Chapter 16- Discordia et Rex
Okay, here is a slightly less depressing chapter.
And, like I said, if this were broken up into a trilogy, I'd almost be done with the second installment at this point.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I own nothing except my OCs.
Street- Night
Pete was still sprinting way from the hotel after he ran out of the hotel and ventured through the woods for about ten minutes before coming into the center of a town, right on the side of 4th street, standing on some grass that was beside the sidewalk. He was now going at a walk, but it was more of a "fast walk". He kept going as tears continued to flow from his blood-shot eyes, his hands digging deep into his pockets as his eyes stared down at the grass under his feet. He never felt so alone, so secluded from the rest of the world, up to that moment. He felt this way, that is, until he heard a familiar voice shout out to him.
"Pete!" Pete turned to see Pinkie as she trotted quickly. "Pete; wait up!"
Pete stopped walking and stood in the middle of the road, looking back at the pink mare. Pinkie, meanwhile, had trotted over to him to get a better look at his face. When she reached him, she closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh in exhaustion.
"You know how fast you are?" Pinkie asked with an exhausted sigh, "I could barely keep up with you."
She stopped directly under Pete's eyes so that she got a good look at how miserable his eyes looked. They were still open, but they didn't seem to blink at all. They were also glossy from the tears that gushed from his eyes. He didn't answer Pinkie; he just stared down at her worried face. Every now and then a car would pass, but they didn't seem to notice the depressed boy and cartoon pony on the side of the road.
"Petey come on don't be upset." Pinkie said in her best attempt to sound reassuring, "I know your parents kicked you out, and you're upset about it. But everything will be okay."
Pete shook his head, "That's not it Pinkie." He muttered in his choked-up voice, "it isn't the fact that they disowned me, it's that I can't believe they did so. They were the only ones by my side when I was sick, they supported me throughout my recovery and would always be there to talk to when no one else listened."
Pinkie sat down on the street as her eyes went wide listening to Pete continue to talk, "and now I'm not even their son anymore I'm….I'm a freak."
Pete slowly sat himself down on the grassy ground and tucked his knees up to his chest before he cried some more. He never felt like he was more alone than he was at that moment. It was like he was in a void, floating endlessly without purpose, alone and worthless. If his parents rejected him, who would be there for him?
Pinkie Pie put her hoof onto Pete's back and patted it, trying to calm him down a bit before she began to speak. "You still have me, Pete."
Pete looked up at Pinkie Pie's face, the face that he could always count on to make him laugh, to make him feel better with her randomness when he felt the most depressed and alone. Now here she was again, standing beside him with a caring look, trying to cheer him up. But it didn't work well, as Pete didn't feel much better even as he looked into her friendly face. He was happy that she was there for him, but it wasn't like he just got beat up or made fun of, where some reassurance would make the pain disappear. His parents had disowned him, and he knew that nothing could help him get over that simply fact at the moment, if he could ever get over it.
"I guess I'd better get someone to pick us up." he muttered as he picked his phone up and dialed Carl's number. He kept sitting on the grass as he listened to the ringing on the other line, signaling that Carl hasn't answered yet. When no body picked up the phone, Pete sighed and tried Louis's number.
As the case with Carl's phone, nobody answered when Pete called Louis.
"That's weird." Pete muttered as he hung up the phone when Louis' answering machine came on.
"What is it?" Pinkie asked as she cocked her head in adorable confusion.
"Carl and Louis aren't answering their phones." Pete muttered with a somewhat confused look of his own.
"Oh, well maybe they're busy coming up with a plan to beat Discord, or maybe their phone isn't around them so they don't know that you're calling." Pinkie said with a small smile trying to reassure Pete.
"No," Pete muttered, "I'm…I'm not sure why they aren't answering. A teen's phone is always attached to their hip; they have to have their phones with them. Hang on let me try Alex."
Alex's Motel Room
Alex was in the bathroom washing his face, as he got ready for bed. He was wearing black sweatpants and a plain, white t-shirt. He still had his mother on his mind, but Applejack did succeed in taking his mind off of it enough so that he wasn't completely in a depressed mood. Speaking of Applejack, she was on Alex's computer after he had decided to pull up the Applejack fan-page on Facebook for her to look at. It was one of the role-playing pages, so the person posting as Applejack was…well, posting like Applejack, accent and all. She did manage to scroll down the page using her hoof over the touch-pad mouse on the keyboard. And with each post that showed an imposter typing in Applejack's accent, her face turned more and more into a frown as she began to get aggravated.
"Ya know ah feel like ah should be insulted about this." Applejack said with an irritated tone to Alex as he finished drying his face off in the bathroom.
"Really?" Alex took the towel away from his face and turned to Applejack, "And why would that be?" he asked as he hung the towel back on the small rack that was on the wall beside the sink. He walked out of the bathroom and turned the light off.
"They're postin' as me without mah permission!" she scowled, "Not ta mention when ah write, I don't write in mah accent. That's insultin' ta see how they do that. Just because ah speak differently doesn't mean mah spellin' is any different."
"It's just for fun," Alex said, "besides, before you got here it was closest I could get to hearing you talk outside of the show. So don't knock it too hard, okay?"
Alex's phone began to ring after Alex finished his statement. He answered his phone. "Hello? This is the southern motel how may ah help y'all?" Alex said jokingly as he smiled at Applejack, who was stifling her laughter with hr hooves at his accent.
"Alex?"
"Pete? Hey man, what's up?"
"Can you come pick me up please? I'm on 4th Street with Pinkie. I tried calling Carl and Louis, but they aren't picking up their phones for some reason."
"Oh…okay sure." Alex said as Applejack, having completed her laughing spree, suddenly looked concerned.
"Alex, is somethin' wrong?" she asked as Alex hung up.
"Not sure. Pete wants me to go pick him up." Alex said, "and he seemed pretty upset."
Hospital Room
The lights were dimly lit as Lawrence slowly began to come to. He didn't initially remember what had happened to him only about an hour before, but he was preoccupied with the confusion the he had about the feeling of someone pressing something onto his mouth. As his vision began to clear, he tried to rub his eyes only to realize that his hands were restrained. He suddenly became scared and, once he fully came to, his heart almost stopped in fright as all of the memories from a little while ago filled his mind.
Standing in front of him, wearing a pair of sunglasses and an apparently unemotional face was Ryan. He was towering above Lawrence and, thought his eyes were hidden behind the shades, he was undeniably pissed off at Lawrence for what he did to his parents, and what he tried to do to Rainbow Dash, and Lawrence knew this.
Lawrence began to struggle and scream, only to realize that he couldn't as he had a piece of duct-tape plastered onto his lips, so what when he tried to scream, he only emitted quiet, muffled whimpers and screams that even someone with the best hearing wouldn't notice from outside of the room.
Ryan just kept staring Lawrence down, his eyes hidden behind the shades; giving him an air of being almost inhuman to the helpless Lawrence, who just stared up at his victim with fear-filled eyes and a rising level of terror in his heart.
"Go ahead; continue to scream." Ryan hissed, "the doctors won't hear you, and even if they do they won't come."
Ryan took a step back and turned around before heading over to the window and looked outside at the night, which was dark except for the distant glow of another fire started by the Milites Chaos in some neighborhood or in the city, it was hard to tell in the darkness of the night.
"The funny thing about killing my father is that he was a doctor," Ryan muttered, "and doctors are very close to each other. They aren't too happy about you killing one of their own. I could kill you right now and they would say that your death was a result of the injuries that you sustained from our little "encounter", and not from me murdering you right here."
Ryan turned back to Lawrence, who had started to scream more and more, his face turning red as he strained. As before, the tape that was stuck onto his mouth muffled Lawrence's yells. The bed rocked as his torso and arms flailed around while his screams continued.
"So the tape on your mouth is more for the other patients' sake rather than the doctors'," Ryan muttered, "after all this is a hospital, and sick people need their rest if they hope to make s full recovery."
Ryan turned to Lawrence with clear anger in his face, even if it was disguised by the sunglasses, "And now you're getting what you deserve. I used to believe that deep down inside of you, the young boy that I used to be best friends with, the one who eventually destroyed my faith in loyalty until Dashie came into my life, still existed, waiting to be freed from the prison that you created from your hate and envy of my parents."
Ryan slowly walked over so he was standing right in front of Lawrence's bed, his face still seemed stoic, but it clearly had a hint of sadness to it, as if he was holding back and slightly hiding his feelings from the scared Lawrence.
"So you became my bully, hell bent on ruining my life if it was the last thing you did. You went so far as to kill my parents, and threaten the one I love with torture and death; yet you look at me as if you expect mercy." Ryan shook his head, "No, no I really don't want to show you mercy."
Slowly, Ryan' hands reached into his pocket, which Lawrence noticed and suddenly looked down at Ryan's hand, his eyes now even wider as he began to shake in fear as the possibilities of what he was pulling out of his pocket fluttered into his head.
"It was disgusting enough that you killed my parents, who were two of the nicest people ever," Ryan said as he let out a small sniffle, "and two of the most loving parents anyone could ask for."
He then pulled his hand up and revealed that he had Lawrence's switchblade, which he had picked up off of the street after beating the shit out of him and the other anarchists. Lawrence began to shake his head fervently and squirmed around, screaming under the tape and pulling back as if to get as far away from Ryan as he could, while still laying in the bed.
"But you actually had the gall, the psychotic desire to try to torture and kill an innocent pony. A mare that is nicer, purer, and more loyal than all of humanity combined. A mare…." Ryan looked down and seemed to be silently crying before he continued, "…a mare that I love with all of my heart and soul for the beautiful, sweet girl that she is. She would never hurt a fly unless it threatened her friend. And you wanted to kill her, you sick fuck."
Ryan slowly began to walk over and held the blade close to Lawrence's face, pressing it against his cheek Lawrence's eyes were pleading for mercy, tears flowing down his cheeks as he looked up at Ryan with desperation.
"You feel that blade against the cheek?" Ryan asked. "And you feel the restraints on your hands? Now you know how Dashie felt. You know how scared she was as you and your anarchist cronies shattered her wings, and then told her that you were going to cut her up like she was in "cupcakes"."
He slowly pulled the blade away from Lawrence's cheek and brought it down over his body, going lower and lower; Lawrence sweating in fear as to where this was going. Finally, Ryan stopped the blade above Lawrence's right thigh.
"I won't kill you Lawrence," Ryan muttered, "That would teach you nothing. So I've decided to take another route, the route of an eye for an eye. Or in this case, a wing for a leg."
And with that, Ryan raised his arm and plunged the knife into Lawrence's thigh. The anarchist teen screamed out like he never had before, writhing in pain until he realized….there was none.
Lawrence stopped screaming and looked at Ryan with eyes that now showed a mix of horror and confusion. Ryan looked up and into Lawrence's eyes and asked with fake confusion, "You didn't feel that?" Lawrence's eyes were still confused as Ryan shrugged, "Well then, let's try the other leg."
He brought the knife down into Lawrence's other thigh and, this time, Lawrence didn't scream at all. He just stared in awe and horror at Ryan, not feeling anything. He then realized that he didn't just feel anything from the stabbing, but he couldn't feel anything below the waist.
Ryan looked over at Lawrence's face, frozen in fear. "It really is poetic justice, you know. You took away Dashie's flying by breaking her wings, so I took your ability to walk. Fortunately for her, her broken wings will heal. But for you," Ryan threw the switchblade to the ground and walked over to Lawrence's side and leaned over his terrified face, "Let's just say that I'd get used to sitting on your fat ass, because you're going to be doing that the rest of your pathetic excuse of a life, like the welfare whore that you'll be." Ryan leaned closer, "Look into my eyes."
Slowly Ryan raised his hand and removed his glasses so his tear-filled eyes that were both sad and furious, but mostly sad and full of pain. He didn't want Lawrence to see his sad eyes until this moment, when he had officially intimidated him; "This is the result of everything you've done to me over the past few years. I hope you see in my eyes the pain you've caused," Ryan muttered as tears continued to flow, landing on Lawrence's chest, "and realize that I should have killed you for everything you've done. You've tried to take away my will to live, and to your credit, you almost succeeded."
He then looked down and sniffled a bit as the tears began to flow now, "But instead of breaking me, you've…. you've made me more determined to defeat Discord. I have nothing left to live for but Dashie and I want you to know that that's enough for me. You tried everything to ruin my life," Ryan looked back at Lawrence's paralyzed legs; "Just see this as returning the favor."
With that, Ryan stood back up and turned to leave. Just before he walked out of the room, he stopped and turned to Lawrence, "I am sorry that I paralyzed you. But I'm not sorry for doing it to protect Dashie."
With that, Ryan left the shaking Lawrence to himself. His face covered in dried streaks of tears and his eyes watery and frozen in shock, fear, and misery.
Outside of his room, Ryan slowly walked down the hall to leave the hospital, his eyes red with tears and his body shaking. He felt guilty that he paralyzed Lawrence, but knew that he deserved it for what he did to Rainbow Dash. Ryan let the sunglasses drop to the floor of the hallway as he slowly made his way to another room, where another doctor was currently wrapping Rainbow Dash's wings in white bandages.
He got to the room and looked as the doctor finished wrapping Rainbow Dash up. The doctor turned to Ryan, "Ryan are you done with Lawrence?"
Ryan nodded and the doctor sighed, "Well, I'll leave you two alone and get you ready to check out. Rainbow Dash will be fine, just make sure she doesn't fly, even if she is the fastest flier in Equestria."
As the doctor began to walk out, Rainbow Dash held out her hoof, "Wait! Doctor, how did you know how to treat my wings?"
The doctor stopped, turned and smiled as he raised his hand to show that it was a hoof. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as she pointed to him, "You're a…"
"You have more allies in this town than you think." He muttered with a reassuring smile before exiting the room and leaving Rainbow Dash and Ryan to themselves.
Ryan walked over to Rainbow Dash and took a seat right beside her bed. She looked at him as he placed his hand onto her hoof and looked her in the eyes. "Are you all right Dashie?"
She nodded, "Yeah…yeah I'm okay."
Ryan nodded and gave Rainbow Dash a forced smile before he looked away and began to cry. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened, "Ryan."
Ryan buried his face into his hands and sobbed. Rainbow Dash looked at him in shock before she put her hoof onto his back and began to rub it.
"Ryan…"
"My parents…Dashie I…" he couldn't even form any more sentences before he cried harder and harder. Rainbow Dash grabbed Ryan and pulled him into a hug and began to rub his back and nuzzle his head, "Ryan I'm sorry. I'm sorry about your parents. They were great people, and didn't deserve to die the way they did; they didn't deserve to die at all. But I'm here for you, don't hold back; I'm here and I'm going to protect you like you protected me."
Ryan was too busy crying to respond, so Rainbow Dash did the first thing that came to her mind. She closed her eyes and began to sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" like Ryan did for her after she saw the news report after the attack on Leigh Heights. She kept singing in her beautiful, tomboyish voice that made Ryan feel a little better. Rainbow Dash continued with her singing as she hugged Ryan closer to her body, letting his head lean against her chest so her heartbeat could calm him down.
Wilmont City Hall
Mayor Drocsid was staring out over the city as he could see blue and red sirens approach the building. He looked down to see a black S.W.A.T. van pull up to the entrance followed by a long line of police cruisers. A small and sadistic smile grew across his face.
He knew that these officers had found him out, and that they were there to arrest him for the violence that he caused with the anarchists and Milites Chaos. After all, the news outlets outside of Wilmont have been talking non-stop about the violence that had plagued the little town since he was elected mayor.
How exactly the police traced the neighborhood burnings to him, however, he wasn't exactly sure. But it wasn't like he was completely unprepared for this moment. On the contrary, he was excited, because now he could shed his puny human form and turn back into his true Draconequus self, now that the chaos and time spent on Earth had allowed him to return to full strength. He closed is eyes and muttered, "Let the fun begin."
Outside of the building, the S.W.A.T. team spilled out of the large, black S.W.A.T. truck and began to head over to the large city shall. Police officers, all from outside of Wilmont and, therefore, not under Discord's commands and only humans, were standing guard in case the Milites Chaos decided to make a surprise visit during their raid.
"All right men," shouted the head of the S.W.A.T team, "We based on reports we know that this man is very unstable, so make sure you are prepared for a confrontation, because there is a very good chance that we could be entering a shit-storm and I don't want to be caught with our pants down. Let's go men."
With that, the S.W.A.T. tea, with their guns drawn and bulletproof shields up for many of them as they wore their visors, stormed the building. Police officers, meanwhile, kept vigilant outside of the building.
Upstairs, the Mayor began to glow in a yellow aura, his body starting to change into the more familiar form of Discord. His body took on a more animated, cartoony look, before every human feature gave way to his true form. His right hand became a lion's paw; his left became a bird's talon. His head sprouted grey fur, as it became that of a horse with two different antlers, one of a deer, the other of a goat. Finally, his feet turned into a goat's hoof and a lizard's leg.
After this, the S.W.A.T. team finally managed to get up the elevator and outside of the office of the Mayor. Some other S.W.A.T. officers were still on their way up the fire stairs, guns drawn as they made their way up the narrow passageways to join their comrades who had already reached the Mayor's office.
The head of the S.W.A.T. team walked up to the door and knocked before calling, "Mayor Christopher Drocsid?"
Suddenly a much more animated voice was heard, sounding completely different from what the mayor had sounded like.
"Yyyeeeesssss?" he asked in a mocking tone.
The head of the S.W.A.T. team was undeterred, "I'm Joseph Kinney, head of the Buffalo S.W.A.T team; you are under arrest. Come out with your hands in the air or we will break in and take you by force."
"Now, when you say hands, does a lion' paw and an eagle's talon count?" the mayor asked, "If not, you may need to re-word your request."
The S.W.A.T. captain rolled his eyes and turned to the others, "Break the door in."
With that, one of the S.W.A.T. officers kicked the door in and he, the captain, and others, stormed the office, guns drawn.
"Freeze…." As soon as the word left his mouth, the S.W.A.T. captain, and the others froze in shock. Their mouths dropped open as they saw a long, thin creature standing before them. Even more shocking was when two wings sprouted from the creature, as well as a tail. The creature turned and smiled at the S.W.A.T. captain, his one, and sharp tooth glistening in the light of the S.W.A.T. team's guns.
"I hope you don't mind, I just had to…change." Discord smiled before the S.W.A.T captain shouted, "Fire!"
The officers shot their guns at the Draconeqqus, who just stood there with a smile as the bullets bounced off of him., hitting the ground and wall as if he was wearing a suit of impenetrable armor. The officers stopped shooting and stared as Discord smiled and clapped, "Well, well, that was a brilliant display of the human police force, I hope you don't mind if I take a turn now?"
Discord cracked his knuckles before he shot yellow aura at the officers, including the captain, hitting them and sending them back into the hallway. He then continued out and began to freeze all of the S.W.A.T. team that was already outside. The eyes of the S.W.A.T officers that were frozen now glowed a yellow color as Discord began to put an obedience spell on them. He then smirked, "You have some friends coming up the stairs huh? Well, I can't have that. Go on, take care of them."
With that, the S.W.A.T. team members, now in a trance, walked towards the stairwell and entered. They started down the stairs and, once they reached the other officers that were coming up, they pointed their guns at them. The offices that were not under the spell of Discord, and had been climbing the stairs, looked at them with confusion before they began to shoot their guns at them. The S.W.A.T. officers ducked and tried to go back down the stairs, but it was no use. After a few minutes of bullets ripping through black uniforms and flesh, the hypnotized S.W.A.T. members had killed all of the non-controlled officers.
Discord slowly crept into the stairway and smiled at the carnage before clapping his hands together, "Splendid, just splendid. You will come in handy, won't you men?
"Yes master. Hail Discord." The S.W.A.T team members muttered in their magic-induced trance, sounding like members of a cult.
"But we can't simply rely on guns, I already have those in the form of my anarchists." He put his paw to his chin to think before he snapped his fingers and smiled, "I've got it!"
He closed his eyes and, slowly, all of the S.W.A.T. officers were surrounded in a yellow glow for a few seconds as their bodies changed shape. Once the glowing went away, there were no longer S.W.A.T. officers. There were only a group of cartoon unicorns with hate-filled eyes.
"Ah, I am a genius." Discord mused, "I do think you look quite good. What do you men think of your new bodies?"
"They're lovely, sir." They all muttered I unison, their larger, pony eyes still having a faint yellow glow to them.
"Excellent," Discord clapped his hands together, "Now, go downstairs and help out your brothers in chaos defeat the police force."
"Yes Discord, hail Discord."
With that, the unicorn ponies that had once been brave members of the S.W.A.T. team all closed their eyes and teleported outside of the building to see the police officers running away, shooting like mad at the mob of hundreds of teenagers and young adults that were marching down Main Street, shooting their own guns and hurling Molotov cocktails at small businesses as they passed, setting them ablaze. Cars, shops, buildings, everything that the Milites Chaos passed seemed vulnerable to their fury as they were set ablaze. Some of the anarchists danced around and shouted anti-business sentiment. The rest of the mob began to chant their Latin phrase.
Resurgere in contereret,
Cadent de vastantium.
Bellum aequalitas,
Bellum contra Class.
Nocte nos Superius,
Nocte nos pugnare.
In iuventus Valete,
Discordia est rex.
Discord teleported outside onto the top of City Hall to admire the chaos that surrounded him. Fires raging through the city He began to rise into the air above city hall as the Milites Chaos looked up and saw him, they began to cheer and continue to chant their Latin phrase ending in a very loud "Discordia et rex".
Discord raised his hands and sighed, "It is good to be surrounded by such disarray."
Jail Cell- Carl and Louis
Carl slowly began to open his eyes only to be met by grim, grey dreariness all around him. He looked to his right and saw the steel bars of a prison cell, and alone police officer standing guard with his gun pointed towards the cell, vigilant but not really looking like he wanted to be there.
Carl then turned to his left and saw Louis sitting up against the wall, a fearful and angry look in his eyes. Carl slowly brought himself to a sitting position and rubbed his eyes and was able to get a better look at the cell around him.
The walls were stereotypically grey and dull, made from the dreariest concrete imaginable. The floor was wet and sticky from Lord knows what, and there were leaks in every corner of the space. There was also a pathetic excuse of a cot in the far corner where Carl saw James laying on his back, staring up at the ceiling with tears in his eyes.
Carl looked back at Louis, who seemed to be glaring at James with anger.
"Louis?" Carl asked, "what's going on, where are we?"
"Police station," he said, "the bastards found us and threw us in here."
"Where are the girls?" Carl asked, suddenly overcome with worry for their safety. Louis just laughed and shook his head in a way that suggested he was very close to losing his mind.
"How should I know?" he asked.
"I don't believe it, how did they find us?" Carl asked before Louis sighed.
"Well, you can blame that on your hippie friend over there." He said as he pointed at James, who still was in the exact same position he had been in since Carl woke up. He didn't even appear to be blinking and the only movement he displayed was the steady raising of his chest with each breath that he took. Also Carl saw tears slowly roll down his cheeks and land on the mattress that he lay on. "He sang like a canary and told them where we were."
Carl looked at James, "James is this true; did you tell them where we were?"
"Yes," James turned to Carl with a scowl, "Only because they threatened Fluttershy. What would you have done in my place?"
"I would have done what's best for the team and kept my mouth shut." Louis hissed. James laughed as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"Oh you heartless fuck," he muttered as he glared at Louis, "You selfish prick. Just because you don't give a shit about anyone but yourself, you expect me to sit idly and watch them kill an innocent pony like Fluttershy?"
"Well this wouldn't have happened if you didn't talk to your parents about your love for her so they could capture you." Louis hissed, "Face it, the reason we are in here is because you care more about Fluttershy than the rest of us."
Now, Louis would have understood James' decision, but he was so scared about being captured that he wasn't speaking sense, and James knew this as he exploded.
"THAT RIGHT!" James shouted angrily, "I LOVE HER! AND DON'T ACT HOLIER THAN THOU YOU PIECE OF SHIT, YOU WOULD'VE DONE THE SAME THING, ESPECIALLY FOR RARITY! DON'T' LIE TO ME."
Louis stood up angrily, "Are you threatening her? HOW DARE YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT ABOUT HER!"
James nodded with a smile, "Now you know how I felt when I saw the bastard walking over to Fluttershy with his hoof to murder her in front of me you hypocrite. You sure like to put on this act of being full of yourself and being a logical thinker, I can see most of it's an act." James hissed.
Louis was about to respond when he stopped himself and he looked down, realizing how much in the wrong he was But he couldn't bring himself to say anything and just looked away in shame with a fake rage, as if he was trying to make himself mad at James when he knew he would have done the same thing in his shoes.
"And just so you know Louis," James hissed, "I only spoke when Fluttershy was in danger, when they tortured me I didn't say anything."
"They tortured you?" Carl asked on shock and James just laughed before turning around.
He pointed to his face, which was clearly bruised and covered in streaks of dried blood and let out a dark laugh. "Where do you think I got these?"
"All right that's enough," Carl said, "Both of you got your anger out, now just calm down. We can't afford to turn on each other right now. WE all remember what happened when Discord reversed the girls' personalities, right? He won."
"Maybe if you got big Mr. Meathead Athlete over here to understand…" James said pointing at Louis.
"Hey fuck you, you want me to say I'm sorry fine but don't slam me for being proven wrong this one time." Louis shouted back. "I'm sorry for saying those things but you've got to understand how scared I am. We were attacked out of nowhere, and I'm still scared so I apologize for saying those things about you and Fluttershy, but please understand where I'm coming from."
James laughed, "Let me ask you, what made you suddenly decide to join us? Did you find out they were going to hunt you and try to capture you even if you didn't? Because if so, that's not joining us, that's being a coward after realizing that your idea of having a "safe little world" away from this chaos was proven wrong. How can you be the Element of Generosity when all you do is think about what's best for yourself?"
"You actually think that you understand me?" Louis shouted as tears began to fill his eyes, "you don't know why I do what I do! The only one who does is Rarity and that's because I told her today! I think about others, to a FAULT, and I NEVER told anyone until I told her!"
"Guys, stop it!" Carl shouted, only to have his shouts fall on deaf ears.
"Oh so you told her something that you've never told anyone else?" James hissed with a smile, "what are you in love with the little designer unicorn?"
"No!"
"The big bad soccer star is in love with a pony who has a British accent and loves fashion?" James said with a sinister smile, "So you're like every other European soccer star, aren't you Mr. Beckham?"
This made Louis snap as he lunged at James to attack him when Carl stepped in-between them.
"Stop it! Both of you, if we can't cooperate…"
"Then Discord wins blah-blah-blah," Louis said as he rolled his eyes, "you know what? Fine, let him win. Let him take Wilmont; let him take this world. All I give a shit about now if Rarity and the girls, their safety, and Equestria. To hell with Earth, it's not like the chaos will end with Discord's defeat anyway! There will always be a war, there will always be suffering, and nothing we do can change that!" And with that outburst completed, Louis stormed to the other end of the cell and pressed his hands to the wall. He slammed his fist before he started to stare at the ground and breathe heavily.
James, meanwhile, turned around in his cot so he was facing the wall. Still angry with Louis, as well as scared for Fluttershy and the others, but especially the innocent mare that he loved.
He may have been mad at Louis, but deep down, he agreed somewhat with his statement. At that moment, James cared more about saving Fluttershy and the girls and getting them home safely, than the destruction of Wilmont.
Carl shook his head in disappointment and sat on the ground, having a similar feeling of dread that Twilight did when all of her friends became their "bizarro" selves.
"We can't work together, it's over. We lost." And with that, Carl sat down on the damp floor and put his hands on the back of his head and let out a deep sigh of depression. "Harmony is dead."
Jail Cell- Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity
Meanwhile, down the hall, Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity were trapped in another cell. After waking up, Twilight tried to use her magic to break the bars, but realized that they had been reinforced with some sort of magic-repellant spell. She also tried to teleport them out of the cell, but it was no use. The cell was specifically designed to prevent magic from working. Even Rarity's attempts to use her own magic failed, though that wasn't much of a surprise as Twilight was a student of the subject under the Princess and if she had trouble, the designer pony wouldn't have much luck either.
So the three then decided to talk about their situation, starting with Fluttershy, who told them everything that happened and why they were discovered.
"So James told them because they threatened you?" Twilight asked Fluttershy who gave a weak nod in response. Her small frame was still shaking from the fear that the experiences of being threatened with death .Her eyes were closed and she was done crying.
"I just feel so bad for James," she whispered, "if we never kissed…."
"Wait what?" Twilight asked in shock. Fluttershy opened her eyes and gave a small "eep" and looked from side to side nervously.
"Wait, darling. You and James kissed each other?" Rarity asked as her eyes grew wide and her jaw nearly dropped to the floor, "Does that mean you and him are in…love?"
"Um…I…yes….I mean no…I mean….I'm not sure…" Fluttershy started with a whisper, her face turning a bright shade of crimson, "…it's just that, whenever I'm around him I…I feel like I found something missing in my life, like we complete each other."
"Wow." Rarity said in shock, "That's….that's unbelievable. Honestly Fluttershy I didn't picture you expressing your love for somepony before me."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Fluttershy asked as she glared at Rarity.
"Well face it dear; you're timid, you tend not to draw the attention of many stallions back in Equestria, you typically aren't the fastest Pegasus except for that one time when you had to help create a tornado, and I thought speed was the main attraction for pegasi…" Rarity started, waving her hoof around with each put-down she gave Fluttershy before Fluttershy's sad face became angry and she jumped right in front of Rarity's face and stared her down.
"How dare you talk to me like that, like I'm not good enough and don't deserve to find somepony before you." Fluttershy hissed. She normally wouldn't be like this, but after the day she had she couldn't hold back some of her rage that had built up within her.
Twilight just stared in awe as her usually shy friend scolded a shocked-looking Rarity, pressing her face against the frightened unicorn's.
"I…I just was…." Rarity stuttered as she took a few steps back, but not before Fluttershy was right in front of her again.
"Don't bother Rarity, I know you're just jealous that Louis and you aren't a couple." Fluttershy said in her still characteristically quiet manner, but in a way that was filled with so much anger that she might as well have yelled.
Rarity gasped, "Fluttershy I never…that's an utterly ridiculous accusation!"
"Is it?" Fluttershy asked, "I seem to remember you flirting with him a lot at the mall, and blushing whenever you looked at him, and your eyes looking at him like he was an ice-cream sundae."
Rarity was speechless; all she could do is turn her blushing face away.
Twilight walked between the two and held her hooves out, "Enough you two, don't you remember when we first faced Discord? We can't allow ourselves to argue. If we don't stay united, he'll win."
"Twilight you didn't see what I did," Fluttershy retorted, but with more sorrow than anger. After all she was mad at Rarity, not Twilight. "This world isn't like Equestria. Complete cooperation and harmony isn't possible in this place.
"Fluttershy don't talk like that." Twilight muttered sadly, but Fluttershy shook her head somberly.
"In all of the adventures that I've been in with you, I've never been threatened directly with death. But here, after only a few days, I was called a freak by James' parents and was almost killed just to torture him." Fluttershy muttered, "I don't see the point."
"What?" Twilight asked. "Fluttershy come on you're talking nonsense."
"I'm sorry Twilight." She whispered before looking down at the ground. "But we're just not meant for this world, and I don't think we can defeat Discord. In this world, good doesn't always win."
Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew that Fluttershy was more sensitive and emotional, and after what she went through she really couldn't blame her for flipping out, but to hear her have such a lack of faith; that shocked her.
She turned to Rarity and asked, "Rarity, please help me out here." Rarity just closed her eyes and sighed.
"I actually agree with Flutterhsy, Twilight. I mean, why are we here? This world seems like the perfect place for Discord to rise. All of this disarray and chaos for him to feed on, maybe we should leave him here and go back to Equestria. It's not like he would add much more evil when there is so much around."
Twilight shook her head, "I don't believe you two. We were sent here on a mission from the Princess to save this town, and world, from Discord and that's what we're going to do. Besides, if he conquers this world, Equestria could be next."
"Yes," Rarity laughed, "we'll surely stop him from behind these filthy bars." She said sarcastically as she knocked the metal cell bar with her hoof a few times to illustrate her point.
"Come on you two, this world may be completely different from Equestria, but that doesn't mean it deserves to burn. Think about all of the people who live here, think about Carl, James, Louis and their families." Twilight said, looking from one of her friends to the other, "Most humans here aren't bad. This world is unpredictable and violent in comparison to Equestria, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to make it less so."
Rarity and Fluttershy looked at Twilight.
"Then what do we do, if you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy asked as she returned to her timid self.
"We just have to hope the others get to us fast." Twilight muttered, "It's up to Rainbow, AJ, Pinkie Pie and the boys to find us and get us out of here."
"And if they don't?" Rarity asked with some desperation.
Twilight shook her head and let out a deep sigh, "Then I don't know."
Hotel
Alex pulled up to the hotel where Carl had been staying. Pete was in the back seat, still looking downcast, as Pinkie Pie kept trying to cheer him up, but with each attempt she made failing, she began to become depressed herself and her mane deflated slightly. Applejack was sitting in the passenger seat next to Alex, looking back at Pete.
"Pete, ya all right sugarcube? Ya haven't said much since we picked ya up."
Pete didn't respond.
"He's really upset AJ, I can't even get him out of it." Pinkie said sadly, "I think we should give him some space."
Applejack's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped, "Did…did ya just say we should give him space? Ya? Pinkie Pie of all ponies, think we need to give Pete space?"
Pinkie nodded, "Yeah and nothing I do can bring him out of it. I think I need to take extreme measures later."
Applejack slowly turned around and leaned into Alex, "Ah tell ya I'm worried about Pete."
Alex nodded as he pulled his truck into a parking space, "Yeah, but Pinkie's right. We can't just bombard him. I completely understand why he's upset. His parents disowned him for Christs' sake. If I had loving parents like him do that to me, I…I'm not sure if I'd even want to live."
As he parked the car, all four of the passengers got out. Pete not taking his eyes off of the ground as he shuffled in behind everyone else, that is until Pinkie Pie saw him lagging and went back to join him. She didn't say anything to him and instead leaned against his leg in an attempt to give him the physical feeling of her presence.
They went up the stairs and eventually made it to the hall where Carl's rooms were. Once they reached Carl's room, Alex knocked.
"Yo Carl, it's Alex. Can you let me in?"
No answer.
Alex looked down at Applejack, who just looked up at him with a worried glare. Alex knocked again, and, again, no one answered. He juggled the door handle and saw that it was locked.
"Okay AJ," Alex muttered, "I think it's your time to shine."
Applejack nodded and did what she did best. She turned and bucked the door with her hind-hooves so the door was open. Alex jumped back in surprise at how easily she managed to break the hotel room door in.
"Jesus AJ; how strong are your back legs?" Alex asked.
Applejack turned to him and gave him a cocky smirk, "Ya should know. Ah see you looking back at them every chance ya get."
Alex blushed and covered his eyes in embarrassment. He pointed into the room, "Just go in."
Applejack nodded with a chuckle before she went inside. Once she was in the room, she stopped laughing and froze in shock.
Alex walked in next and saw what Applejack was staring at; the sight of Spike, Anna and Lisa frozen on the bed in a grey aura; same positions that they had been in a little while before.
"Oh God." Alex said in shock, "what in the hell…."
"They look almost like ah did when Discord reversed mah personality. Well, me and mah friends." Applejack said.
It was true, they were as gray as the mane six were after Discord made them the opposite of their elements, for instance, Applejack became dishonest.
"They aren't moving at all." Alex said as he walked closer to inspect them. He touched Anna on the shoulder to try to wake her up, but she didn't budge. Even when he pushed her shoulder more, she stayed still, as if she were a statue.
Alex turned behind him to look at Pete and Pinkie Pie, only to see that they weren't there.
"Where's Pete?" Alex asked.
Applejack turned and saw that they were missing, "Ah don't know, it wasn't like we were supposed to be playin' babysitter for them." Alex glared at Applejack who gave him a defensive look, "What. We weren't, were we?"
Alex rolled his eyes and walked out of the room with Applejack right on his heels. They went to the door next to Carl's room, which had the door open. Alex walked into the room with Applejack to see Pinkie Pie standing, looking at Pete, who was stood in front of the bed where his parents were frozen like everyone else had been. What's more is that they had been frozen in the SAME position they had been in when Pete left the room. Pete's father was comforting Pete's mother as she cried into his shoulder.
Alex took a step forward to see that Pete was not crying, but he just stared at his parents' motionless forms with sad eyes.
"Pete…?"
"They didn't change," Pete muttered, "that pain they're frozen in was from me. It wasn't caused by Discord, or the people that froze them or scared them…it was me; I broke their hearts, and now they're stuck like this."
"Pete, please don't blame yourself for this." Alex pleaded but Pete just shook his head.
"But it's my fault."
"No it's not Pete." Pinkie Pie chimed in as she slowly walked over to his side, "you were honest with your parents. It's not your fault that they reacted the way they didm and it's not your fault that they're stuck like this."
Pete shook his head, "I shouldn't have said anything. I should have known it would have been too much for them to understand."
"Who cares what they think?" Pinkie said with a small hint of anger, "If they don't accept it that's their own loss. Our feelings for each other don't need anypony's permission or blessing. All that matters is our love for each other."
Pete looked down at Pinkie and finally managed to flash her a small smile that made her mentally sigh in relief that she had made him feel a little better.
"You, you really think that?" Pete asked hopefully.
Pinkie gave her trademark grin and nodded up and down so quickly that when she stopped, her eyes were still spinning around in her sockets until she put her hooves to the side of her head to steady herself. She shook her head and smiled, "I know it!"
Pete then looked back at his parents' frozen bodies and shook his head, "I will say this. Whoever froze my parents like this is a dead man…or pony…or whatever the fuck he is."
Alex and Applejack's eyes shot open at Pete's sudden hostility, as he usually was the quietest one in the group.
"Their dead." He spat, "Discord's going to pay, I'm going to make sure of that."
"Well that's great sugarcube, but now we need ta find out where the others went." Applejack said when, suddenly, Alex's phone rang.
He pulled it out as Applejack raised an eyebrow, "Why is it yer suddenly the "go-to-guy" for phone-calls?"
Alex shrugged, "I guess I'm that awesome."
Applejack rolled her eyes as Alex answered his phone.
"Hello?"
"Alex I need you to come pick me and Ryan up." said a familiar, tomboyish voice.
"Rainbow Dash?" Alex asked, "How…how are you using the phone?"
"Ryan dialed for me but he's too upset to talk, just come by the hospital please."
"Hospital? Rainbow Dash, what happened, are you all right?"
"Just please pick us up, I don't want to talk about it right now." She said in a sad tone before she hung up.
Alex also hung up and turned to the others, "We have to go to the hospital."
"What?" Pete asked as the two ponies had worried looks, "Why are they at the hospital, did someone get hurt?"
"Is RD okay?" Applejack asked because, after all, they were best friends. "Or Ryan? Is somethin' wrong with him?
Alex shook his head, "I don't know. Come on, let's go."
Hospital- Night
Ryan and Rainbow Dash both waited outside of the hospital for Alex to pick them up. Ryan was still in a depressed mood, but he did feel better being near Rainbow Dash.
"Dashie."
"Hm?" she asked as she looked at Ryan, "What's up Ryan, are you feeling better at all?"
Ryan gave a small shrug, "Not really, but I…I just wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for me."
She gave him a small, comforting smile, "Don't worry about it Ryan, I told you I'd always be there if you needed me."
"I know," Ryan whispered, "but you've been there for me longer than we've known each other. I mean, I've told you how much you cheered me up on the show and how I loved you before I actually met you."
Rainbow Dash nodded and Ryan continued, "You know, people think those who watch "My Little Pony"…the show you're on….are strange because its target demographic is little girls. At our age, and as guys, we're expected to watch "mature" shows" that are really much less mature than your show." Ryan muttered "mature" with complete sarcasm.
"Then why did you guys watch us?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Well, I can't speak for the entire community." Ryan muttered, "but for me it was an escape. Watching you and your friends going on adventures and learning lessons about how to be great friends for each other did so much more for me than any other "adult" shows. I mean, I would rather sit at home and watch you and your friends than go out and watch my friends get drunk and try to get laid. Or in James' case sing KISS songs when he's intoxicated. I hope I don't sound like I'm being pretentious and above everyone else, but some people drank their problems away. Me, I watched you girls and your adventures. That was my means of escape."
Rainbow Dash leaned against Ryan and nuzzled him and looked up at the moon. "You know you have a very different personality than Carl or the others."
Ryan sighed, "I know I'm a bit odd, but I like how I am. Like my parents…" Ryan choked up a little at the thought of his two loving, supporting parents who he'd never see alive again before he continued, "…like my parents always told me. I need to be myself, and I always was more of the innocent, imaginative type, I guess. Well, until I broke Lawrence's back today. That short of changes how I'd describe myself"
"After everything I've seen in the past few days," Rainbow Dash whispered, "I can see why escapism is so important in this world."
"That's actually a huge reason most bronies watch the show," Ryan said, "Or I think so at least, I don't want to put words into their mouths."
The two sat on the bench outside of the hospital for another fifteen minutes in silence, looking up at the star-lit sky in awe.
"Dashie?"
"Yeah?"
"What's it like to fly?" Ryan turned to her, "I mean, I've been meaning to ask you this and I might have already I don't remember, but I still wanted to hear you tell me…"
Rainbow Dash giggled, "It's amazing. You want escapism," she pointed her hoof up into the air, "there is no better escapism than flying in the air where there are no rules or boundaries to hold you back. You feel special, I guess it sounds self-centered, but when you fly it is just freedom."
Ryan nodded before Rainbow Dash continued, "And it's something I'd never get to experience again if it wasn't for you." Ryan looked at Rainbow Dash who just smiled at him, "Ryan, I wanted to thank you for saving me. You're one of the most loyal friends I have…and the best colt-friend I could ever have. I hope you don't mind me calling you that, since you're, you know…a human."
"I wish I wasn't." Ryan muttered sadly before Rainbow Dash looked at him with confusion, "you didn't think that banter of me wishing to fly with you as a Pegasus was just hogwash did you? I really meant it, but now, with my parents dead, I…I don't know what I have left to live for here."
"Ryan don't talk like that, you have a lot to live for here. You have a lot of friends…"
"And what point will life be without you?" Ryan asked as Rainbow Dash seemed taken aback from his statement, "I know how these stories end. I read "My Little Dashie" and I've watched Digimon and so many other shows. Eventually we have to go our separate ways because we come from different worlds, and that's it."
"You can stay in Equestria with me." Rainbow Dash muttered, "If you wanted I'm sure the Princess would let you."
Ryan sighed, "I would like that, but I'm not sure if it would work."
And with that, the two waited a few more minutes for Alex to arrive. The full moon hung over their heads as they both began to find slight peace after the traumatizing day that they both had. Rainbow Dash's wings no longer hurt too horridly, and Ryan's misery of his parents' death was still stinging him, but to a lesser extent, as he realized that as long as he had Rainbow Dash by his side, he had a reason to go forward.
Well, there it is. Now there will be less "mushy-gushy" stuff and more action and drama coming up.
I also hope the last bit with Ryan wasn't too repetitive to what I talked about before, I just felt like venting some of my own feelings about why I like the show so much through Ryan.
I hope you're enjoying this story so far, and I'd like to thank everyone for reading and reviewing.
And, until next time...
Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!