I didn't wake up suddenly or peacefully like the last two times.

No... I woke up screaming in agony, I woke up writhing and thrashing about, I woke up feeling like my insides were twisting in on themselves. I didn't know where I was, I didn't care where I was, I couldn't care where I was—the pain was far too much for me to do anything other than scream myself hoarse.

I don't know how long I flailed around in pain, but it felt like an eternity. I mentioned before that I didn't like pain. Seriously, threaten me with legitimate torture for answers and I'd probably sing like a canary right then and there.

Shameful? Probably, but like I said, I'm not about having to endure intense amounts of pain for a prolonged period of time.

Given my situation though, I suppose this was something I'd probably have to get used to going forward.

Having said that, this particular situation was something out of my worst nightmares, and I couldn't even find the mental capacity to be angry or scared about it... because all of the pain was blocking out my ability to think properly.

Then everything stopped.

Just like that, I was completely fine—panting, sweating, and shaking as I lay on the ground... but completely fine otherwise.

"Oh, dear... now that's not good."

It took me several moments before I even realized someone had spoken. I continued to lie there for a bit longer trying to catch my breath, and finally, mercifully, I began to feel normal again.

I rose to a sitting position with a groan and blinked a few times before I finally realized just whose voice it was that I had heard speak.

I groaned again and rubbed my eyes, noticing my glasses were missing. I opened my eyes to see said pair of glasses being held in front of my face by an open paw.

"Not feeling too bad I hope?" came that amused and infuriating voice, "seems like you had quite the trip this time around, eh, Salvatore?"

"Fuck. You. Discord," I grumbled, swiping my glasses and putting them back on before glaring at the smirking draconequus, "Jeezus fucking Christ, dude, what the actual fuck?"

"It's good to see you too, Sal," Discord replied with a small chuckle, "though you should probably do something about that mouth of yours... perhaps I should start charging a fee for the foul language?"

A comically large glass jar labeled 'Swear Jar' poofed into existence next to Discord, who leaned on it with that stupid smirk.

I didn't even dignify that with a response.

Instead I glanced around briefly and found I was back in the Realm of Chaos in front of Discord cottage. I shook my head and sighed before turning back to Discord with a frown.

"Okay, two things," I began, raising two fingers, "one, what the fuck happened back there, and two, why the fuck am I back here?"

I was pissed at Discord, sure, but I also wasn't the kind of person who blew up at people. Apparently not even this had warranted an insane freakout from me.

I may have felt some extreme annoyance and somewhat subdued anger, but nothing intense enough for me to start seeing red and screaming my lungs out at him.

I simply didn't do fury, rage, or even legitimate hatred—it wasn't in my nature, so I just frowned at him and demanded an explanation instead.

Discord returned my frown with an unamused scowl of his own and snapped his talons, causing the giant jar to disappear. He sighed dramatically and gave me what looked like an attempt at an apologetic smile.

"Those are some very good questions, my boy," he replied, lifting himself into the air, "and let me start off by saying you did an excellent job in that last universe... Grade A work, Sal, really, I couldn't have done it better myself... not that I would've even tried."

I raised an eyebrow and he, in turn, rolled his eyes.

"Okay, so the execution could've used some work.. a lot of work actually," he conceded, "but the fact remains that you actually managed to fix that universe just by simply being in the wrong place at the right time."

"Wait, seriously?" I asked, furrowing my brow, "but... the universe exploded... I felt it explode," my stomach turned and I tried not to think too deeply about that feeling, "Discord... what the fuck is going on?"

"Ah well... there might have been some... issues that occurred when Luna tried to teleport you off of that ship," Discord replied, with a shrug and a sheepish smile, "call it a... bug if you will—something I might have overlooked when I transferred that little bit of power to you."

I set aside the question of how Discord had known what had happened to me and asked a far more important question instead.

"So Luna's magic fucked with the chaotic power you forced into me, the universe exploded, and I got to experience..." I shivered involuntarily, "...that, all because you didn't bother to transfer your magic properly, is that it?"

"Well, when you put it like that it makes me sound lazy and sloppy," Discord replied, crossing his arms with a pout, "I'll have you know, this is the first time I've done something like this, so of course there's bound to be a few... hiccups."

"Discord," I responded, rubbing my temples and exhaling deeply through my nose, "an entire universe is gone because you made a mistake."

I gave him a level stare, trying to get him to understand the weight of what he'd let happen by screwing up the transfer.

"If a universe blows up because of me, that's on me and I won't blame anyone but myself for it, but I'm also cognizant of the fact that I was forced into this situation and that I'm in way over my head... but you have no excuse.

"That... that didn't have to happen, Discord, it shouldn't have happened. I saved that universe... well, I made it less worse than it could've been at any rate. You said so yourself, but now that universe is gone and..."

I stopped and sighed at the impatient look on the draconequus' face.

"You don't even care, do you?"

"Clearly not as much as you seem to," Discord replied with a dismissive roll of his eyes, "however I think I know what the problem is, and I am at least willing to fix it before I send you back out there."

Before I could say anything in response, he reached out and tapped my forehead with his paw. That odd electrical sensation ran through my body once more and I stood there as my body locked up and I started shivering uncontrollably.

I didn't bother to say anything this time and just rode it out. After about a minute the sensation stopped and I shook my head to get rid of the lingering disorientation before looking up at Discord.

"So," I began, deciding it was worth a shot, "you being the omnipotent being that you are, do you think you could at least fix my vision?"

"Hmm?" Discord replied distractedly. looking off in the distance with a troubled frown. He turned back to me as though he just realized I was still here, "oh... sure, why not?"

He snapped his talons and for me, everything went blurry, as though I wasn't wearing my glasses. I took them off and was stunned to see... well... that I could see.

It was like the world had gone from 90p all the way to 4k UHD and the brightness had been turned up drastically. It sounded like a ridiculous comparison, but that's what it felt like to me, and it was... absolutely glorious.

"Consider it an apology on my part if you'd like," Discord said, raising his claw again, "now off with you, I have... other things I need to take care of."

I was stil standing there looking around in amazement when Discord snapped his talons and sent me on my way to the next Equestrian hellscape with a comical poof.

A shorter chapter, but hopefully the early release balances it out. Next chapter will be released as normal and we'll be on our way to the next Equestrian hellscape! I can't wait!

God, I wish someone would snap their fingers and fix my shitty vision...