CHAPTER FOUR: Rules and Regulations

"Pinkie Pie? Applejack? Rainbow Dash! Rarity, Fluttershy? Shining Armor! Where IS everypony?!"

Twilight Sparkle gave a frustrated stamp after her third pass through the carnival. (At least, she believed it to be her third time circling through. With all of the tents blending into a wash of irritating colors, it was hard to tell where she had and hadn't been.) Being separated from her friends and brother, she could understand - it was Discord's favorite trick, as they knew all too well by now. It was the disappearance of the rest of the showponies that concerned her. Where had they all gone? Why were they all here in the first place? Was Discord messing with them, too? Or were they busy causing their own chaos to her friends?

"You know, Twilight, my dear, if you're THAT curious what I'm up to, you could always just ask."

Twilight jumped, taking a few panicked steps back. "Don't sneak up on me like that, Discord!"

The draconequus sneered. She looked up and found him coiled around a lightpost, lazily fussing with a row of nearby streamers with his tail. The light from underneath brought out every menacing shadow on his matted face, highlighted each sharp edge on his devilish claws and talons, all while still allowing his beady golden eyes to gleam in the darkness.

"Oh, my apologies, Twilight Sparkle, I forgot," he apologized with a flick of his paw. "You don't like fun."

"I don't like YOUR fun, Discord. Where are my friends?"

"Probably off having a good time. This IS a carnival, after all. Made it myself."

"By kidnapping and brainwashing ponies? And killing the ones that don't play along?!"

Discord pondered for a moment. "Hmm...yes, actually, that sounds about right. Celestia's little detective strikes again, I see." With a wave of his paw, he summoned an oversized oatmeal treat out of thin air. "Cookie?"

"No." With a roll of his eyes and a frown, Discord tossed the cookie over the tent, where you could hear an excited showpony stumble across it. "Now what's your plan, Discord?"

"Me? A plan?" The draconequus looked offended at the thought. "Twilight Sparkle, how dare you. I don't plan anything! How dare you accuse me of something so diabolical as planning." He slithered off his pole, assaulting Twilight's ears as he raked his talons through the wood and metal on the way down. "I'm a little more free-spirited than that stuffy old hag you call a teacher, Twilight Sparkle. Real fun isn't something you can plan; it's something you improvise."

He slid ever closer. Twilight struggled to hold her ground, trying to keep as much distance between them as she could. "If I did have a PLAN, though, dear Twilight, I'd think that Celestia's best and brightest could suss me out. I'm not as complex as you think I am, Twilight. Chaotic, of course, but not complex."

Twilight frowned. "You want to play a game."

"Ah, NOW you're speaking my language!" In a moment, Twilight blinked, and Discord was gone. She turned on her hooves constantly, trying to circle as much as she could to keep from being snuck up on. She could hear his voice, clear as day, but it seemed to bounce from shadow to shadow, not keeping still long enough to be found.

"Yes, a game! Perhaps THAT will get your Celestian stick out of the mud! After all, I'm not running much of a carnival if all of my carnival-goers aren't enjoying themselves, now am I?"

"Alright." As dangerous as Discord was, as much as he loved to cheat and mess with his players, Twilight knew the only way out was to play along. "If I win, you shut down this carnival. You undo everything you've done to the rest of the ponies here, especially Pinkie Pie, and everyone goes home - including me, my brother, and my friends."

"And if you lose, you stay here. I'll have Rarity and Pinkie Pie make you a dress. You'll be my best showmare here at the carnival. I might even invite Celestia and Luna to come see you; wouldn't that be a spectacle?"

"...Fine. What's the game?"

"Are you any good at hide-and-seek, Twilight? I used to be the grand champion during the Windigo Winter."

"Get to the point, Discord."

"Don't know the rules of hide-and-seek, Twilight? Ah, I should've guessed, actually. I forgot, you don't play games very often."

"I know the rules, Discord!" the lilac unicorn finally snapped. "Alright, so all I have to do is find them, got it."

She began to gallop off, but quickly ran into a wooden pole dropped into her path. Looking up, she found it was actually a cane, locked in the talons of a discordant draconequus above her. "Not so fast, Twilight," he tsked, raising the brim of his hat to reveal his glinting eyes. To fit the situation, Discord had donned a costume, with a silky top hat and crimson ringmaster's jacket.

With a tap of the cane, he pushed her back onto her flank. "If only it were that simple, right, my dear? See, there's a chaos that reigns at the heart of this beast; my carnival here's a well-oiled machine! It's my duty to advise you of the ordinance in place, chiefly designed to keep our operations neat and fine-tuned. As its keeper, it's my humble pleasure to first castigate and then admonish you!" He chuckled. "As I'm sure you know, Twilight, breaking rules just simply will not do."

"Fine. What are the rules?"

"Firstly, you and your friends may not leave the carnival until you've come to the big top and claimed your victory. Secondly, no pestering my carnival-goers. The show must go on, of course. If I hear that you've been trying to sunwash my showponies, I'll disqualify you."

Twilight Sparkle scowled. Even under normal circumstances, she hated the idea of sunwashing. Rebellions would flare up across Equestria, claiming Celestia a vicious tyrant that used dark alicorn magic to hypnotize her subjects into ignoring the truth. It was complete blasphemy, and she could barely stomach it: not only because Princess Celestia was her mentor, but because she had been accused of it herself more than once.

Hearing it from Discord only made the sting worse. "Alright, fine. Anything else?"

"My, my, Twilight, aren't we impatient to lose and go home? Alright, if you're so antsy, I'll stack the deck for you. All you need is one of them. Just one of your elements of disharmony, turned up at the big top, ready to take off for home, and you'll win." Discord gave a cackle. "Time's ticking, Twilight Sparkle. The game begins now."

He conjured a bell to ring, which shook the unicorn out of her stupor. In a panic, Twilight Sparkle went back to her frantic gallop, searching harder than ever to find the rest of her team.

Once Twilight's hoofsteps faded into the distance, Discord whistled a playful jingle, summoning a fluffy mess of glittery pink mane to pop out of the tent next to him. "You called, master?" Pinkie Pie echoed with a jittery giggle.

"I did, Pinkie," Discord nodded. "Do me a favor and keep an eye on our guest of honor, won't you? Have a little fun with her, make her want to stay with us here at the carnival."

"Okey-dokey, Loki! But, uh, what're you gonna do if I'm playin' with Twilight?"

"I'll be busy making sure our...other guests are being tended to."

Ooh, such drama.

Hi, guys! Hope you're enjoying the story so far! Now, while I'm trying to break the habit of leaving author's notes all over my stories, this is a special situation. Considering there's already drama brewing on my review board, I feel like I'd better say this outright and try to spare some people.

Starting next week, this story's going to take a turn to the dark side, even more than it already has. The next chapter is going to be particularly graphic. If you're not a fan of the so-called "pony darkfics", then feel free to step away from the story before the following chapters inevitably upset you and you moan about it on my review board. (It's not a fun experience for either of us, really. Just save yourself the trouble.) Don't worry, I won't be mad - it's not everyone's cup of tea. (Not sure why you'd jump into a Horror/Suspense story if it's not your thing, but perhaps you're here by mistake. It happens!) Go on, run free, thanks for sticking with us this far.

For the rest of you, though, make sure to tune in next week! We'll have a little fun on our heroes' behalf and have a good time. :)

Thanks again for reading, guys!
- May