Amethyst Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The group of rescuers looked around in confusion. Where had the monster gone? Had it really disappeared into thin air, or was it just hiding in the trees waiting for another chance to strike?

"Do you think it's hiding in the trees?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.
"It's not hiding!" Scootaloo exclaimed, annoyed. "It disappeared! It's gone!"
"How could that creature disappear so easily?" she wondered aloud, mind flying back to when Discord terrorized Ponyville. If the others were right, then it created even more problems. "Well, there's no need for us to continue hanging around here." she cleared her throat and started to trot deeper into the forest. "Let's continue then, shall we girls?"

Each of the ponies looked at each other in a fleeting moment of uncertainty before they followed after Rarity. Applebloom kept looking over her shoulder, expecting something else to come jumping out at them.

"Come on, sugarcube," Applejack called back to her. "You don't want to be left behind."

"Coming!" the filly shouted, galloping after her sister.

000

Twilight was justifiably surprised by Discord's reaction to her rather silly little joke. In fact, Twilight herself did not find it all that amusing, she considered it one of the worst jokes she'd ever had the misfortune of being told.
She frowned up at him, feeling irritated instead of relieved. She'd gotten him to laugh, which merited several trophies, at the very least. She figured he'd take his leave, now that he had been amused momentarily.

After a moment he calmed down and looked down at her, grinning. "Now see?" he asked, leaning back in his seat. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Twilight made a face. If only he knew. "Can I go back to my cell now?" she asked him, trying to keep the impatience out of her voice, fearing his reaction if he heard it.
He looked at her, smirking. "Oh, very well." he snapped his fingers and she was once again in her cell, only it was completely inverted.

Discord hadn't followed her this time, choosing to appear elsewhere in the castle to attend to other matters. He had not entirely appreciated the joke Twilight had told him; instead it was her expression and tone that had been the real things to made him laugh. He wanted to keep up his facade, however. For a brief moment she hadn't looked like the annoying serious pony he was used to at all. She'd looked different and he wanted to see that again.

That, however was the problem. Twilight was an incredibly serious pony, almost a stranger to mirth. It would take a lot of careful planning.

Discord summoned a bed and flopped down onto it. How was he going to crack open her shell? What would be the easiest way to do so? He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "What would make Twilight Sparkle crack?"
His strange, but analytical mind started to race through all he had learned about her from his research. To help himself think, he created chaotic illusions on the ceiling he had his yellow eyes fixed on. Many found chaos to be a distraction; Discord, however, found it to be a rare solace.

000

"I'm sure he flew off this way," Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she rushed ahead of her friends through the Ever Free Forest, staying low so they could see her through the trees. "and then he must've flown off um..." she paused, hovering in the air as she tried to remember where Discord had gone after that.

"Don't tell me you don't remember," Applejack said, frowning up at her.

"I do so!" she exclaimed. "I just have to think for a moment!"

All the ponies present stopped, waiting for Rainbow dash to remember what she'd witnessed. Dash was too proud to admit that she had missed a lot of what happened due to Discord trapping her in bubblegum and vines. She'd never admit this, though.
Fluttershy took to the air and hovered beside her. "Take some deep breaths and calm down," she suggested. "We won't pressure you."

Rainbow Dash complied, closing her eyes and concentrating on what had happened.

'There you go," she said. "That's better. Ready to try again?"

Rainbow dash nodded and looked around slower, taking everything in and trying to remember what she'd seen in that split second before he'd disappeared from her view. "He went this way," she finally said, pointing a hoof off to the North. "I'm sure of it!" She zoomed ahead before any of her friends could respond only to fly back a second later. "Oops, I forgot you guys can't fly."

Rarity sighed and rolled her eyes. "Let's just move on," she said haughtily. "And fly slower, most of us can't go as fast as you."

"I'll remember that." she flew ahead, going much slower now.

"They walked along for a moment before Pinkie Pie shrieked suddenly, drawing everyone's attention.
"What now?" Applejack asked, concerned.

"We're heading north!" she exclaimed.

"So?" the earth pony asked.

"Don't you know what's up North?" she demanded.

The ponies looked at each other. "What's up North?" Rarity asked her.

"The abandoned Castle of the royal sisters!" she exclaimed. "It sits on the top of Misery Mountain and it hasn't been used in over a thousand years! It's rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of ponies who died fighting against Nightmare Moon!" she placed her hooves on her cheeks. "It's cursed!"

"Cursed?" Applejack frowned.

"Yes!" She put her hooves on Applejack's cheeks. "Cursed and filled to the brim with evil ghosts!"

"Really?" Applebloom asked nervously, backing up and wearing an expression of fear.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, raising her hooves above her head. "An evil curse! They say if you go there and try to steal the treasure the ghosts will come and chase you and if you stop running they will get you and kill you!"

"I want to go home!" Sweetie Belle whimpered.

Applebloom and Scootaloo shared the same sentiments and started to move away. "Umm, I just remembered I have to clean my room," Scootaloo squeaked.

"I need to um... help Granny Smith clean out the basement!" Applebloom added.

They started to leave hastily.

"Whoa there!" Applejack exclaimed, galloping in front of them to block their path. "You can't go running through the Ever Free forest all by yourselves!"

Scootaloo, who was in front, skidded to a stop when Applejack blocked her. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom crashed into her from behind.

"But we know our way through the forest," Svootaloo insisted, looking up at the brown earth pony. "We've been here lots of times." her friends nodded in agreement. "Yeah!"

"Oh, have you?" Applejack frowned at them. Rarity heard the conversation and waked over, looking mad. "Sweetie Belle, have you been coming in here without telling anyone?" she demanded.

"Well kinda..." she said, looking nervously at her big sister.

Rarity had been unaware her sister was sneaking off into the forest by herself, but was more concerned of why she had wanted to venture to such a dangerous place alone.
"How could you do such an irresponsible thing?' she demanded.

"I'm sorry..." she said softly. "I just wanted to get my cutie mark."

"This cutie mark obsession is getting out of hand!" she snapped.

"Whoa, whoa!" Rainbow Dash cut in. "Time out!" making a T formation with her hooves, she continued; "I think we're getting off topic here! We're here to save Twilight, not argue about cutie marks!"

"Twilight?"

"Yeah, remember her? The egghead unicorn that got kidnapped by Discord?" she put her hooves on her hips. "You guys sure forget things fast."

"We didn't forget," Rarity said rather hotly. "I was merely lecturing my little sister about going places she shouldn't without having an adult to supervise her." She stomped a hoof. "I think I'm perfectly justified to lecture her now and I believe Twilight would agree with me."

"Hello?" Spike spoke up suddenly. "Not to jump in on a family problem but I think you all forget who has Twilight and what he could be doing to her right now." He folded his arms, glaring.

His argument seemed to sink in. They all looked at each other, realising the severity of their digression.

"Now come on," he said. "Forget about who did what without permission. We have a unicorn to save!"

0000

Twilight sparkle was pacing her cell, getting increasingly edgy. It had been hours since Discord had bothered her and she was expecting him to pop up any minute and 'test' her again. The fact she knew it would happen, but didn't know when made her wait all the more excruciating.
"I'll be ready for it," she told herself. "He won't get the jump on me this time."

She paused, looking at the insane drawings on the wall, some of which appeared to have moved a few inches.
"Nope, I'm - onto you," She stuttered to the walls, sounding a bit paranoid. "You're not - going to sneak up on me this time!"

000

Discord was watching her activity through a bubble and found it incredibly amusing how antsy she was getting.

"Hmmm... I wonder what's on Miss Sparkle's mind," he mused, rubbing his chin. "Could she possibly be losing her sanity?" He chuckled to himself. Probably not. She didn't seem like the type who'd lose control of the situation so easily.

Pony nature was incredibly unpredictable, on the other claw.

He chuckled and sauntered over to a window. "I think I'll see how the other little mares are doing..."

000000

After the mares managed to get their priorities straight, and after Applejack and Rarity agreed to postpone their lectures to later date, much to the relief of their siblings, the group continued their North-ward bound quest to save their friend.
As they walked, Fluttershy couldn't help noticing the weather was beginning to turn for the worst; the sky becoming overcast and the wind picked up.

Sweetie Belle whimpered audibly and slowed down.

Rarity paused and looked back at her. "What is it?" she asked.

"Umm..." she shifted from hoof to hoof."I don't want to sound like I'm complaining but have you noticed the weather is getting rather..." Thunder rumbled and she squeaked. "Scary?"

The others looked up into the sky just as a bolt of electricity split the sky. Sweetie Belle shrieked and hid behind her sister, as did Applebloom. Scootaloo didn't react in an attempt to look brave in front of Rainbow Dash. She decided she wasn't afraid of lightning, anyway.
Thunder, on the other hand...

It exploded sending her running behind Rainbow Dash who rolled her eyes. "It's just thunder," she told her. "We make it in Cloudsdale all the time."

"But what if it's not normal thunder?" Scootaloo asked her. "What it its being created by that ghost Pinkie Pie was talking about?"

"That's just a story," She told her. "A silly story Pinkie Pie made up."

"I did not make it up!" Pinkie Pie shouted over the thunder. "It's common knowledge!"

"It's just a legend." Applejack sighed. "Now really isn't the time for your ghost stories."

"They're not ghost stories!" She insisted. "They're-" Pinkie Pie was cut off by Spike putting a hand over her mouth. "Can we forget about the ghost stories and focus on why we're here?" he asked, annoyed as Pinkie made efforts to continue speaking from behind his palm.
"I'd love to but-" lightning flashed once again, making Fluttershy flinch. "But it's far too scary to not think about it, don't you think? It's all too coincidental."

Spike looked up at the sky. "Pretend they're fireworks," he told her, subtly disclosing his own method.

"They look nothing like fireworks!" Fluttershy retorted.

"Use your imagination," he sighed. "Play pretend."

"Oh, oh! I love this game!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, excited. "Can I play too?"

"Sure you can," Rarity said, giving her a push. "Just as long as you keep on moving."

Finally, the group started moving again, Pinkie Pie watching the sky eagerly.

Just then, lighting flashed. "Oh, there goes a green one!" She shouted, rushing ahead. "Wooo!"

"Hey, wait up!" Rarity shouted, chasing after them with Rainbow Dash and the Cutie Mark Crusaders close behind.

"Wait for me, Rarity!" Spike huffed at the sudden movement of the group.

Applejack glanced over at Fluttershy who shook her head. "At least they're moving now," Fluttershy remarked, clopping after them.

"Wait for me!" the other pony called, not wanting to be left alone.

0000

Discord frowned, staring into the bright sphere that showed the rescue parties' progress. They were getting close which meant his little prank from earlier had done nothing to deter them. "This is no fun." he pouted. "Looks like I'm going to have to play even dirtier."

He shook the orb, chuckling to himself. Time for some more fun.