I've been wanting to get into the pony game for fanfics for sometime now, but from what I've read the pony/brony community is a bit more critical than others. Not bad, but since I love this series just as much, if not more, than the next brony I feel like there is a quality marker I have to reach. Anyway, let me explain a few things before you start. One, OC pony is present. Run now if you don't like that. Two, OC was originally made for D&D 3.5 and was only recently adapted to MLP. What this means is that OC will retain skills, abilities and spells that, from my experience as a fan, player, and DM, make logical sense in the universe. OC will still lose some abilities. If you have a question you can ask me, but for the most part I'm pretty sure you won't even notice these factors as you read. Three, if anyone of you read my other stories you know I can't write normal romance. I guess the question there is, how normal do I want to keep this story? I love this title and I owe a friend for helping me with it. Well enjoy.

Sonata de'crescendo

By: Juggalomalice

Chapter 1

This wasn't what she wanted. Things weren't suppose to turn out like this. When Twilight Sparkle had decided to spend the weekend in Canterlot to catch up with her teacher, Princess Celestia, she never expected this to happen. She was suppose to be enjoying herself as she had afternoon tea with her mentor, idle, and friend, but instead she now found herself readily at the Princess' heel as the two of them dashed down the halls of the castle into the garden. Both of them knew that the prismatic spray of colors that exploded from the garden was bad news, they knew that the oh so familiar laugh they heard as they entered the garden was bad news and as they turned the corner they knew that the former stone now flesh draconequus, who stood triumphantly on his former display pedestal, was also bad news.

"Discord!" Celestia spat out upon sight of her ancient nemesis.

"Oh if it isn't the Princess and dear old Twilight Sparkle. I'm not even free for a minute and I'm already blessed with your presence. I feel so loved right now." The spirit of chaos replied mockingly.

"Can the sarcasm Discord and tell me how you broke your seal so soon." The Princess demanded.

"Well I'm not too sure of that myself at this moment. It felt like someone poked a hole in my seal and I guess I started poking the hole a bit myself. Before you knew it the seal was broken. I guess they don't make magical seals like they use to. What's the matter Tia? You seem mad."

Celestia marched straight up to Discord and shot him a furious glare. "I don't know what you're plans are Discord, but I assure you that you won't succeed."

"Really Tia, why are you always so mad every time you see me? Well I'm not sure about you, but I for one feel like celebrating my freedom." Discord replied as he snapped his talons. A bright flash of light resonated as a band of mariachi ponies dressed in full charro outfits appeared and began to play a festive and upbeat song in celebration. Meanwhile a pair of handsome stallions had appeared next to the Princess and as one fanned her with a large palm leaf the other tried to coax her into letting him feed her fresh grapes from a bowl he carried.

"DISCORD!" The alicorn spat out once again in warning.

"Fine." Discord grumbled as he snapped his talons once more and the two stallions disappeared only to reappear next to Twilight. Celestia shot Discord another glare to signify her disapproval. "Arrgh, have it your way." And with one more snap the mariachi and the studs vanished.

Having found her voice by this time, Twilight stood by her mentor's side and demanded, "What are you up to this time Discord?"

"Straight to the point as always. Well if you must know, I'm still very bored. I know!" The draconequus shouted as an idea lit up in his head, "Why don't we play a game of Hide n' Seek. I'll hide and you seek. Sounds fun right?"

"No matter where in Equestria you hide my friends and I will find you and put you back in your prison." Twilight proclaimed confidently.

"Oh Twilight Twilight Twilight," Discord simply said as he shook his head disapprovingly, "Who said anything about us staying in Equestria for our game? You know there's a whole world outside the borders of Equestria and it's been over a thousand years since I've last seen it. I'm very curious on how it's changed. To top it off this land has become so very boring since Tia here took over. I think it would be nice for me to sightsee a bit."

"Outside of Equestria?" Twilight echoed the words slowly. Almost like the idea didn't make logical sense in her mind.

"That's right, but don't worry. I'll be sure to give you some hints to find me." He said as a suitcase appeared next to him in which he proceeded to fill with various random objects including a rubber chicken. "Well I'll mail you a post card when I get to my first stop. Bye." And with one last snap the spirit of discord vanished before both teacher and students eyes.

Princess Celestia didn't waste any time wondering where Discord fled to and turned to her pupil, "Twilight gather your things and prepare to leave for Ponyville immediately. I will have the Elements of Harmony ready for you upon departure. You and your friends must find Discord before it's too late."

"I'm on it Princess Celestia." She acknowledged as she turned around and dashed off before tripping on a strange black mass. "Ouch, where did this dumb rock come from?" She huffed in anger as she gave it a swift kick with her hind leg before she stood back up.

"That really hurt." The rock mumbled weakly.

"What?" Twilight mumbled to herself as realization slowly dawned on her. She walked up to the black mass only to notice that it wasn't a rock but a cloak and as she pulled it aside with her magic she saw a male unicorn no younger than herself who was barely conscious. "Princess Celestia, there's a pony here who's hurt!"

"What?" Celestia exclaimed. She was so wrapped up in Discord that she had failed to see the half dozen or so other ponies that laid unconscious on the ground around them. "Twilight, stay with him. I'll go get help." She ordered before dashing off.

The stallion weakly looked up at Twilight. "Can you hear me?" Twilight asked as she gently brushed his black mane out of his eyes. "Don't worry, you'll be ok. I promise." She assured him before his eyes closed and his consciousness slipped away once more.

"Huh, my head feels like a herd of bison just did a river dance on it." He moaned as he sat up in his bed and rubbed his head with his hoof. He looked around his surroundings to find himself in a room with nearly a dozen other ponies in beds lined up against the wall. "Oh yeah, I passed out didn't I?" He asked no one in particular. It was at that moment that a flash of panic fell over him as he frantically began patting his body and looking under his bed covers as if searching for something. As his eyes finally fell upon a nearby chair he breathed a sigh of relief. For on that chair sat his black hooded traveling cloak, his traveling pack and his trusty silver inline keytar.

He slowly got out of bed as he walked towards the chair. Apparently somepony had cleaned and brushed his white coat and black mane as he slept. The top of his right ear looked like it had been cut clean off and his stud mark consisted of an elegant ensemble of musical notes next to a theatrical mask of comedy and happiness. Though he wasn't arrogant enough to call himself handsome he was arrogant enough to whole heartily believe the many ponies who told him he was. He used his magic to pick up and equipped each item in turn.

"Usually I like passing out to find myself in a comfy bed, especially if there's a pretty girl next to me, but waking up in what appears to be a hospital, not so much." He joked to himself. "Doesn't seem to be any nurses around. I should probably take a look around." He said as he exited the room only to find himself taken back by the grand regal designs of the castle hallway. "Yup, definitely not a normal hospital." He confirmed to himself as she began walking.

Though his head was still aching, the pony couldn't help but admit he felt lighter for some reason. Like some weird burden had been lifted off his shoulders. "Maybe I had a nice dream." He thought as his mind began pulling up images of a purple unicorn. He found himself grinning unconsciously. "Yeah, a cute girl like that would have to be a dream. Still I have to wonder…" he thought as he noticed that he had been walking for nearly 20minutes and had yet to see anyone. "Where is everypony? I've been walking around like I own the place and no one's try to stop me. If I wasn't such a nice guy I'd say that the security of this place sucks." As he continued walking he slowly began to hear voices coming from behind a pair of large regal doors that were half open.

"I've gathered all the Elements of Harmony for you and placed them is this box. Take very good care of this Twilight Sparkle for you know as well as I do that if something were to happen to them Discord would be unstoppable. I've also gathered as many bits as I could spare on such short notice for you and your friends traveling expenses. Make sure to take Spike with you so that we can maintain an open line of communication as well." Princess Celestia instructed her student.

"Thank you your highness. I assure my friends and I won't fail you, but… are we really going to have to travel beyond the borders of Equestria? I've only read books about." Twilight confessed.

"I'm afraid you must. I've prepared some maps for you. They're a bit dated, but I'm sure you can still use them as a reference."

The white unicorn stuck his head around the corner and peeked into the room not wanting to alert the speaker to his presence yet, but he was amazed by what he saw. "Is that an alicorn? I've never seen one. I heard the stories, but I always took it with a grain of salt and there's that unicorn from my dream. So I'm still dreaming, right? That would make sense. That or I'm crazy." With the prospect of dreams or insanity as protection he marched right into the room without a second thought determined to discover the reality of the subject.

"Oh it seems one of our guests has awoke as well." Celestia said before Twilight could reply. The lavender unicorn turned around to see the stallion she had helped earlier walking towards her. In fact he seemed intent on her entirely and was even going so far as to ignore the princess.

He stopped several inches away from Twilight and just stared at her forcing the mare to smile awkwardly in response. He suddenly lifted his hoof and poked her gently, almost cautiously on her nose and then her horn.

"Can I help you with something?" She finally asked with a hint of annoyance.

"So you're not a dream?" The white unicorn said before a rather ecstatic and dashing smile graced his face. "My dear lady, you have no idea how glad I am to know that you're real. I was starting to think this headache of mine had caused to hallucinate."

"Oh, well I guess that explains a few things." Twilight admitted though a bit taken back by blissfulness.

"Now, since I know you're real, I need to ask you question." He began as he leaned in closer to Twilight, "Is there a large pony with wings and a unicorn horn commonly known as an Alicorn in mythology standing next to you."

Twilight was again taken back, almost scared by the now plausible idea that this pony was crazy. How else would he not be able to recognize Princess Celestia? "Yes, there is."

The white unicorn released a sudden breath of air as he began laughing. "Thank the stars. I was really thinking I was going crazy. I always thought Alicorns were just a myth, but to actually see one in real life. I'm surprised my mind didn't blow up."

"What? How could you not recognize Princess Celestia?" Twilight finally asked, finding this pony's attitude far too strange to make rational sense out of.

"Princess Celestia? As in the famous rumored Princess Celestia of Equestria?" He asked as if he wasn't sure that's who she really was.

"Of course, that Princess! Everyone in Equestria knows who Princess Celestia is!" Twilight began shouting. How could anyone not know who the Princess was.? "If you don't know you're either completely crazy or…"

"Or not from Equestria, right." The white unicorn answered her with a bright and unoffended smile. "Forgive me, my attitude must have seemed very rude to you, but I assure you that wasn't my intention. Your highness, please forgive me. You must understand that from where I'm from you are almost an unheard of entity and your species is nothing more than a colorful description that graces the pages of pony-tales. So it is understandable that, even with you standing before my very eyes, will doubt your existence at first." His tone apologetic and clearly elegant. It was the voice of a practiced speaker and his smile, friendly and alluring in its radiance, assured his honestly.

Celestia smiled in understanding, "Well I assure you that your words did not offend me, but your apology is well appreciated Mr…?"

"Requiem. Hope Requiem, traveling bard and collector of myths and legends." He answered with a respectful bow.

"And as you know I am Princess Celestia and this is my most faithful student Twilight Sparkle. Mr. Requiem…"

"Hope." He corrected.

"Hope, if I may ask you, what are you doing here in Equestria?" Celestia asked.

"Almost five months ago I heard a rumor that the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, Discord, had escaped his 1000 year prison so I have traveled here to hear the tale and…" Hope went silent at this point as his face suddenly drew a blank. "And I don't seem to remember the other reason. I think it was important, but I just can't recall."

"Hmm, the doctor's said you were knocked unconscious by a magical shockwave, probably caused by the release of Discord's seal. It's possible it had an effect on your memory." Twilight explained. "Anyway, Discord escaped the first time almost a year ago."

"I suppose news travels very slowly outside of Equestria." Hope guessed with a shrug. "If I may be so bold, I couldn't help but listen in on your conversation and if I heard correctly you said you'll be traveling beyond your borders soon."

"That is correct." Twilight answered.

"Well as thanks for helping me I'll be glad to share any information I have to update your maps."

"My that would be quite the help, thank you!" Twilight exclaimed. Any help to transverse the unknown world was greatly appreciated.

"In that case may I see your maps?" Hope requested as the Princess and Twilight showed the maps they currently had. "No, this won't do at all? This town here doesn't exist anymore after it was wiped out by a tsunami 50 years ago and this path is much too dangerous after a family of manticores claimed it as hunting territory a decade ago. Hmm, the City-Republic of Freepony? This place was razed almost 100 years ago by the Black-Wing Kingdom and is now part of their lands. My suggestion is you just avoid that place altogether."

"Razed?" Twilight asked unsure of what the world meant.

"Yeah, don't tell me you were actually planning on traveling with using these maps?" Hope asked, ignoring Twilight's question.

"Well yeah. It's not like we have a choice."

Hope looked up at her and raised his brow quizzically. "Are you stupid? With these maps you'd be lost within a week, dead within a month."

"Please don't be critical of Twilight, Hope. It's my fault. Sadly our knowledge of the lands beyond our border is outdated and these are the up to date maps we have. If anyone is to bear your spite it should be me."

"No, I wasn't trying to be mean. Just to use these maps would be suicide."

"I know, since you are so familiar with the lands outside of Equestria why don't you act as their guide?" Celestia asked.

"Me?" He questioned as he looked at Twilight. She seemed a little bit dishearten by his words. Torn between her loyalty to perform her duty and the cold reality of immediate failure. With a sighed before he gave a confident laugh and smiled, "Sure why not? I mean what guy wouldn't want to spend more time with his dream girl?"

End Chapter 1