open Shifted

[Nathan Fink 22]

Looking up in time to see Brave look like a snow pony before he shrugged em off, he smirked a bit, then smiled a bit more at Peachs joyful reaction to it. He was glad of them both cheering him up a little bit. I was so close...i almost actually got to see Discord. Ive seen pictures and heard stories but to actually get to see a REAL Draconequus...

 

Then a thought occurred to him. If what these Ponies had been telling him was true, then Discord would no doubt continue to torment them. If i stay near them, learn from them, maybe even help a little, then no doubt i'll get to him, hear him! His mood returning to a cheerful state at the thought of being a part of such grand stories, not just as an observer but an actual participant! I could very well have a real chance to actually be recorded in history! My name could be read by others for hundreds of years! It was a very appealing thought to him, and he resumed eating his soup with gusto.

Edited March 24, 2012 by Nathan Fink

[Electrobolt 2,069]

When Brave had opened the door, a chill had rushed by Electrobolt as he started shivering a little. Looking up from his soup bowl and at the door, he saw Brave, who had been covered in snow, almost like a snowman, but shaped like a pony instead. Either way, this got a laugh out of Electrobolt as well, not having expected the sight. He shook his head as he tried to regain his composure and calm down, although the image remained in his head and he couldn't help but chuckle lightly. Afterwards, he looked over to SiFi and realized he never even introduced himself. "Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself," he spoke out. "I'm Electrobolt." *Well... That's what I REMEMBER going by, anyways...* he thought in the very back of his mind, his facial expression unchanged.

[Marcato 2,143]

Silver smiled and rolled his eyes at the sight of the "snow pony." It was rather amusing after all the trouble they had gone through during the day so far. Now everyone was finally relaxing. (I just hope the weather wares off.) He thought to himself. This place probably wasn't used to such freezing temperatures and he knew he certainly wasn't. This Discord fellow seemed to be having a lot of fun with this world and apparently the human world too. Silver could only imagine what was happening back at home.

 

Silver wondered if he could maybe find Discord with his magic. The thought popped into his head for a moment, but he dismissed it since he was still low on energy and recovering from the fight and the cold earlier. He winced as he remembered the bite on his shoulder. The bleeding had stopped, but he knew if he moved it right it would open again. He just hoped no one had noticed.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

After a while of laying there seething in her thoughts and crying some pretty hard tears into the pillow, she felt a sort of sense of numbness. It usually accompanied a massive emotional burst. That and exhaustion. Which was another thing she felt. Her mind was becoming tired of its own racing thoughts, each in every direction crashing into each other and causing a true sense of chaos. Artsy was used to the chaotic nature of her mind, but it didn't mean it wasn't exhausting.

 

Usually after a mass emotional bout, she would've fallen asleep...

 

And yet she didn't. The sounds of laughs in the other room only served to annoy her further. She couldn't sleep at all. Who could blame her? Here she was, in a bed that wasn't hers... and a body... that wasn't hers. An entire world in fact, that wasn't hers. Maybe she was being overly emotional, and too angsty. In fact, she knew she was. But she couldn't help it. How could they laugh at a time like this?

 

Her stomach grumbled as it interrupted her thoughts. She hadn't had anything to eat at all as she hadn't touched her soup. Maybe she'd sneak into the kitchen to get something when they were all asleep. For now, she was too prideful to come back in after having marched out. She'd simply have to find some other distracting activity. Getting out of her bed, she looked around the room to see if there was anything she could do to keep her mind from going insane.

 

There was a table with lamp on it, but not really much else. She luckily managed to turn on the lamp with her hoof rather than the unsanitary way of carrying things in her mouth. And then a few drawers as well... which she tried several times to open with a hoof before giving up in frustration. She was a unicorn, right? (Of course she had to be stuck with the girliest type of horse, she thought disgruntledly.) And they could do some magic with their horns, which she had already tried. And it didn't work.

 

Maybe she'd make another attempt. Hoping she didn't blow anything up, she tried to focus her thoughts into her horn. She felt that same sort of energy/heat pulsating through her forehead, which must've meant it was working. Her eyes could feel themselves bathed in a light red glow. She gently directed the energy towards the drawer, but felt it leaping more and more out of control until it fizzled out. Letting out a long and drawn-out sigh of exasperation, she quickly pulled the drawer open with her mouth.

 

Inside of it, she found a notebook and a pencil. But why would that be there? How could ponies write? She didn't even know they had the ability to write. It was probably for unicorns, she thought.

 

Maybe one more time...

 

Her thoughts focused once again onto her horn. She felt it pulsating with heat and directed that heat this time towards the notebook and pencil. With excitement, she saw that both of them had begun to glow red, and slowly levitated into the air as it wobbled. It felt very odd to control this levitation. Like a sort of invisible string coming out of her forehead had connected both her and the objects.

 

She focused on the invisible string and beckoned it to place the objects gently onto the table. It shook unsteadily before she felt the energy fizzle out, and dropped them rather roughly atop its wooden surface. Though it wasn't the most graceful of acts, she had done it! For the first time since she was here, she smiled and felt a surge of pride go through her.

 

Now to try to write...

[Nathan Fink 22]

His thought getting pulled from the subject of Discord by the introduction, he wiped his mouth and turned to ElectroBolt. "Well its...nice to meet you. You already know my name so there's no need for me to tell you heh heh..." He disliked formalities, but at least now he knew all of their names. Peach had since composed herself, still wearing a smile though. He turned to her , "So, Ms. Palette, its very generous of you to supply all of our new...guests, with room and board like this. Do you plan on staying with them? If they are to live here they will need someone to guide them, to teach them how to live and act like any other pony. Unless..." He leaned in just a bit "Unless you plan on trying to return them to their own world?"

 

He tried to ask the question in as innocent a way as possible but on the inside he was very excited of the possibility. Maybe, just maybe, i could do what they have done. Visit another world! Blend in with these 'humans'. Learn all about them. I hope they have books! Oh how terrible would it be to not have a library! Then his thought merged with the subject of Discord. If this is what he's doing to us...who knows what he's doing to their world. Is snatching victims to bring here all he is doing to them? Or are we the lucky ones...

[Electrobolt 2,069]

As soon as SiFi had mentioned the phrase, return them to their own world, Electrobolt's smile slowly disappeared. Looking back at his bowl of soup, he thought, *My world... I... I wish I knew more about what my world was like...* He then closed his eyes as he tried to think about his world some more. Eventually, his mind slipped to black and white as he saw what he assumed was a memory from the human world.

 

------

 

In this memory, he was sitting in a corner of a big room, next to a window. He looked out the window as he saw the snow slowly descending from the sky. Turning in front of him, he reached out for a bowl of noodle soup and proceeded to sip the soup from the spoon, eating every last bit of it. After finishing off the soup, he sat the bowl back down onto the table and looked out the window to see the snow again. Even though the lips were moving, no audible sound could be heard...

 

------

 

Electrobolt opened his eyes again, remembering his memory with good detail. *But... What was my memory trying to tell me...?* he thought as he decided to look outside the window, at the snow. He was staring at the snow, almost as if he was in a trance, until he yawned. Shaking himself out of his trance, he looked back to everyone else as he said, "I don't know about you all, but... I'm going to bed now..."

 

As he got up, Electrobolt slowly began to walk to a vacant room, trying to hold in another yawn. As soon as he got into his room, he shut the door and locked it up so no one would enter uninvited. "Well... Good night..." he said to no one in particular as he walked to the bed, pulled the sheets out, and rested himself on top of the mattress. He then pulled the covers on top of him then shut his eyelids, falling into the realm of sleep.

[Wolfe 71]

Brave was glad that everyone laughed. After shaking off the snow, stones, and carrot, he turned to Peach. No, it's alright! Laughter is a good medicine! Keep laughing! He gave a genuine smile and nodded. If there was something he knew from memory, it was laughter. He understood that as long as everyone is happy, he is happy. He wanted to make sure and from the mood he got from her earlier, she didn't seem too hot. Peach's laughter livened it up for her.

 

He listened to the bearded pony speak. What would she be doing? If it were up to Brave, he'd like to confront Discord. But with what little he knew about him and his past, it's better that he and the other ponies get adjusted. He walked over to the table where the bowls of soup were being set. He moved to a vacant spot and started eating. Something he's never had before, but it was some good soup. Once he gets the chance, he would ask the others what their names were and what they remember from either the human-turned-ponies or natural ponies living here.

[PeachPalette 1,000]

Instantly she stopped her laughing and looked up at SiFi, processing quickly what he was saying. In a flash she was in her chair again, the chair rocking with the momentum on her body sliding into it. "Well, you know," she began thinking back to what was going on in her head previously as to why she did that. She wasn't the one in charge at that point in time. She suddenly smiled a wide happy smile. "Why wouldn't I? These ponies needed my help anyway. I mean, where would they have stayed? They don't have any bits, ya know?" She sat up tall. "And I'm plannin' on staying with them through thick and thin! I've already made some friends!" Her expression shifted to a serious one as she slowly leaned in, her eyes narrowed and shifted for a moment before they burned into his. She noticed that this instinctively made him lean in more. The silence swirled in the air around them until she sat back laughing making SiFi jump a bit, unable to keep a straight face. "Well then if they want to go back, I'll be right there to help them, silly," she snorted as she chuckled. "It's their choice after all."

 

"Good night, ELECTROBOLT!" She exclaimed holding her hoof to her forehead in salute, and puffing out her chest. Her tone was hardy and vibrated, saying his name as if he was a mighty superhero. She let her body relax as he disappeared into the hall, and headed to his room. Electrobolt did kind of sound like a name right up there with.... THE MYSTERIOUS MARE-DO-WELL! She said the name silently in her head just as she said Electrobolt's name. This made her chuckle to herself as she now turned to Brave.

 

She was more than delighted that he'd understood. After all, it WAS hi-lar-i-ous, she thought to herself, singing the word 'hilarious'. A smidgen on her felt terrible for laughing at the handy work of Discord, but it she had to give him props there...it was a harmless joke. At least he didn't do anything more senister. Laughter, after all, was certainly helping her and the ponies around her relax. She'd stick to being herself then...for as long as her mind would let her.

 

Her eyes shifted to Silver, who now was oddly quiet. She squinted, straining to see something that she thought not quite right upon his body. A..., she squinted harder. A-a gash?! Her eyes widened. "Hey, ponies," she whispered to the few closest to her. "I think Silver's hurt."

[Flow 1,624]

After sobbing for 2 hours, Arty got out of his room and greeted in a somber tone "Hey guys," after getting a bowl of soup, he sat on the table. He felt better once he finished his bowl, "Eh? I didn't realize that I used magic to eat, mmm this soup was delicious, okay, seconds" Before getting up for a second bowl, he saw yellow eyes on the window, "Eh? Discord?1?" He ducked under the table, nothing but his laughs happened, "What is he doing?" He thought, then he got his second bowl an indulged on it

[Trixies Apprentice L 493]

Lionheart didn't talk to anyone the whole way to the inn. He was lost in his thoughts. "Sure Silver has a point but what if we do can control him. Why not take our chances." He thought and thought the same thing again and again trying to find a way.

 

When they finally reached the inn everyone suddenly felt more relaxed all except of him and as it seemed Artsy that quickly went upset up to bed. It was weird cause as he was silently eating in a corner of the table everyone was silly talking and after a sudden Discord appearance to Peach that intirguaded him but then everyone started laughing. That was the last straw. "How...the-slams his hoof on the table- How can you all be so idiotic. This isn't some kind of game(empasize in the word) and yet you are all talking silly and laughing without thinking anything. Seriously just messing with us ? isn't that a tad it unrealistic way of thinking ?" There must be a reason to this behaviour and while you are all "relaxing" and "laughing" he is either planing something to catch you all off guard. Didn't this though passed through anypon...ones head ? Jesus. Then you call me crazy for thinking of trying something different by trying to maybe control him. Yea it sounds crazy and hard and probably impossible but at least I am thinking of something and Discord didn't seem like the a fool he is certenly planning something." With that Lionheart stood up and look at everyone one by one in the eyes. "Hmph"

 

Lionheart turned and went upstairs trying to find his room. As he passed through rooms he heard something from one of them, It was Artsy's. He paused and though of knocking to see what was going on but quickly shruged the though off and cntinues his way to his room.

 

When he reached his room he quitly went to bed and once more was lost in his thoughts.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

Hearing the clopping of hooves going through the hall outside of her door, she vaguely figured the others were going to bed. But she didn't care at the moment. Right now, she was too enthralled with her magic. Maybe she could train herself to use it... and become so powerful. Then people would take her seriously.

 

Starting one at a time, she next extended the invisible string of energy from her glowing horn towards the pencil. It was pulled towards her much more smoothly as she figured out a certain way of manipulating it that made it easier to grasp with the magic. The more she calmed her thoughts, the easier it became. In fact, grasping the pencil with her magic was the easiest thing she had attempted. It felt more natural than her other attempts, as if she had been doing this her entire life. She wasn't sure why, exactly.

 

Artsy gently tugged at the invisible string as the pencil came closer to her and used her magic to begin writing words on the paper. It wasn't that hard... it was like writing with a hand as well. She then began to trace a few lines absent-mindedly into a doodle. This is where manipulating the pencil became even easier. With her magic, she somehow felt she had even more precision than her human hands. She could feel every fiber of the invisible strings that had connected her to the subject and moved it in the most delicate ways, letting out a loud laugh of enjoyment. It felt so right, so awesome!

[Marcato 2,143]

At Lionhearts outburst Silver was shocked, and somewhat annoyed. However he still understood what he was talking about. "Lionheart wait." He said as he began to run after him, but felt a screaming pain in his shoulder as the wound opened up again from the sudden running. For the first time Silver fell to the ground. (Crap) he thought. (Now everyones bound to know about it.) He pulled himself up and let out a sigh. Trying to ignore the pain he walked back to where he was, and began thinking again. Was this how Lionheart acted, or was Discord just screwing around again? Either way the idea of controling a god was very far fetched to Silver.

[Dexterity 3]

Dexterity groggily awoke and stretched all of her sore muscles. This bed wasn't as comfortable as the one she had at home, but at least it was a place to catch a quick snooze. She blinked slowly, as if to ward off the feeling of sleep which threatened to overtake her.But what woke me up? I'm this tired still; I should still be asleep.

 

Dexterity listened to the sounds of the inn. Ponies! I wonder who it is. Dexterity finally got out of bed. She collected her belongings in her navy saddle bags, and trotted down the hallway towards the sounds of the others. She silently hoped they were friendly as she rounded the corner and saw them.

[Aureity 3,055]

Crystal Flame had finaly gotten the feeling back in his wings now. Happily flapping his wings to make sure they were in working order, his eyes followed Lionheart's actions as Lionheart slammed his hooves down on the table in anger, yelling something, then retiring in disgust to his room. He sighed. Yes, it was probably a bad idea to stand here goofing off while Discord ploted...whatever he was plotting. But controlling Discord definitely wasn't going to work. This was a DIVINE CREATURE they were talking about. One does not simply...control a god. "There were other ways that would probably make more sense, than, err, controlling a god," Crystal Flame called after Lionheart. "Wasn't it the elements of harmony that stopped him? Why don't we try that instead?"

[Legendary Emerald 622]

Serah lay underneath several feet of snow, completely immobile. She could not longer hear Discord's laughter, but she was sure it hadn't ceased. At a moments notice, she would either freeze to death or suffocate. Neither were very good options.

 

"I can't give up. I can't give up. Maybe I'm still dreaming. Maybe I can still..."

 

Serah tried to concentrate, thinking of an image of fire. It was profoundly difficult; her mind seemed to be working in slow motion. But gradually, she began to feel warmer.

 

Her forehead tensed as she poured all of her being into the spell, her body heating up to such a degree that the snow around her began to melt.

 

"Not enough. I need more. More fire!"

 

She grit her teeth and screamed into the snow. Her body erupted in an explosion of flame, freeing her from the icy prison and leaving her on a circular patch of grass surrounded by a winter landscape. The fire had burnt away her clothing; she stood naked as the last few falling snowflakes made their way down to her bare flesh.

 

"Impressive, young woman." Discord respectfully acknowledged her feat, hovering in the air in his full form. "However, will you be able to stand up to the real me?"

 

Serah punched the air, sending a bolt of fire straight through the hybrid-beast's chest and leaving a dark red hole in it's body. Discord reached the smaller of his two arms around his back and poked the hand out through the wound.

 

"Oh no, someone call Dr. Ridley, I've got a chest burster!" Discord laughed at his own joke. "But seriously now, that isn't going to work in the real world."

 

"Whatever the world, Earth or Equestria, dream or reality, I'm going to kill you." Serah vowed, her fists glowing red with heat. Discord narrowed his eyes and smirked.

 

"I'll be looking forward to it."

 

He snapped his fingers.

Edited March 25, 2012 by Legendary Emerald

[Wolfe 71]

Brave saw Silver collapse, but stand up again. He caught where there was a wound, and with Peach also taking notice, he left his bowl of soup and walked over to Silver. Don't move... Okay, the pony that led us here is named Silver, from what Peach said... Remember that Brave... Brave analyzed the gash on his shoulder, but he turned away when he needed to sneeze twice. Looks like the cold weather finally got to him. He rubbed his nose a bit with his hoof and looked at the gash once more. He turned around. Is there some sort of medical kit nearby? Maybe antibiotics and some bandages? Or can magic heal this?

 

Brave wasn't sure how far medicine has advanced in this world, so he doesn't know if Silver would be okay or not. He also remembered he led him and the others through the snow with this injury. That took a lot of strength, but he hopes that it didn't infect it either. You look like you need to let it rest for tonight.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Electrobolt slightly chuckled in his sleep as he remembered hearing how Peach exclaimed his name. It felt like he was being referred to as a superhero of sorts. With that smile on his face, he drifted off into the dream realm, as he was about to experience something from his past, as a human...

 

------

 

Opening his eyes, Electrobolt noticed something different. He woke up in an entirely new realm, almost as colorful as Ponyville. But this was different, and he noticed when he saw the hills in the distance. "The hills... Have eyes?" he questioned to himself as he looked at his surroundings some more. As soon as he looked down, he saw a note.

 

Crouching low enough to read the note, he saw this message. "I've taken PeachPallate. If you wish to get her back, defeat my minions and come to my castle. I'll be waiting for you!!! Discord." As soon as he finished reading the short-but-to-the-point note, Electrobolt charged off towards the first of many challenges. Soon enough, however, he saw a turtle walking on two of it's legs. "Wait a second..." he stopped as he muttered to himself. "A turtle walking on two legs...? Hills with eyes...? Could it be..." He shook his head as he charged at the turtle, jumping on top of it. This caused the turtle to retreat inside of it's shell as it remained immobile. "This is all too familiar..." he muttered as he kicked the shell, watching it zip off in the direction he kicked it.

[Legendary Emerald 622]

---

 

 

Serah's eyes shot open. Burning. She could smell something burning. She looked down.

 

 

"Ah, shit I set the bed on fire!"

 

 

She tried to throw off the covers, and found that she once again had hooves. She tried to stamp out the flames, and was happy to realize the heat didn't bother her. After only a few moments, she'd beat the fire into submission.

 

 

"Shit." Serah held up a crispy length of blanket. "Useless."

 

 

She threw the cover to the floor, and tried to remember where she was.

 

 

“This must be the inn we were heading towards. And right before I walked in, I...”

 

 

Serah growled.

 

 

“Discord.... I'll make you pay.”

 

 

Serah saw an open door next to the bed, leading to a bathroom. She tumbled out of the bed and entered the white linoleum room. There was a sink and a typical shower, both of which were lower to the ground to accommodate a pony's height, but she had no clue how the... toilet? How the other device in the room was supposed to work.

 

But all she cared about was the mirror. She hadn't gotten a good look at herself since she'd been turned into a pony. Now seemed as good a time as any.

 

She walked up to the mirror and looked at her reflection. Well, she had a horn; she supposed that made her a unicorn. She already knew her color scheme, but what attracted her attention the most was the mark on her 'flank'. It was some sort of symbol, something she could only interpret as a dark and twisted flame.

 

“Appropriate.” she snorted. The other ponies had marks such as this as well, even the human's who'd been transported there.

 

“This... this is real.” Serah numbly said aloud. “I'm a pony. And there's a dragon creature trying to merge realities. And I tried to fight him.”

 

She shook her head violently.

 

“I need a smoke.”

 

Perhaps some of the other residents of the inn would have some cigarettes she could borrow. She didn't know what time it was, as the alarm clock in the room seemed to be dead. But after that dream, she was far too awake to go back to sleep, even if it turned out to be late.

 

She did her business in the bathroom as best as she could figure out how to, and decided to find some other pony to bum a smoke off of. She opened the door to her room right as a white pony with red hair and freckles past by. Serah didn't recognize the pony from the other's she had woken up next to, but she followed the white pony anyways.

 

Luckily, she was led right to the other humans-turned ponies who hadn't already gone to their respective rooms. One of them was on the ground in pain; Silver. Funny, that's how she'd found him the last time.

 

She coughed loudly, both to clear her throat and get their attention. Perhaps this wasn't the best time to ask, but...

 

"Any...pony got some smokes I could borrow?"

Edited March 25, 2012 by Legendary Emerald

[PeachPalette 1,000]

"I'll go get the inn keeper!" Peach said as she hopped out of her chair and took a quick trot down the hall. He must be down here, somewhere, she thought. There's not many places in this inn for him to run off to. She stopped at the end of the long hall just to turn around and scan the doors to each room. "Huh?" It was like the inn keeper had vanished. Did he...go to bed? No. He couldn't have. The inn is still open. Even she knew that an inn with no vacancy should still have someone working the desk or tending to the needs of the visitors.

 

She faced the last door to the hall now. It was different than the others. Perhaps the inn keeper's office? There was no number on the door like the rest. Slowly, her front hoof rose to knock on it, pausing for a moment, and with an instant smile on her face she did. She knocked rather fast and loud. "Oh, mister inn keeper! Are ya in there?!" She called out.

 

"Looking for me?" A masculine voice sounded in the hall.

 

Peach gasped and looked towards the source of the voice. It was the inn keeper. "Oh! There you are!" She exclaimed smiling at him, her head tilted. She chuckled with a snort that she didn't see him standing there before. This personality was pretty perceptive so it took her for a whirl. "You see, a pony from our group seemed to injure himself on the walk here and...," her chipper voice trailed off when she noticed his odd expression towards her. It was almost creepy. "A-and...well...I was wondering if there was any kinda...medical kit laying around that we could use?"

 

The inn keeper remained there, unmoving, his eyes baring down into her's, his smirk so...so...knowing and taunting. "A medical kit, you say?" He asked, his voice seeming to change to one familiar. Peach could only bite her lip. No, she wasn't losing it. She was still very perceptive. A gut wrenching feeling twisted in her stomach as she took a few steps back, her hind end bumping into the wall behind her. This only made the 'inn keeper' laugh hardily. A puff of smoke covered him and grew into the tall slithering form she began to know all too well now. Discord.

 

The smoke cleared as he began to clap a slow sarcastic clap. "Well done!" He praised her, his voice reminding her of a manipulative snake. "You've managed to get everypony to safety," he said as his body smoothly slid towards her in the air. He pressed his cheek to hers as his clawed, taloned arm wrapped around her shoulders. "I'm VERY proud of you, PeachPalette."

 

She stiffened as her once joyful eyes turned into a glare. She peered down the hall ahead of her, flight entering her mind. A thought that dared not come to pass. She would not run from this monster. Can anyone else hear him? Where was everypony? She could have sworn one of the ponies just chased another down the hall, but instead the hall was empty and vacant.

 

"What? Why so glum?" Discord spoke again, sounding as if he was hurt by her not acknowledging his praise. He sent her an unammused glare when she remained silent and slunk away from her. He placed a paw on one of the doors, and looked to it and then back at her with a smile. "Poor Serah seems to be having a nightmare in there." He grinned wide as her whimpers and moans sounded though the door. An obvious insinuation that he was the cause.

 

"Leave them alone, Discord!" She finally spoke out, though the voice of this personality lacked the strong tone of the level headed one.

 

He chuckled, "Or what, PeachPalette? Will you turn me to stone?" He laughed louder. "As if you had the power," he said getting into her face for a moment. He rubbed the door fondly before leaning on his arm.

 

"Why are you targeting us so much if we didn't have the power to eventually stop you, Discord?!" That surprised even herself. This was not how she'd normally sound. "I...I mean...w-we must pose some kind of threat to you if you're trying so hard to weaken us."

 

He glared at this for a moment, but stopped and threw his forearm over his forehead in despair. "Oh you've caught me! I can't seem to get anything past you, oh wise and powerful, PeachPalette!" He mocked her. This made her grind her teeth together. She hated being mocked. "Which!" He blurted out raising up a talon, making a point. "Which is why you won't be leaving here."

 

"What?" Her eyes widened. "What are do you mean?"

 

He said nothing. Instead, he snapped his claws together, the door she knocked on opening. Peach looked inside, instantly noticing something strange outside. Slowly her hooves took her into the room, her terror growing within her as she neared the window. She gasped, losing her words as she peered out. A purple haze swirled around outside. Random flashes of lightning cracked in the vortex. No...

 

"Welcome to my world, ponies. Enjoy your stay." And with that, he vished.

 

The sounds of Serah were now audible in the hall as she made her way back out into the main room. It was as if she was back to reality. Though the view outside was a horrible reminder that nothing was real any longer.

Edited March 25, 2012 by PeachPalette

[Electrobolt 2,069]

As he continued to move along, taking out turtles and other things, Electrobolt came across a floating block. Looking at it curiously, he felt an urge to just jump up and hit it. "Why would I want to though...?" he asked himself before impulse took over. As he leapt up and hit the block from underneath, he could see something appear in front of him. "A... Flower...?" he questioned as he approached it. As soon as he got close enough, the flower vanished as he began to glow. "Wha--- What's happening???" he shouted, feeling a change occurring to his body.

 

As soon as the glowing subsided and he hit the ground, Electrobolt looked around seeing nothing different so far. "Was that... Just my imagination?" he wondered, looking at his body. He saw nothing on his sides, so he shook his head. Just then, a fireball shot forward straight from his forehead! "Whoa!" he jumped back after seeing the fireball leap out. "Did that... Did that just come from my forehead???" After saying that, he reached to his forehead and felt something that wasn't originally there: a horn, like the unicorns have!

 

Suddenly, he remembered that flower he saw earlier that caused him to glow. "Wait a second... Was that a Fire Flower...?" he questioned himself once again. "Just like in..." He tossed the thought out of his mind as he remembered Discord's message. He had to hurry and save Peach! Taking this time, Electrobolt proceeded to run to his first destination, taking down the turtles with his newly-acquired power as he rushed.

 

------

 

Meanwhile, in the real world, Electrobolt was sleeping, his face showing signs of concentration as if he was focusing on a spell of sorts. He was oblivious to what was going on around him at this moment, deep into his dream.

[Dexterity 3]

Dexterity paused just inside the room where the majority of the ponies were. She started a bit when a dark red pony with hot pink mane and tail walked past her. Her heart beat faster and faster as she contemplated introducing herself. You've got to do this, Dex, if you want to know anything.

 

"Umm, hi everypony," she said in a timid voice, swishing her unkempt tail nervously. With a small smile, "I'm Dexterity, but you can call me Dex. Can anyone let me know what's up with the weather?"

 

Dex saw the purple haze outside and widened her eyes in surprise. "Ummm..." She cautiously stepped towards the windows and peered outside. "What just happened?!"

[Marcato 2,143]

Silver sighed and rolled his eyes as they started fussing over him. "Its alright just a small scratch..." he said trying to get away. Another pony walked into the room, and Peach had run off somewhere. The other pony made some comment about the weather, but then Silver suddenly felt a rush of cold air. He felt his neck bristle as best a ponies hair could. Something wasn't right. The new pony said something the really concerned him.

 

Silver walked as fast as he could without hurting his injury towards the window. There was a purple haze and there was lightning flashing everywhere. (Now what?) He muttered under his breath. He turned towards the direction Peach had gone, and eventually found her. "Peach! Whats going on? We seem to be somewhere else then we were before." He quickly asked and told her. Looking out the same window she was, he feared that Discord had just taken things up a notch. Discord obviously feared them if he sent everyone away to some other place. Which also meant they had a chance. Looking at the bright side, Discord had just given away that there was hope, but in the process he seemed to smash that hope as well.

 

"Discord has taken things to a whole other level." Silver said sharing his thoughts. "He is afraid of us, so he decided to get rid of us." Silver continued. He worried for the others and how they were handling things. He could hear some strange activity coming from electrobolt and Serah's room. Artsy sounded like she was still awake, he listened really hard and faintly heard the sound of pencil on paper. Without even realizing it, his horn was glowing again. When it stopped he could no longer hear the activity in all the rooms. Silver figured he was using his magic to listen without even trying.

 

Then a thought dawned on him... (perhaps i can use my magic to heal this blasted wound.) He focused on the wound with his magic and tried to imagine it closing and healing. He felt the blood around the wound move back into his body and the flesh begin to close around it. But the pain and loss of energy was too great, and he let go of it. The wound was just as bad as before. All he had done was clean up the blood. Sighing he decided what it needed was rest and a chance to heal naturally. He would get some sleep after they figured all this stuff out.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Back in Electrobolt's dream, he was running fast, taking down any foe that stood in his way with his newfound power over fire. "Take that, and that!" he exclaimed, burning any enemy that tried to slow him down. Eventually, he came across a fortress. "This must be my first stop," he muttered as the fortress doors opened up. "Get ready," he called out, "because here I come!!!" With that, he charged into the fortress.

 

Upon entering the fortress, he was greeted by flaming traps, pitfalls, and more turtles. Being careful not to fall victim to these traps, Electrobolt timed his leaps as he treaded carefully in this deathtrap of a fortress. Soon, he came across another door, which he swiftly entered. In this new room, he saw no real threats in front of his face, yet... "WHOA!!!" he shouted as he narrowly evaded the spiky pillar that came down from above. "Ok, note to self: check the roof of any new room in a fortress first..." he muttered as he kept an eye on both what was ahead of him AND above him.

 

Although he narrowly took a hit several times, he managed to make it to a large, red double door. "Here I come..." The doors open wide as Electrobolt charged in. Looking around at his surroundings, he saw walls, but... "Uh oh," he uttered before plummeting downward. Fortunately, he fell onto a platform. UNfortunately, that same platform was on top of lava, and the platform was continuously shifting around.

 

Getting back on his hooves, he saw his foe: Yet another turtle. But this one was different from the rest. It had crazy hair and antlers, similar to those of a deer. "So you're the one who's trying to get in the way of Master Discord?" this creature questioned. "That's right," Electrobolt responded. "But you're first in line to take a beating!" "HAH!!! Don't make me laugh! There's no way you can beat me!" he retorted. Then with a smirk, Electrobolt responded, "Wanna bet?" With that, he shot a fireball at the creature, but unlike his previous foes, this one still remained, only having been pushed back slightly.

 

At this, the creature laughed, speaking out, "Is that REALLY the best you can do? How about THIS!!!" With that, it began to toss some fireballs back at Electrobolt. He managed to evade most of them, but the last one smacked him straight in the side, flinging him back towards the edge. Not only did it send him flying back, but he also lost his horn. Getting back up, he growled at the creature, shouting, "You think I'm gonna fall to the likes of you??? Well, THINK AGAIN!!!" He then charged at the foe, kicking it straight in the stomach with his legs. This caused the creature to be real close to the edge of the platform, about to fall off. "Well well well, looks like the tide has suddenly turned!" he smirked, looking at the creature. "Any last words?" Before the creature could speak, Electrobolt lightly tapped it, sending the antlered turtle plummeting into the lava.

 

After that happened, a door somehow appeared in the center of the platform. Not knowing how that appeared there, and not caring why, he approached the door. As soon as he got within reach of the door, it flung open and light suddenly flooded the area. Unable to stand the sudden light, Electrobolt closed his eyes as he walked through the door.

 

------

 

Opening his eyes, Electrobolt looked around. He saw he was lying on the floor in his room, completely wrapped up in his sheets. "Was... Was that just a dream...?" he questioned, trying to get out of his covers. Eventually he managed to escape from his prison. Getting back on all four of his hooves, he looked back to his bed, pondering about his dream. "Strange..." he muttered. "It was almost like I was in a video game..." He shook his head and lightly laughed at the idea.

[Deshi Bashara 6]

Cole looked outside and was surprised to see some kind of haze had formed. "Good question." he responded to Dexterity. He got closer to the window to get a better look and immediately wished he hadn't. A hellish landscape dominated his view, and everything was eerily quiet. The buildings looked abandoned, and he could have sworn he heard whispering voices. Faint whispering voices, but audible, nontheless. Everything looked twisted, warped...wrong.

 

Cole slowly backed away from the window. "That doesn't look good..." he muttered shakily.

Edited March 25, 2012 by Deshi Bashara

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

Once she had finished her drawing, she stood back to observe it. It featured an odd mishmash of a creature that wasn't really out of place with something she'd invent. A chimera of some sort, with a paw for one arm and a bird's leg for the other. It had a long serpentine structure and appeared somewhat dragonlike... and the creature was laughing as several clouds surrounded it. She thought it was one of the ugliest things she had ever drawn, but she was somewhat proud of it.

 

FLASH!

 

There was a sudden bright flash in the room as it was bathed in golden light and she exclaimed loudly in surprise. It was that pony she had met... the ivory-coated one with wings and a very long horn. But there was something different about her this time. Her entire body was transparent and crackling slightly. Artsy had seen this sort of thing before... a hologram? That existed in this world?

 

"Artsy, you must listen. Luna and I haven't a lot of time."

 

She merely sputtered a little in confusion, wondering who Luna was, but nodding her head anyway.

 

"Discord appears to be focusing on your group rather than the original wielders of the Elements of Harmony. This is because... the balance of Order has been shifted far too much towards Chaos. And the Elements of Harmony no longer work. They need harmony, which is Order."

 

Artsy felt as though she had been in an odd sort of science fiction fantasy novel, because she had no idea what this pony was talking about. It appeared that her expression of confusion was quite evident, as the tall pony shook her head and let out a sigh.

 

"I'm sorry, I suppose this is all new to you. I haven't much time to explain, but I promise I'll explain more later. This transmission is going to end soon, so I must be brief. Because you and most of your friends are not of this world, you are all a massive disruption in the balance. The more of you Discord brings to this world, the more powerful he becomes. As the balance is skewed towards Chaos. Be warned, Artsy. None of what you see at this moment is real. Discord has trapped you because he doesn't want you to go back to your world. You must break this illusion. You must-"

 

"W-wait!" Shouted out Artsy haplessly as she watched the transmission of this regal horse fizzle out. How typical. She knew that it would just have to cut off at the most important moment. This always happened in science fiction fantasy things, which she was now apparently a hero of.

 

And though she had dreamed of such things in her world, she had never expected them to be real. Her, a hero? She couldn't do anything important... and what did that Queen pony mean by none of what she saw at the moment was real? Was she talking about the transmission... or something more? It was a lot to take in, and clearly she was too simple to understand its full meaning, but she had to write it down because it seemed important. Using her magic to flip over to the other side of her drawing, she quickly scribbled as much as she could remember from what the other had told her. Then she folded up the paper to a very small square and hid it in the rather large flower that was in her hair.

 

She supposed it was time for action. For once, she had been chosen to do something important. No more mopping around. And no more feeling helpless! She'd show them all, that she wasn't just the useless shy one in the corner! It was time to kick ass.

 

Artsy tried to kick open the door with her front hoof for a more badass effect, but it didn't budge. Feeling rather silly, she turned the knob slowly with her front hooves and trotted out shouting as loudly as she could: "EVERYONE, EVERYONE, WAKE UP! I'VE GOT SOMETHING TO TELL YOU ALL!"