Survival is Key: Ch.18

>When you come to, you find yourself in... The library? What the hell?

>You look outside your bedside window, and everything seemed... Normal.

>No depressed ponies, the sun's shining, and you swear you can see Lyra on that bench, staring right the fuck at you.

>Creepy to you, but normal for her.

>You turn away, and get dressed in the bare essentials; a white T-Shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and some sneakers, courtesy of Rarity.

>How she got the materials for most of your clothes, you'll never know. But before you can think any further on the matter, a certain voice calls out to you from downstairs.

>”Anonymous, breakfast is ready!”

>Hell yes, Twilight was already making you breakfast! And if your nose didn't deceive you, it was... french toast... with a hint of cinnamon?

>Holy shit, Twilight you are the best pony ever.

>You head downstairs posthaste and give Twilight a well-deserved peck on the cheek as you sit down to eat the cinnamon-y goodness that is Twilight's french toast.

>As you chew a bite of that godly breakfast food, you look around the kitchen.

“Hnh, whrz Spk?”

>Twilight blinks.

>”I'm sorry?”

>You swallow your food, savoring the cinnamon-y aftertaste.

“I said, where's Spike? I didn't see him this morning.”

>”Spike?” she asks.

”Yeah, Spike, your number one assistant, remember?”

>”O-Oh, I know Anon. I just sent him out to pick up the groceries, is all. I trust him enough to be able to do that.”

>You blink. Despite being her number one assistant, Twilight would never let the kid go off on his own. She was like the kid's older sister, or rather, like his mother.

>The idea that Twilight would say something like that seemed... Wrong, somehow.

 

“Well, if you say so, Twi...”

>You push away the plate of french toast, and get up from the table.

>”What's wrong, Anon? Aren't you hungry?”

“Nah, not really. Food was real good though.”

>”O-Okay...”

>You sigh as you walk out of the library.

>That WAS some good food... Too good, in fact. Spike WAS the better cook between the two, after all... When did Twilight find the time to get so good at it, anyway?

>In fact, you don't even remember telling her that french toast was your favorite...

>As you walk through town, you're nearly bowled over by a miniature pink hurricane.

>”WELLHIYAANONYMOUSHOWAREYOUTODAY?I'MGOODI'MGOODI'MGOOOOOODHOWBOUTYOU?!”

“Er, heya Pinkie. I'm doing just fine, thanks. You okay? You're acting kind of... weird, even for you.”

>”IFYOUSAYSOANONWHATEVERBYEBYEEEEE!”

>You blink. Just as quickly as she had appeared, Pinkie was gone. Par for the course when it came to her, but then again, she seemed too energetic, even by her standards.

>You shrug, and continue your walk, and eventually come across Applejack, at Apple stall like always

“Hey Appleja--”

>“Well HOWDY there, pard! Whatcha lookin' fer today, Anon-Nee-Moose?”

“Uh...”

>”Oh, don't tell me, it's... It's... Uh... Uhhhh...”

“AJ?”

>”Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh...”

>Okay, this was DEFINITELY not norma-- Wait, is she drooling? Jesus Christ, what the fuck is going on here?

>Twilight's NOT protective of her number one assistant, Pinkie's... Pinkie-er than usual, and Applejack, well...

>”Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... uhhhhhhhmmm...”

>... Yeah.

>You walk away from her stall, and you continue your trek throughout town.

>Something was rotten in Ponyville, and you were aiming to find out just what it is...

 

((Discord's Perspective))

 

>Oh, this was just too rich!

>Anonymous didn't even realize he was captured! To top it off, he's probably off in his own little world of the Changeling Queen's making, completely oblivious to what's really happening to him.

>Meanwhile, the chaos caused by his and that purple pony's disappearance was INCREDIBLE!

>It was enough for you to be able to interact with the outside world, but nop0ny could see you, but you could see them, hear them, and TOUCH them.

>Oh, how you enjoyed that little spectacle of the tomboy and the hick beating each other senseless when you pulled on the hick's tail... It was oh-so-fun!

>You're brought out of your reverie by somep0ny clearing their throat rather loudly. How rude!

>You look over to see...

“Starswirl... what an unpleasant surprise.”

>”I could say the same to YOU, Discord. “

“I said it to you before, I'll say it again. It's LORD DISCORD, you blithering twat.”

>”Oh, excuse me. LORD Discord. How silly of me. You know, you were nowhere NEAR this egotistical in our youth.”

“You call it egotistical, I call it ambitious.”

>Swirly's face tells you that you won that round. Aw yeah.

>”What are you doing here, anyway?”

“Ah yes, the million bit question... What AM I doing here, you ask? I'll tell you what I'm doing here...”

>You give that stupid bearded spectre the biggest shit-eating grin you can muster.

“I'm... Waiting.”

>”You're... Waiting.”

“Mmhmm.”

>”Why?”

“It's simple, really. As I am now, I can only perform little acts of chaos. Stuff like... practical jokes... Pushing things into the mud... grade schooler stuff, really...”

 

”But all I need to do is wait until Anonymous here is drained of his love, and of his life, and I'll move into his empty husk of a body, and make it my own, like a little hermit crab! I'll finally have a human body again, after all these millenia!”

>You start laughing maniacally, because, hey, why the heck not?

>”You're mad, Discord.”

“Psh, tell me something I DON'T know, Swirly.”

>”You're not going to get away with this, I'll make sure of it!”

“Oh please, and how, pray tell, will you go about doing that?”

>”Oh, nothing, really... Just this.”

>Before you can even ask what he meant by that. Your eyes widen in horror as he dives into Anonymous' head!

>No no no NO! He could ruin EVERYTHING!

>Wasting no time, you dive in after him, intent on stopping the blasted wizard from ruining your plans.

>You catch the wizard flying over a replica of Ponyville, searching for the hapless Anon, unaware of you following him.

“SURPRISE, MOTHERBUCKER!”

>You pull a hammer out of nowhere, and bring the thing crashing down on top of his head, sending him rocketing to the ground below him, making a decent-sized crater in the pavement.

>That fucking look on his face... Oh Tartarus yes, that was so worth it.

>Starswirl responds by blasting you with a beam of golden light from his horn, sending you into the false Sugarcube Corner.

“Oh, you cheeky p0ny... You've gone and done it now!”

>”Bring it, you overgrown kindergarten art project.“

>Snapping your fingers, a rather burly pegasus appears in a puff of magic, holding a bell.

>He  shouts “ROUND 1, FIGHT!”, and rings the bell before disappearing again.

 

((Anon's Perspective))

 

>Okay, this HAD to be a dream. There was no other possible explanation for the shit you were seeing.

>Discord and some bearded pony were going at it in the skies above P0nyville, shooting lightning bolts and trash talking each other.

“Okay, this is proof that this is a dream. Of course, it doesn't hurt to make sure...”

>Hesitantly, you pinch yourself, and much to your displeasure, it HURT.

>What the crap?

>You pinch yourself again.

>OW. Bad idea.

>So, if this wasn't a dream, yet it obviously wasn't real... What WAS it?

>Your train of thought is derailed as the bearded pony is knocked to the ground in front of you.

>Seeing that Discord is nowhere in sight, you approach the pony.

>Your eyes widen in recognition as you get a look at the face of the pony in front of you.

“Y-YOU! You're that bearded pony that sold me those necklaces!”

>Groaning, the aged stallion stands up on wobbly legs, and shakes off any clinging debris, the bells on his outfit making a jingling sound.

>”Good to see you too, Anonymous.” he says, smiling at you.

“I just... What the... How the... Just what in the world is going on here?!”

>”Well... How can I put this in terms that you'll understand? You see, you're dreaming, and yet, at the same time, you aren't. Right now, your conscious mind exists in a dimension separate from ours, which puts your body into a vegetative state. You still with me?”

>You nod. You were managing to follow what he was saying.

>... So far, at least.

>Thank god you've managed to remember some of Twilight's lessons on interdimensional magic theory.

 

>”Good. Now, since your mind hasn't actually entered a dreamlike state, it is fooled into thinking that this is 'real', thus causing you to feel pain. What you feel here is processed by your subconscious mind, allowing the changelings to feed off of the love radiating from your comatose body. Eventually, they'll feed on your emotions to the point where your mind will be devoid of any and all emotion, and subsequently die.”

“That's... That's sick...”

>”Indeed.” he says, his expression matching your own.

>”To stop that from happening... we need to get you out of here.”

“But how?”

>”Well... Promise you won't get mad?”

“I promise nothing, you old fart.”

>”Okay then...” he says, wiping nonexistent sweat from his brow.

>”What you need to do to get out of here... is die.”

>You blink once.

>Then once again.

“WHAT?!”

>”WaitwaitWAIT!”

>You freeze your fist inches from his snout.

“This better be good, old timer.”

>”Just so you know, you won't ACTUALLY die. Just your avatar here will. It's just a semi-physical representation of you; it's not actually you, just like how this isn't actually P0nyville being destroyed.”

>You blink. That... kind of made sense. You weren't actually dying, so it was okay, right? You imagined that the process still sucked, though.

“Alright, so... hit me with your best shot. You said I needed to 'die' to get out of here, right? Well, what're you waiting for?”

>”Another guest.”

“Wha-”

>Before you can even finish that word, an annoyingly familiar voice reaches your ears.

>”AH-HA! Found you, Swirly! Now prepare to eat LIGHTNING, BUCKER!”

>He was so focused on the bearded pony that he didn't even realize you were there.

 

>Before either you or Discord could react in time, the bearded pony throws you in the path of the lightning bolt.

>You grit your teeth as you feel the force of millions of volts of electricity flowing through your body.

>As you feel your internal organs being boiled alive, you choke out a couple last words as you 'die'.

“Y-y-y-y-you Ba-a-a-a-a-staaaaaard!”

>Discord blinks, looking from your lifeless corpse, to Starswirl, then back to your corpse, his ears flattening against his head as he realizes what he just did.

>”Well shit.”

>That's the last thing he says as the two of them are forcibly ejected from the collapsing dimension as it's intended inhabitant vacates the premises.

>Meanwhile, back in the real world...

>Your eyes shoot open, attempting to draw breath, but find yourself getting a lungful of... whatever this green goop was.

>As you try to ignore the burning sensation in your lungs, you tear at the black gunk binding your legs.

>Once they're free, you punch a hole in the thin membrane of the sac you were being kept in, falling to the hard, rocky floor below with a dull 'thud'.

>The force of the impact isn't enough to seriously injure you, but it's enough to help you eject the liquid from your lungs and stomach.

>As you gather your mental faculties, you find yourself suddenly surrounded by dozens of horse-bug things. You assumed that these were Changelings.

>Frowning, the whole lot of them begin pawing at the ground, some of them preparing some kind of offensive spell with their weird curved horns.

>You give them a smile to mirror their frowns, gathering magical energies in your left arm, causing it to glow a faint blue.

“Bring it, you cockroaches.”