Rarity watched the clouds with apprehension as the night wrapped her in its dark embrace. The moment the pegasi had awoken she had hidden and watched them fly away, before vacating the encampment. She lay on a nearby hill and watched for signs of the coming conflict.

She wiped some sweat from her brow as she sighed. “Why is it so hot now?” she grumbled. Her entire life the moon had cast its light down on them and the cold kept them huddled inside warm rooms or near fires when on their ships. Now it was so tepid she barely needed her cloak to keep snug and she was still sweating. In fact she had removed the bark and other things from her disguise to keep herself from over heating! Just a few months ago the very notion of such things would have made her chuckle at the insanity of it all. She was unable to resist feeling a little grateful towards the avatar for such a gift.

She, of course, still had every intention of capturing and bringing the avatar to the Water Nation. It was her destiny after all, to return home and be hailed as a hero. Having her birth right returned to her. Taken back from her little sister, Sweetie Belle.

The sudden thoughts of her sister brought a small tear to her eye, though she wiped it away quickly. Sweetie had always looked up to her, but she never had time for the little filly. Always busy with work or designing or trying to improve her water bending. Ironically the little unicorn had always been far more talented when it came to bending.

Rarity could still remember the way Sweetie would run up to her, desperate to show off the new water bending trick she learned. Always looking for any sign of approval or acceptance from her elder sister. But all the fallen princess had given was annoyance and discouragement. Constantly shoving her little sister aside and telling her 'next time, next time', but next time never came.

She slowly got up to sit against a nearby tree and let out a mournful sigh. She wondered what brought these thoughts to her mind. Maybe it was the excitement of knowing soon she would return home? Knowing she would finally be what she had always desired and deserved to be? The future ruler of the Water Nation and eventually Nightmare Moon. “Don't worry mother... sister... I'll be back soon. This time I won't fail. I'll be the princess I should have been from the beginning...” she said as she stomped a hoof down.

------

“Why I am Discord, of course. Now who, pray tell, are you?” the thing before Twilight asked as he slithered around her in a small circle.

Every nerve in her body was telling her to run long, run hard and run far. Discord wasn't supposed to be here! He was supposed to be sealed away! Gone! Did he escape already? Was this just a part of him? Was this creature responsible for the giant bear? Even worse, was it allied with Trixie? She'd need to think hard and fast if she wanted to have any chance of dealing with him. “I-I'm the a-avatar.” Or she could just tell him exactly who she was. If she could move aside from trembling she'd face hoofed.

“Oh of course you are, my dear,” he said in a mocking tone. “I am certainly getting a lot of guests these days, aren't I? What brings you to my humble abode?” He just gazed down at the alicorn with a cruel smile that sent a chill down her back.

“N-nothing. I was just leaving,” she said as she turned to leave, but found her path blocked by the creature's tail.

“Oh? Why so quick to run? It really has been so long since I've last seen an avatar. Especially one who seems so out of place in my realm,” Discord said as its dragon's claw gently stroked her head. As the claws were drawn away she swore she could still feel it, burning across her flesh. “Please, let me entertain you for a while. I insist.”

“N-no need. Really, I was just-eek!” she shrieked as the tail wrapped around her and she found herself carried along through the woods.

------

“It's beautiful, isn't it?” Trixie asked Celestia as the two stood on the bridge. The bear was seemingly asleep under Cloudsdale, its massive frame barely moving from its small bed of broken homes and walls.

“Not quite the word I would use,” the elder pony said softly. “Impressive though. I couldn't help but notice it only seems to move when you are using that spell and no longer with us. If you aren't using the spell, how is it still there? It didn't remain at the other places you destroyed.”

“There was no need for it to remain at those places. I think it's fitting to let them look down and see the object of their destruction,” Trixie laughed victoriously. “I think when they finally surrender to me I'll make an exhibition of their precious Wonderbolts first. Dangle them from ship by their precious wings until they break off and fall to their deaths. That will teach those foals to oppose the Water Nation.”

Celestia cringed at the brutality of the general and shook her head. “I wouldn't count yourself to powerful yet, General. You haven't defeated the pegasi yet. You still can't assault Cloudsdale,” the unicorn reminded her.

“Bah. Don't you worry about that. I already have special plans for when the night falls. My soldiers are already in place,” she said as another wicked grin formed on her lips.

“Whatever do you mean?” the white unicorn kept her voice calm and reasonable, but inside she began to feel dread.

“There are plenty of ponies up in that city. Would be a shame if they lost their supplies, wouldn't it?” with those words Trixie turned and trotted back into the ship.

------

The forest began to get darker as Twilight was dragged along. The comical appearances of the plant life was soon replaced by dark, rotten woods covered in a sickly green ichor with branches that seemed to reach for her. She couldn't help but long for the strange trees and plant life she had seen before.

Little blue eyes watched her from the shadows as light clicking and buzzing began to fill the air. “Now I do apologize that the accommodations aren't what you are likely used to, Avatar,” Discord said as he dropped her into a small stone nest filled with eggs. “But things just haven't been the same since you were last here. Well, one of you. Tell me, how many avatars have come and gone since then, hmmmm?” He leaned in close, his eyes less than an inch from hers.

Twilight stared at the creature as her eyes shifted around to different locations on his face. “I-I'm the first. I-I really should be going, you see I have a bear to stop. A big bear. I'd hate to intrude and ow!” she shrieked as her hoof was struck as she tried to climb out of the nest.

“Oh no no no! We can't have that! After all, it's thanks to you that I'm even here. Please... let me help,” those last words dripped with venom as his eyes narrowed on her..

Twilight stared at the spirit nervously and began to shake her head, trying to focus on what she had to do. On what was at stake. On who needed her. She slowly narrowed her eyes on the spirit. Slowly she took a deep breath and then let out a low growl. “Stop it,” she said warningly.

“Stop what?” he asked with mirth.

“This. All of it. Fine, Discord, if you want to play games we'll play,” Twilight said firmly as she stomped her hoof down on the creatures tail. He pulled it away with a yelp. “I don't know how you're out and moving, but there is no way your power is anywhere near what it used to be. Don't think just because I'm new to this that I will hesitate to send you back where you belong if you get out of line.” She could feel her confidence begin to grow as her horn lit up. Wait, her horn lit up! Her magic, her bending! She could feel it! Flames shot out from her horn and enveloped the draconeus for a second before dissipating and leaving him completely black as he coughed out a little smoke.

“I see,” he grumbled before shaking off the soot. “Very well, Avatar. What do you need?”

“The giant bear. You're going to take me to it.”

“Oh? Giant bear? I'm afraid I don't know of any such things. Perhaps you'd settle for a giant bunny? We have quite a few of those,” he said as he motioned off to the distance.

“NO!” she growled and then lunged into the air. Her hooves caught the creature in the chest and she drove him down as her horn began to glow. “You're going to... going to...” her voice trailed off as the thing under her hooves began to twist and shift. The sound of buzzing and clicking got louder and faster. Slowly she backed away and stared “You're... you're not Discord. A-are you?”

“No. No I am not.” Slowly it got up as the creature's form burst into green flames. As the flames died down a black pony, far taller than her, stood in its place. The ponies body was filled with holes around the hooves and had a long jagged horn that looked as if it had been bent repeatedly. Long dark cerulean insect wings with holes were on her back. She had a dark cerulean mane and tail that had holes through them as well. Her eyes seemed to glow with a wicked green light.

Creatures quite similar to the monster, only lacking the mane, tail and being much smaller, flew from the trees and soon surrounded the two. A wicked grin slowly spread across the creature's lips as it moved closer. “My name is Chrysalis, ruler of the Spirit World and queen of the changelings.”

“But... you're not... why were you looking like Discord? How were you?” Twilight asked as she backed away, only stopping when one of the smaller creatures blocked her way.

“There are many forces that wished to rule once Discord was defeated by you. I merely decided that it would be better for him to never leave. Well, for nothing to believe he left.”

“O-oh. Then I'm sure you're uhhh, quite thankful to me, right?” she said softly as she tried to calm her shaking hooves and regather her courage.

“Oh, of course. I am over joyed to no longer have to deal with that psychotic tyrant. Then again had it not been for your interference oh so long ago,” the creature's body erupted in green flames for a moment before turning into a pink alicorn. “Me and my hive would have escaped into the real world and been free of him so much sooner.”

“Y-you're... you're the one who... Cadence,” Twilight managed to gasp out pathetically.

“Oh, of course. I imagine you'd prefer this form.” Once again the creature changed, this time into a white unicorn stallion with a blue mane.

The avatar could feel her heart begin to pound faster as pain filled her chest, like a knife stabbing and twisting. It took a few seconds for her to realize she was crying and a few more seconds before she began to feel it bubble under the surface. Hatred. Raw and powerful. Burning away in her like the sun itself.

The changelings charged forward and surrounded her, dozens of them dog piling the alicorn. Within moments they were thrown away as a pink light bathed the area. Twilight no longer stood there, instead a tall pink alicorn stood in her place. Her hair and mane were colored in streaks of light yellow, dark pink and dark purple.

The mare glared up at Chrysalis with raw burning contempt. “You DARE to use the face of my love against me?!!” she screamed as her horn glowed so brightly it could be seen for miles. Before the queen of changelings could run she was enveloped in the glow and dragged before the raging avatar. “You took the most important pony in the world to me and you think you ARE WORTHY TO WEAR HIS FORM?!” The spirit world itself seemed to shift and writhe from her rage, thunderous clouds forming above as the weird plant and animal life attempted to hide or meld itself into the ground. The remainder of the changeling horde cowered as the mare yelled at their queen.

Chrysalis ended her transformation and tried to look away from the angry mare. “I was-”

“I know EXACTLY what you were doing. The same thing you tried to do all those years before!” A shock wave spread out from her horn, toppling creatures and some trees as it spread out. “I should destroy you.”

The queen gasped as the pressure of raw magic began to press in on her body, slowly crushing her.

“Destroy you like you destroyed my love.” Slowly she brought Chrysalis's face towards her, gazing into her eyes.

“W-wait...” the queen gasped out.

“Why?” the alicorn asked as she tightened the magic around her, mangling the queen's wings. Rage burned through her body like fire as she watched the creature before her. “Long ago I stayed my hoof out of a sense of mercy and a desire to not harm others. In the end all it has brought me was pain. I should wipe you and your horde from this realm and all others!”

“T-the a-avatar n-needs me...” the queen gasped. “W-without my h-help s-she will be u-unable to find... gasp... what she s-seeks. S-she'll fail...”

Cadence growled. “What do I care? That is the new avatar's problem, not mine.” She tightened the hold even more.

The queen gasped and then shifted once again into the stallion's form. “He... wouldn't... want you to... c-cause her f-failure o-out of v-vengeance...”

The alicorn growled but slowly her horn dimmed and the queen was dropped to the ground. “You will help the new avatar and then you will leave to a corner of the Spirit World and never bother her or any future avatar again. If I ever find you again I will not hesitate to destroy you. It will be the least you deserve,” with those final words dust swirled up around the alicorn and hid her from view.

When the dust settled Twilight stood before the changeling. “W-what happened?” she asked, looking around with confusion.

Chrysalis slowly got to her hooves. “Come. I will help you find what you seek,” she growled, limping a bit as she tried to spread her wings, alas they were useless, crushed in the avatar's rage.

“You'll help me?! Really? I thought you said you didn't know where it was?”

“Your giant bear? I do not. But how things appear in this world and in your world are often different. In the end there is nothing in this world me and my hive cannot find. Now tell me more of this bear.”

------

As the sun went down behind the mountains a single blue shape took off from one of the ships, a young pegasus colt with a blue coat and light blue mane. His cutey mark was two small wings hiding a ponies eyes. His name was Littlewing, a mockery towards his size. Despite the fact he was as old as any pony out here a birth defect had led to him never growing bigger than the average colt. Knowing he would never be any use to his nation as a warrior, instead he developed more treacherous talents. Talents he could use with his size to give him power. The Air Nomads were extremely protective of their children and tended to try and keep them free from the front lines. Which meant he would often have access to the back lines where he could strike and damage them where it hurt the most.

Unsurprisingly he had found his talents valued highly by the general and sent off to do her bidding. The dye on his mane and coat had only barely dried when he took off for the floating city. He didn't seem to have any tools with him, his duties requiring him to move fast and light. All he carried were four small, but potent, poisons in small fake pony shoes.

Before long he found himself climbing over the edge of the clouds and almost instantly let out an eek as he stared straight into the eyes of a blue mare with a rainbow colored mane. “Hey, where did you come from?” the pony asked as she picked him up in one hoof. “I don't think I've seen you before. Which is strange cause I thought I met the lot of you earlier and I never forget a fan,” she said with a confident smirk.

He struggled and let out a little pathetic squeak, trying to look as weak and small as he could. “I-I w-was h-hiding in a c-cloud when the g-giant bear came,” he said with a pathetic whimper as he formed tears in his eyes.

“Oh. Right,” she looked around nervously once the tears started so he decided to push her a bit more.

“H-have you seen m-my mommy? I-I couldn't f-find her after we were separated... S-she said she'd come and get me b-but she never came...”

The rainbow-maned pegasus let him go and motioned away. “I don't know, all the ponies are scattered about. Just go look for her but stay away from the edge. We don't want anyone falling off, especially not a little kid.”

“O-okay...” he quickly darted off. Now that he was in the city no pony gave him so much as a second glance and he could see why. Many homes had been remade into short multi floored towers and there were dozens of non-pegasi ponies struggling to keep safe on the few solid places they could stand. Even the clouds were covered with ponies, keeping around the solid bits in order to keep their brethren from falling through. Most of the ponies were trying to catch sleep, but a few were still wandering around. He kept his cool and pretended to just be looking for some pony while his trained eyes searched for something to meet his expectations.

He soon caught sight of a large cloud-building with two guards at the front door. They might as well have put a big sign on front that said 'Come grab our food, it's defenseless!' Silly ponies, he thought to himself, even if it's too soon for the hungry to try and steal food, that's not an excuse to leave it so poorly guarded. Come this time tomorrow the food will be the most precious thing on this flying marshmallow.

He slowly moved around the back of the building. Two pegasi were chatting with each other, though their backs were to him. He watched them for a few moments before lunging in through the wall. It only took him a few seconds to move his small form into the building and close the wall behind him, but he went completely still none the less and waited. After a few minutes of silence he looked around the building.

He almost squealed in delight! The place was obviously their store room, holding not only their food but also all their torches and other supplies! Silly ponies, he thought, must have been really hurting for space if they stored everything together, He went for their liquids first.

Most were stored in special large vats with thick lids on top that he had to struggle to remove, but he managed to one by one slide the lids off enough for him to put his front left hoof over. From there it was just a few simple drops from the mechanism in the shoe and then a small stir. It took him almost an hour before all the vats were dealt with.

The food stores were next. He began slowly opening food, such as bags of flour and nuts, and began to dump small powdered toxins within them. The poison wasn't strong enough to kill any pony who ate it, but it would cause plenty of negative effects to the ponies. This part went much faster namely because he didn't have nearly enough to poison all their foods so he made sure to open and spread the poison as best he could. The final part was easier as he went through their stores and found a flint and tinder. He grabbed all the torches and put them up against the food before lighting them into a blaze.

Before the fire could go too far he took off and made another hole through the side of the cloud building. He didn't hesitate and, not even looking to see if any pony saw him, took off like a bat from Tartarus. A few ponies gave him confused looks, but it wasn't until a few minutes later that he heard the yelling and shouting. Once ponies began to run towards the commotion he blended in with the crowds and started to make his way back, eager to see his handiwork.

He was disappointed to see the fire was already out by the time he returned, being surrounded in clouds at such a high altitude did make fires a lot harder to keep going. It was one of the reasons most the cloud cities had fallen during the hundred years of night. He scowled when he saw most the food had survived. Doesn't matter, come tomorrow most of the drinks would have to be gathered from clouds. The Water Nation would pluck them like fruit when they try.

He began to back up with a large grin on his face. Now he only had one final task before he could leave this hovering city. All he had to do was find the avatar and he had a special poison in mind for her. Slowly he turned to walk away and walked straight into another pony. It took him a few seconds to realize who it was. The same blue pegasus who saw him when he first arrived.

“What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked warily.

------

Twilight gulped nervously as she slowly inched across a long, thin, stone bridge directly over a chasm filled with... well she didn't know what it was. Some kind of giant purple slime? The changeling had warned her not to fall in unless she wanted to face her ultimate destruction. Frankly she was expecting the changeling to toss her in at any moment.

“We're almost there, Avatar,” Chrysalis said roughly. “Let us hurry so I can return to my children.”

“Are you sure this is the right place? How have you gotten here before?” Twilight asked. A moment later she shrieked before darting across the bridge as a large bubble of purple slime popped and sent a small burst up the stuff into the air, coming within inches of covering her.

“Normally I would fly there, but as you can see that is no longer an option,” Chrysalis said snidely. “So a few of the landmarks seem different, but I think I can still tell where I'm going.”

Once they crossed the bridge the land began to change yet again. The trees looked normal, as did the ground. Normal like the real world. They even had fruit bats! Normal, run of the mill fruit bats were resting in the trees!

“Why is this area so... different? Normal?”

“It's where the bonds between our world and yours are weakest. If your enemy wished to bring something from our world into yours it would have to be through here,” the queen practically snapped the answer.

“Why haven't you tried to break through?” Twilight asked suddenly.

“Why would I? Without Discord to cause mayhem and anarchy this world is mine. There are only a few who can oppose me and those ones are still fearful of his wrath. Or did you believe I was queen in words only?” the changeling asked with a chuckle.

“If you're so happy to have him gone, why attack me? I mean, I am responsible for it. Sorta. A previous avatar is,” Twilight asked as she kicked over a small rock.

“Just because you accidentally did me one favor doesn't mean I'm going to like you. Given a chance I'd drop you off the nearest cliff,” the queen growled. “But for now it is in my best interest to just get you out of here. Here.” Chrysalis stopped in front of a small circle only a few inches wide in the ground that radiated light to form a thin pillar into the sky. “A small gateway has been formed here between our worlds, if you can close it the creature should be removed from that world.”

“Oh, well that sounds simple enough. How do I close it?”

“How would I know? You're the avatar,” the queen turned to walk off.

“Wait! You tried to open one of these though? How can you not know how to close it?!”

“I tried to open it long, long ago. Breaking through was no easy task and it was through deceiving the previous avatar I managed it. As to how I expanded the gateway... I used another pony to perform my deeds. Magic was never my skill, manipulation was. Besides even if I did know how to close the gateway I have already done more than enough to help you. Goodbye,” with those words the queen galloped off into the distance.

“Figures,” Twilight grumbled as she poked a hoof into the light and felt a soft tingling in her hoof. She pulled it back to look at it and found nothing wrong. Slowly she inched forward and stepped into the light. Almost instantly she was filled with fear and longing. She felt a prescence call out for her and beg for help. She quickly pulled away and looked at the beam, her mouth agape. She then turned and ran back after the queen, “Wait! Chrysalis! I have an idea!”

------

“Right there, general, is where we saw it,” a unicorn wearing the Water Nation's armor said as he pointed above the bear. “Your creature seemed to be fading out and for a few seconds we saw the avatar there, but she was as large as the creature. A moment later she was gone.”

“How many saw this?” Trixie asked warily.

“Most the soldiers who were on night guard. I came to see you immediately.”

“A good thing you did, lieutenant.”

“I-I'm not a lieutenant, I'm just a-”

“You are now,” Trixie said with a smirk. “You were sharp eyed enough to notice my little trick AND wise enough to come tell me immediately. I could use a pony like you.”

“W-what? You could? I mean-” He quickly stood up straight and puffed out his chest. “It was one of your tricks?”

“Why of course. I've been practicing on altering the form of the beast for a while now. Turning it into the form of the avatar would surely cause the pegasi to come investigate,” Trixie lied through her teeth. “Feel free to let the others know and stop their incessant worry. As if the avatar could hope to stop my plans,” She laughed as she quickly trotted off towards her office. Soon she had the door locked behind her and sat at her desk.

“So she thinks she can ruin all my plans, does she? I guess I'll just have to defeat her in the Spirit World as well,” she growled as her horn began to glow. “she'll be in for a nasty little surprise once my soldier finds her.”

------

The soldier in question, Littlewing, tried to make himself look as small as possible as he was slowly brought forward by the pegasus mare. He gulped nervously as he looked at the guard pony and quickly hugged Rainbow's leg. He did his best to seem frightened and terrified.

“Does this pony look anything like the one you mentioned?” Rainbow asked a red maned and orange coated stallion who was talking to the guard as she tried to shake the stallion/colt off her leg, but his grip was firm.

“I suppose it's possible, but I think the pony I saw was bigger than this. I couldn't get a good look of their cutey mark. I'm sorry but I wasn't paying much attention since I didn't think it was important at the time. The colors match though, a blue coat and a blue mane,” the stallion said uneasily as he watched the 'colt'.

“I saw this pony arrive tonight. How about you tell them what you told me?” Rainbow said as she glared down at the little pegasus.

“I-I was h-hiding in the c-clouds a-and w-waiting for mommy...” he whimpered softly as he lightly fiddled with his back right hoof shoe. From this position it would be all to easy to make the pony meet her end.

“For how long?” the guard pony asked. He seemed uneasy about all this as well, the pegasi obviously not used to interrogating a child.

Tears began to form in his eyes as he sniffled. “S-since d-dah sun w-went down...” he whimpered as he buried his head against the mares leg.

“I don't think this child has anything to do with it. He's just a child looking for his mother,” the guard said with a sigh. “Blue manes and coats aren't that uncommon. There are dozens of pegasi here who could match such standards.”

“I guess,” Rainbow said, though she didn't sound convinced. “Maybe you should take him too, just in case?”

“He's just a child. There's no need to worry about him,” the guard said softly. “Just take him back to rest with the rest of the children. He's obviously frightened enough as it is.”

Rainbow sighed and began walking, glancing down at the 'colt' in annoyance. “What's your name, anyway?”

“L-Littlewing,” he whimpered out. He made a mental note that the pegasus mare was smarter than he originally thought or perhaps she was just un-trusting.

“I've got my eye on you kid, so if you're a part of this don't think you'll get away unscathed.” He was beginning to think it was un-trusting. Was it because I didn't fawn over her like she mentioned the other foals doing?

“I-I just want my m-mommy...” he said softly as he fiddled with his hoof shoe again, a narrow needle popping out. He waited until they were a bit away from the large gathering and then he performed one small poke.

The poisons took effect almost immediately, dropping the pegasus to the ground. He untangled himself from her leg and slowly leaned down to look her in the eye. “You were right you know,” he mumbled as he slowly molded the clouds around her and pushed her down a bit so she was little more than a tiny bump. “Should have insisted they take me,” he taunted as he pulled the clouds completely over her. He then leaned down and whispered into the cloud, “Don't worry. The poison is slow but painless. You'll feel like you're falling asleep. A merciful death all things considered. Better than what I have in store for the avatar.”

He smiled as he trotted off. He technically was told to leave no casualties, but he was sure the general wouldn't mind only one. Besides, he could only bring four poisons with him at a time and three had to be prepared specifically for the mission. He had to bring at least one that fit his style. With his escort gone all he had to do now was find the avatar and he could finish with his mission.

Unfortunately for him, finding the avatar was much harder than finding the stores. Most of the buildings had become multi-floor towers and he didn't want to risk bursting into each of them. He let out a sigh as he prepared to find her the old fashioned way.

------

Twilight happily plodded along behind the annoyed changeling queen. “Are we almost there?”

“Yes,” the queen grumbled in annoyance as she hung her head. I am the queen of the changelings! she thought to herself, How am I being degraded to a mere tour guide? She growled a little as they made there way towards a semi-cave. It didn't help that the place was basically a volcano made of chocolate with molten caramel occasionally spurting out. She hated Discord and what he did to this world soooo much, if she was more powerful she would have removed all traces of the monster long ago. Used to be so perfect. Swamps everywhere, horrible monsters and even had a giant centipede that stole the faces of all who showed emotions. Since that spirit took over he filled her home with candy and nonsense, even after his defeat very little had reverted and his presence still permeated the world like the scent of rotten fruit.

“This is it, inside resides the closest thing to the creature you named. Good luck,” the queen grumbled in annoyance.

“You aren't coming with me?” Twilight asked softly.

“Buck no. This is your problem, not mine. You should be thankful I even led you here. Just hurry up and- eek!” Chrysalis froze as suddenly the alicorn HUGGED her. “Get off me!”

“Thanks for all your help. I'll be back in a short bit, don't leave without me,” Twilight said as she ran inside, a mischievous grin on her face. Making the changeling freak out made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Her horn lit up and filled the cave with light. The cavern wasn't big so it only took her a few seconds to find what she was looking for. Nestled in the back were a small batch of tiny bears. Made of a strange gel. “You have got to be kidding me...” They had little stars over their bodies and came in a variety of colors. Red she imagined was strawberry, yellow was probably lemon, green was likely apple... she blamed Discord. It was the only excuse. She looked around but didn't see any that looked too big so slowly she wrapped her magic around a yellow one and pulled it towards her. It stirred a little but gentle rocking kept it still.

Slowly she walked back out the exit and held it up to Chrysalis. “I think I found it.”

“Ugh. Gummy bears. I hate those things,” the queen grumbled as they slowly headed back. “They used to be powerful and majestic creatures before discord came and changed them into those. Should have seen what he did to the scorpio creatures.”

“Scorpio? Were they turned into candy too?”

“Nope. Little adorable cartoons with giant eyes, ballerina dresses, and... the rest is to horrible to mention,” Chrysalis said with a shiver. “Discord was a monster like no other.”

“... You say he did these things to them. Hasn't Discord always been around? I mean... I was under the impression he was really old and really powerful. That and most of the stronger spirits in the world never left.”

“He was around as long as I can remember, but he was not always as powerful as he was. He used to be even weaker than me in terms of magical might. I don't know what changed, but the rules here are far different than they are in your world.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight gently held the bear against her back while rocking it softly.

“What you are on the inside is what matters in here. Discord was madness and chaos, so he became madness and chaos incarnate. You are the... well, a tiny avatar on the inside, so you became a tiny one on the outside.”

“Hey!” Twilight objected, “I'm not tiny!”

“You are microscopic. When the last avatar came here he stood taller than me and the entire world shook when he walked. You look like you might fall over from a small burst of air,” the changeling teased.

“I... I'm still learning. I don't know anything about this world. I was never taught. Heck getting in here was kinda a rushed experience. You see-”

“Don't care and don't want your life story,” Chrysalis interrupted. “We're almost there and I-” she froze as her ears began to twitch. “I'm done. Keep heading straight and you'll eventually get back.” The queen took off in a mad dash.

“What? Hey! Come back! Don't run off!” Twilight yelled and then cringed as she heard the bear on her back begin to move about. “Oh no. Rock a bye baby on the tree top...” she sang softly while she gently rocked the bear.

------

Littlewing stared at the avatar's body with a wicked grin. Finding her hadn't been easy. He had ended up asking a little yellow pegasus where 'dah big stwong avataw who'sh gonna save us all' was. The mare had just pointed and kinda meekly squeaked, she seemed a bit weird to him.

It didn't matter now though. Slowly he circled the mare, poking her and waving his hoof in front of her face. Not a move. What a bunch of foals, he thought to himself. The avatar was completely defenseless and they hadn't even left a single guard to protect her. They are practically begging some pony to come assassinate her!

Fortunately for them the avatar was wanted alive. Slowly he pushed her body over and adjusted his hoof shoe until a small needle popped out, a single drop of poison dripping out. Without a second more to waste he jammed it into her side and slowly injected the poison.

-------

Once the baby had settled down Twilight slowly laid the bear on her back and continued onward. Before too long she was back to the beam of light, except in front of the light a small cage of ice was laying on the ground with a small blue gummy bear inside it. Twilight darted over and grinned, “So you're the little thing that's been causing so much trouble. Well I'm happy to see you're out, though that makes my plan A kind of useless.” Slowly and gently she laid the yellow gummy bear on the ground as she poked the ice cage. “Don't worry, I'll have you out of there in a moment. I wonder where you were when I-” she never got to finish the sentence as she was suddenly crushed by a massive blue hoof. The blue hoof slowly lifted the mare into the air and brought her to a triumphant blue ponies face.

“General Trixie...” Twilight groaned as she glared at the face. “H-how did you get so big?” The pony was as large as the giant bear that had been let loose on the Air Nomads! Heck, it was almost as large as the water benders ego. Slowly the alicorn tried to gather magic in her horn to make fire, but nothing formed. Her horn refused to even spark.

“Avatar, I've been waiting for you. Please, don't try and bend. It seems my little spy finished his mission,” the Great and Powerful Trixie said with a grin as she slowly gave the mare a squeeze with her massive hooves.

“W-what have you done, Trixie?” Twilight asked with a groan as she struggled to get free.

“Oh, don't you worry about that. I just took measures to ensure you don't cause me to many issues,” the unicorn said smugly. “Now onto important matters. Do you like my look? I think it suits me.” The general slammed the avatar back into the ground, eliciting a scream from the alicorn. “I'm happy you approve. It seems you still don't have a complete grasp on how the Spirit World works. Allow me to give you a demonstration.” Trixie's horn began to glow as more of Twilight's cries filled the air.

------

Rainbow struggled to push the clouds away, but it felt like her entire body was numb. She wasn't sure what that pony did to her, but who knew what would happen if she didn't stop him? Who knew what evil and malevolent plans that pony had planned? Even if he was a little colt, that wouldn't stop her from enacting vengeance!

Sadly the thin layer of clouds were too heavy. Each movement was strained and the clouds felt like an immovable wall of steel, encasing her. It didn't help that she kept drifting in and out of consciousness. Slowly, through diligence, she managed to create a small hole just wide enough for her leg in the clouds above and slowly slid her hoof out. Before she could make it any thicker the world went dark around her and her hoof fell back inside, lost in the sea of white clouds.