in the design of a cute smiley face “Woah!”

“Taste it first- then judge!” Celestia giggled. She felt excited to see someone else trying out her pancakes rather than her grumpy sister every morning. Crystal cut a few bits of pancake and stuffed it into her mouth. And it was clear that the bite was an enjoyable one as she a mouthful of pancakes. Celestia was glad for the reaction, peering towards her sister with a grin from the complement. Luna merely replied with an eyeroll as she managed to stuff down another banana in one go, swallowing it whole.

“Crystal, please do not inflate any more of my sister’s ego.”

“Hey!” Celestia scolded. Crystal giggled. She found the sisters quite different from what they tried to portray themselves in front of the girls. And what she thought of them when she first saw them with Discord. Regal, poise princesses- and behind the curtains, they’re still ponies nonetheless. She found their sisterly dynamic quite entertaining to watch, wholesome even…..

How she wished her sister was the same.

Crystal’s smile dropped a little, however she tried not to let it be too noticeable. It didn’t work however, as she was sure that Celestia had noticed it. “….Crystal? Are you still homesick?”

“Huh? W-well sorta….but I’m not bothered in the slightest!” she exclaimed. And the sad part was that….it was quite true. She felt more at ease than being at home, especially after all that’s happened. But….if they did know what had happened, she was sure that they wouldn’t treat her as good possibly.

Celestia could still sense the unexplained tenseness of her voice. She coughed. “Well, then. I’m actually quite off today from my duties. I wouldn’t mind giving you a tour around Canterlot for a change…..” she offered, hoping that maybe it would cheer her up a bit. “You were noticeably enjoying the ride yesterday,” she smirked at the fellow alicorn.

Crystal was flustered. “Well, in my defense, we humans don’t get to fly a lot like that. It was pretty fun to feel the breeze up there for a change. Not to shade my home but- the air here is way less suffocating than the airs back at homeworld.”

Celestia smiled. “Then I’d take that as a yes? Enjoy the place as much as you like- you’re guest, afterall.”

After breakfast, she was instructed to meet with the princess by the front gate, where the chariot was. She was also instructed to wear her cloak, to avoid suspicion and risk of getting seen. After all, alicorns aren’t that common in Equestria. Crystal had theorized that it was possibly the pendant that had affected her form, but she didn’t dwell on the thought for too long.

The tour started from there. As they flew, Crystal was able to see for herself the magnificence of Canterlot. Celestia pointed out places and explained them briefly for filler.

"That's the tower Twilight used to live in. However, I have tasked her to move to Ponyville and aquire some friends for herself, as long as move herself into the Golden Oaks Library along with her pet baby dragon, Spike…." said Celestia, pointing to a tower in the distance.

"-that's the School for Gifted Unicorns, Twilight was one of the gifted students. I took her under my wing after I learned about how good she really was….."

"-and that's the Canterlot Library. I used to have a tutor who called himself Starswirl te Bearded, he has a shelf dedicated to him there…..”

"-that's the opera house, during Hearths Warming they throw on some marvelous arrangements and plays- I’d bring you there one day to check it out….."

By sundown, the tour was over. They managed to spend most of the time stopping by some of the destinations as Celestia wanted to explain some more things about the place. Crystal didn’t mind, she thought it was interesting. Although, it was quite funny how Celestia went into a huge rant about how dangerous the sewers by the towers Twilight lived in once as Twilight had managed to fall in once and was too scared to call out for help fearing she’d get in trouble or something.

“Thank you for the tour, Princess. I’ve gotta say, it’s quite a town you’ve got going on,” said Crystal as they both entered the castle. Celestia smiled.

“Of course, it wouldn’t be as great as it is today without the help of my fellow subjects. A strong community for a strong home, you know?” she said. “Well, best be going to wash up now. I’ll see you later for dinner, you must be starved.” Crystal nodded, and went off her merry way.

As she walked off however, something felt off suddenly. The air was suddenly heavy. She suddenly felt tense, but she didn’t know why. She shrugged it off however, as she went back to her room to prepare for dinner.

Well, she was going to, at least.

Suddenly, she noticed that her pendant emitted a slight glow. She gazed down at it, confused. It wasn’t the first time it had happened, however it was confusing as to why it was acting up at a time like that. She wasn’t sure about it, but with the first few times it had happened, it had always been because it was sensing something big, or something out of the ordinary. What irked her most was that it always came in a form of a riddle to warn her, which bothered her greatly as sometimes it would take her a long time just to solve it.

Curious, her hoof reached out to touch it. And as she did, her eyes glowed as a riddle sounded in her subconscious:

“Someone lurks within the Gardens, something, somewhere, it has bared. Beware, beware, it wouldn’t dare, to take a bite of whoever’s there. Those who seek to know the truth, guilty pleasures pick a roof. Run and trot, or stay to play. Someone can’t be helped today.”

And with that, the glow faded from her eyes. She stood there, dumbfounded at the odd riddle. Curse the pendant and it’s riddles! The Gardens? Someone? A burglar? Two burglars?! A band of burglars?!

Burglarizing a…..fancy guarded castle?

Who else would be in the castle?

What else could….

Wait.

Quickly, she trotted into the Gardens, her eyes scanning the place as if she was expecting something. She wasn’t even sure what she was expecting, however she paced around the Gardens, eager to find out. Her eyes peered unsubconsciously towards the statue of Discord, which….was still there. Of course.

Although, she had expected it to be him.

She furrowed her brows. Whatever could the riddle have meant? Someone in the Gardens? Her mind reverted back to the thought of burglars, but it didn’t sound good to be true. Blasphemy was probably what it is!

She looked down at her hooves, thinking what her next move should be…….maybe she should go back inside.

Just. You know, in case it was probably a burglar.

She also didn’t want to keep the princesses waiting after all.

After washing up, she had made her way to the dining hall. She contemplated on whether or not she should alert the Princesses. Cause, you know, what if it really was a burglar? They would then question her pendant though. She didn’t want to sound insane. As she got to the hall doors, she breathed in deep sighs. Should she? Maybe. But for her sake? Maybe…….not?

The guards looked at each other, wondering why she seemed so nervous with dinner. But they didn’t thought about it much as they swung the door open. There, Celestia and Luna could be heard loudly arguing about….something.

“I’m telling you, Luna, it isn’t serious!”

“Well if it isn’t serious then why am I angry?!”

“You’re just immature! Think about it!- what is so off about the place that you would think it was necessary to warrant most of the highly trained guards to patrol around the castle like we’re looking for a thief? I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to rob us-“

“Sister, it could also be something way bigger than a robbery! In fact- maybe even another magical outbreak! Sister, I’m telling you, something is off, I can feel it!”

“What’s off?” Crystal questioned as she took her seat. The princesses went silent for awhile, since they didn’t notice her entering the hall. They felt a bit ashamed for getting caught arguing, however that wasn’t the most of Luna’s concern at that rate.

Luna coughed. “I’m just telling my sister here that my intuition could well be as right as hers! And I sense something bad! There’s something off putting about the magical contents surrounding the castle- I just feel it!”

“We do have another alicorn in the castle at the moment……-“

“I know we bloody do! We had Cadence over like just a few days ago! But it’s different this time- I swear!”

“Like you swore that you thought there was someone lurking in your bedchambers when really you were so exhausted that one week that you were too blur to realize that it was your shadow?”

“Well-“

“Or that one time where you swore that one of the guards was a changeling due to the fact that he could be in more places than one until you learned that they were twins??”

“It’s different though-“

“Well so help me God, Luna, if you have no proof to back up your claim, I have it very hard in believing you.”

“……I kinda think Princess Luna is onto something,” mumbled Crystal, however loud enough to be heard by them.

“Pardon me?” asked Celestia, skeptical. Crystal gulped. However, Luna was there almost beaming.

She stammered at first. “I could also k-kinda see where Luna is coming from because I for one can also sense….an imbalance of some sort. It’s amost like the air feels off in some way. A-and my pendant glowed! Which usually means that something big or bad is lurking around…..”

“Ha! See?! I knew she’d have my back!” exclaimed Luna as she slammed her hooves into the table.

Celestia was still pretty skeptical. “What proof do you have to back up your claim?”

Crystal hesitated, but answered relentlessly. “Well, riddle me this: Someone lurks within the Gardens, something, somewhere, it has bared. Beware, beware, it wouldn’t dare, to take a bite of whoever’s there. Those who seek to know the truth, guilty pleasures pick a roof. Run and trot, or stay to play. Someone can’t be helped today.” She scratched her head. “It was a riddle given by my pendant. I just have to unriddle it to understand it….but I don’t understand it at all, truthfully…..”

“The Gardens?” Luna perked.

“Well, I checked the Gardens right after I got the riddle, but nothing was out of the ordinary, as far as I’m concerned.” She sighed. “Or maybe I looked too into….hmm?” her gaze was caught by the glowing of her pendant once more. ‘Wait, what the?-“ It doesn’t glow this often, usually.

The princesses were overly confused. “What is….that?” Luna asked, pointing at the pendant. Crystal seemed uncertained to answer. Curiosity struck again, and her hoof extended to touch it. Her eyes glowed, and this time this showed:

“Wow, you have a messaging device here too? What other mysteries do you hide, you little sneaker? Welp, just want to let you know that since you seem like a reliable source, I’ll be taking just a smidge of your magic for awhile- no biggie! Although, you might probably feel a liiiiittle bit sleepy after this.

Ta-ta! XOXO, see you soon! Your one and only chaos buddy of the season!”

The glow faded quick, and she was left even more dumbfounded than before. “What in the- thud!” however, before she could say anything else, everyone in the hall was taken by surprise as she fell unconscious immediately, hitting her head loud and hard against the table.

“….ow….” she groaned with the worst possible headache she could have, her forehead sore as if….she headbutted something….

“Thank Gods, you’re awake!” Luna exclaimed. Crystal jolted up immediately, after realizing the softness of what she was laying on was her bed- wait why was she in bed? “You gave us quite a scare! What were you thinking?!” Luna scolded.

“What? What….happened?” she muttered. Rubbing her head as she looked around, trying to remember the situation.

“Well, for starters, you hit your head pret-ty hard on the dining table earlier……and uh, something about your pendant, yes….”

“…..my…..pendant?” she repeated. “….my pendant? Pen….dant….. w-wait! Shit! Discord!” she then remembered. The message. The pendant glow. The sudden drift of unconsciousness. “That bastard!”

“What? What did he do??” asked Luna, overly confused with the sudden hype. Crystal hopped out of bed quickly and dashed towards the door, exiting the room as quick as she could. “W-wait! Crystal!”

She hurriedly made her way to the Gardens. Thoughts raced through her mind. How dare he?! I won’t say that I’m not amazed- but still! How dare he?! It then made her wonder if he’s trying to escape. Also, she didn’t know he could do that, which was something that she was eager to have answers to if he does escape or something.

As she got to the gardens however, the place was heavily patrolled by guards, it seemed. And she could hear the voice and calls of Celestia instructing the guards our something. She couldn’t pinpoint it as she was too far from Celestia. Which was good.

She hid by the same bush she hid behind the day before, peering over and towards the statue of Discord…….which was pretty much still there.

Then……what? She had expected it to be missing, or at most smithereens….

However, accidentally she rubbed a hoof against the bush slightly. The sound was so small, such a minor fuck up. Yet the Gardens all of a sudden went silent. She gulped. Oh no, oh no, oh fuck…..

“What was that?” she heard a guard whisper. Then several other whispers. Then hoofsteps that sounded like they were coming to her direction……..

Focusing hard, she tried to cast her spell of invisibility once again. However, as she trembled, she realized she was too scared to even do anything. She was also too tired…..

“Princess!?” she heard a guard suddenly exclaim in fright, leading other guards to sound startled up. Crystal perked up at that and cautiously, peered over from the bush……

The statue. It….it looked like it was glowing! She watched as a glow seeped through what appeared to be cracks forming by his talons, which slowly trailed down his body as if he was freeing himself.

“…D- Discord?”

It….it was….was he the ‘someone’ from the riddle? Both of the riddles?! It was clear that one of the warnings were from the pendant itself. However….

How did he send his own message?

Her thoughts were interrupted as a blinding glow shined from the statue, the crackling sound of stone echoeing through the gardens. And during that whole thing, a laughter erupted. The familiar guffaws of a beast she had only grown to know for one day.

He’s free.

She hid back behind her bush, not knowing what this would mean for everypony. Will he be a danger again? Will he continue to annoy her? It was pretty annoying that he had thought to imagine her thinking him as her ‘chaos buddy’. However….

The frightening screams of guards were enough to make her fear the inevitable. She held her breath, hiding behind her bush, trembling. Was he going to come after her? What was he doing to those guards? Why are they screaming?!

She cautiously peered over, and what she saw was……what.

Guards stood in their same places from before, however…..they were encased with chocolate?

She….she kinda expected that, not gonna lie.

Before she could say anything else, the annoying, fear-inducing voice striked her from behind it seemed….

“Chaos buddy! Long time no see!”

She turned her head and was shocked as his bright red irises was as if had pierced her. "gAH!" she jumped back unexpectedly.

He merely smirked. "Why hello to you too, my comrade! I'd say- I hoped we had met sooner! I could've been loose ages ago! Haha!" he chuckled to himself mightily.

"W-what is that supposed to mean? How did you....?"

Discord snapped a talon, and with a flash she was teleported into his arms, carried like a baby. "Eh I'll explain soon. For now however....."

"Discord!" a piercing yell from a distance sounded.

He rolled his eyes. "A cliché to be sure at this point." He sighed. "Alright then. Let's pounce."

Running towards him were the alicorns, their horns glowing, ready to strike at any time. He merely yawned as they came closer, and with a snap, he produced a herd of oranges to roll towards them, which immediately stopped them in their tracks and they suddenly backpedalled themselves. Unfortunately however, he got the best of them as they lost their footing and struggled their way through the oranges.

He merely chuckled. Crystal however was mortified. "Hey!! Stop that!" she tried to struggle her own way out of his arms, however of course due to heir size difference, he didn't budge at all. He peered down at her, and smirked. Crystal's eyelid twitched. "What's so funny!?"

"....hmm, nothing," was all that he had to comment. "Welp! This was fun!" he reverted his focus back to the princesses, who were swarmed by oranges at that point. "Though tis' is much entertaining, I think I'd hit the hay now. It was tiring on its own just to get to this point." And with that, he snapped his talon. He mumbled something before he did however, which only Crystal could pick up.

"I hope you like flannel~"

They disappeared in a flash. Following that, the princesses heaved a sigh of relief as the oranges that swarmed and toppled them miraculously reverted to the lifeless state of normal oranges, and fell off of them. They were frazzled at that point, their manes sticking up and whatnot. It was expecially tiring as their magic couldn't function while they were being toppled. That and Celestia had warned her sister beforehand not to actually strike first.

However he escaped, they needed to know. And from the looks of it earlier, he probably had ulterior motives than just to be set free wrecking havoc again.

Well, whatever it is, they- well at least Celestia hoped, that he might've changed a little. He indeed acted softer with their unexpected guest. She hoped it meant something.

Dear Gods, what have I gotten myself into.

They sat on a bright neon couch, upside down in a very disorganised living room, sipping apple juice. The living room walls were made up of all sorts of colourful wallpaper, from flannel to florals to animal patterns to children blanket type animal patterns with little cows and chickens. The couch was abnormally soft, however although it is quite comfy, the neon green and yellow colouring isn't exactly up to par with Crystal's eyes. Either that or Discord had already been blind and bright colours can't harm his eyes even more.

"...you live here?"

"Gorgeous place, I know I know, I'm flattered honestly," he placed his teacup down on its plate, and it floated away.

"....why did you bring me here?"

"Why, I did say we were gonna pounce, weren't we?"

"Why did you bring me along- w-what do you mean "we"?" she stammered. "I'm not the big idiot that decided to plan this stunt, why do I have to pounce too?"

He smirked, thinking wisely about his words before speaking again. "....if I say that you had your part in my escape, how would you react?"

"Surprise. Cause for sure, that's a damn lie. I had nothing to do with this," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Well surprise surprise indeed, my little buddy in crime, without you, I couldn't have done what I did," he sipped casually.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Discord paused for awhile, thinking wisely about his next few words. "..are you familiar with Chaos magic?"

She thought for awhile. "I never thought about it. Never thought about chaos having its own category of magic. Magic itself is pretty chaotic in itself. But I assume you know alot about it, Mr Discord?"

"Well, I'd like to say I am quite the expert, yes...." he smirked. "You are right. Magic itself is quite chaotic. However, what differentiates chaos magic from normal unicorn magic would be the volume of essence. How much of chaotic essence remains in magic? A small, very small dot. Normal magic is a mixture of plenty of other matters, therefore neutralising it. Chaos magic however, is purely concentrated chaos. A wild and messy brand of goodness if you haven't mastered the arts."

She didn't expect to be given a lesson, although she was very interested in the sudden topic. Chaos magic, huh. She hasn't even mastered her own, what is to be considered, "normal" magic apparently. She doubt that handling chaos magic could be easier. "Mm....well, what does that got to do with my magic?"

"Well, let's just say yours isn't as neutralised as you had thought..."

"...you mean I'm wielding basically chaos magic too?"

"Not quite, but for the most part, it is a rather large portion of it. No wonder you have trouble mastering it. Although, it would expectedly be more difficult since the magic comes from an entirely different origin, aka your pendant."

"My...." she started to realise she was quite lost in his words. She didn't expect him to be so articulate- even she couldn't understand. "....uh, what?"

He shook his head and sighed. "It's normal to not understand, avoid giving yourself a headache. How about I put it into more literal terms? Unicorns and the kind are born with magic, and we would refer to that generally as "soul" magic. Yours however is extracted from a dingy rock, an opposite entity. Take as an example of controlling your limbs. Controlling your legs, wiggling them, are far too easy. However, controlling others? Eh, not so much. You can if you try guiding them, but overall it won't be easy."

"....okay.... so I have difficulty mastering magic because it's not connected to me in a...spiritual level?"

"You could say that. Now! Why would this be relevant, you might ask?"

I've been asking this for the whole lesson, she thought.

"Well, it's simple. What encased me in stone?"

"....alicorns?"

"Are you really as thick headed as they come?" he deadpanned. Crystal huffed at that. He rolled his eyes. "The elements of Harmony. And if you don't know, Harmony and Chaos are true opposites with each other." He snapped his talon and conjured a pot of popping oil and a glass of water. "And it's known well that....." he poured some water into the pot, which the oil reacted to wildly as it sizzled and popped and splashed. "...water and oil don't mix."

"You managed to escape through using chaos magic?"

"Perfecto! And with you lounging around in the garden, you were close enough for me to sense and extract only the concentrated chaotic energy from your magic. I am full on chaos, baby. And I work like a magnet," he beamed proudly. "I presume you're able to come up with your own theories now?"

"You collected enough for you to be able to create a reaction of imbalance, making the harmony magic go all haywire and let you off?"

"Well whatdayya know? You do have IQ afterall," he joked.

"Hey!" she called out angrily. Discord merely yawned at that.

"....oh deary me, I think we can end the night for now," he snapped his talon and their tea set disappeared. The couch too slowly turned back upright from being upside down the whole time. Crystal was amazed at how she didn't feel at all light-headed from the stunt. "Welp, off to bed! See you tomorrow then." Before he could walk away, Crystal stopped his abruptly.

"Wait, what do you mean "off to bed"? You don't expect me to stay here?? I- I can't just abandon the princesses without a word!"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh relax! They're big girls- they can handle it." He snapped his talon and a blanket with two pillows appeared. "Sleep on the couch for the night- I'll think of something tomorrow maybe."

"But-" before she could say anything, again he snapped and this time came tumbling down her saddlebag right in front of her.

"Ah ah! No buts unless they're under the covers!" and with that, he snapped himself away, the lights slowly dimming as the curtains of the living room drew themselves closed.

She spent most of her night thinking about the day. How are the princesses doing? Are they worr d for her or anything? Did they notice your missing baggage?

Under the covers, she wondered how it is like back home. Did the others notice her absence? Do they care? What are they thinking now? Are they worried?

Maybe they thought she went for a short vacation somewhere.

Worse case scenario, they freak that she offed herself somewhere.

She wouldn't do that. Nah...she wouldn't.

She started reminiscing about them, her childhood friends. Oh how simple those times were. She wished she could return back then. She wouldn't be living the same comfortable life she has currently, but it didn't matter as it went over her head back then.

As she did, slowly she succumbed to sleep, dreaming about happy times.

Hope you liked it:)

[22/ 1/ 2020]
-rewritten-