A New Lord of Chaos

My clone walks into town with a slow and deliberate pace away from the train station. To any observer he appears to be just another pony walking into town. First step try to avoid Pinkamina a town wide party is not low profile. I keep walking into town heading in towards the center. The library is not hard to spot given that it is the only giant tree in town. Keeping an easy pace, the puppet makes it to the library and I look at the sign through his eyes.

The sign says the library closes to the public at sundown giving me at least an hour and a half to scope out my target and learn what I can. I have him walk right up to the door and enter.

Walking into the library, I can see and hear no one. I’m half-tempted to use the clone to just take an element, but broad daylight makes for poor burglary. Therefore, I walk over to a shelf near a workstation and pick an old thick tome on magic I have to focus for a second to levitate the book onto the table. It settles with a weighty thump. ‘God hands do make everything easier. I will never take my thumbs for granted again.’

I start reading the book only taking in enough of the material to know what each page is discussing as I listen to what’s around me. I hear voices coming from another room as I keep scanning the immense volume in front of me.

I get to a section on healing. Reading it I realize how limited their view on reality is. ‘They don’t even realize the duality and risks associated with this kind of magic.’ I keep reading getting drawn into the book more then I intended when someone coughs behind me.

I don’t look up from the book. I just make the clone swivel an ear around to whomever is behind me and ask. “Yes?”

A decidedly female voice asks me. “Who are you? And who let you in?”

I turn around and look at who is talking at me. I take a few details in. ‘Purple, wings, and a horn. Good it’s Twilight.’ “This a public library correct, the sign out front wasn’t a lie?”

She nods affirming my statement.

I continue. “Then why would I need to be let into a public building my tax bits went to fund.”

She raises a hoof as if she is about to launch into some tirade, then she blushes and the hoof drops. ‘Seems like the file was right she treats the library like it was her house. Let’s just do what I came here for.’

I keep pretending to read. She keeps pacing behind me. This goes on for the better part of an hour. Nothing else in the book caught my interest, I was about to close it and leave when on the top of the page I had turned to read Musical Compulsions. ‘This has promise.’

The seemingly random songs that ponies are known to break into during times of high emotion is well documented. While no one knows how this odd magical influence came to be, several significant scholars over the years have found ways to force this condition to occur, in both groups and in selected individuals.

1. High stress situations
2. Group synchronized thought
3. Sudden spikes of magic introduced along with either lyrics or melody
a. This method is tricky to bring into full effect. If the being invoking the song attempts to cover to large an area or does not feed enough magic into the formula an incomplete event happens. In the year 969 CR one failed attempt was documented, in which the entire city of Baltimare ended up humming a song for a week instead of singing it once.

‘Interesting I might have some fun with that tomorrow. I want to find out if I can use human music. Maybe I can make Spike duet with Rarity and have them sing She has a Girlfriend Now. ’

I closed the book and returned it to the shelf. The whole time Twilight seemed to be nervously watching me. ‘Does no one ever use the library?’ I walk out the door and right after the door closes I hear Twilight let out a breath. ‘Guess that’s a no on anyone using the stacks.’

I was half way to the station when I heard a gasp from behind me. Turning around I saw two mares exiting a building a quick glance up showed me that it was a spa. ‘Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Damn it I was expecting Twilight and maybe Pinkamina but not these two.’ Rarity was advancing on my clone while Fluttershy seemed content to stay behind and try to hide in her mane.

“My, my, my. What a delightful ensemble. Dark, sleek, and simple. Not a color clashing and pinstripes anypony can see you pull this outfit off.” She paused for a moment considering. “Why I have to reconsider my stallion’s line for the fall quarter.” She kept circling me eyeing the clone with obvious interest if not lust. ‘She looks like me eyeing a steak.’

‘The question is, is she giving the look at the outfit or to the clone. Run with it nothing wrong with playing the game.’ I began to move mirroring her own circle. I gave her a level look taking in each detail. I slowly begin to speak. “Snow white coat, excellent poise, well groomed mane and tail, and an eye for fashion. If my guess is not very much off the mark you must be Ms. Rarity.”

She blushed at my break down and assumption.

“I will take that as a yes, and who would not recognize Ms. Fluttershy. Your work as a model was lovely even if I tend find Photo Finsh’s work to be overdone.” ‘Thank you background checks.’

Rarity seemed upset by my remark. “What do you mean over done?”

I give Fluttershy a smile to which I get an eep, and a blush. “She tends to have too much going on in her shots. Most of her photographs are of fashion not an action scene.”

She seemed to ponder this and I approached Fluttershy. “Is it presumptuous of me to think that you will be at the gala?”

It was cute how flustered she got. “Yes! I mean no. Umm… I will be there yes.”

With a smile, I used magic to hand her a card and asked. “Save me a dance?” This caused her to blush and I decided discretion was the better part of valor and made it look like the clone teleported away by dissolving him in a bright chrome flash.

-----Perspective Rarity------

Turning to Fluttershy I asked pouting. “What did he say to you darling? I couldn’t hear.”

“He asked if I will be going to the gala, hoofed me a card, and asked to save him a dance.” She blushed rather deeply.

“Oh my, how bold. Well spoken, well dressed, and going to the gala. Fluttershy my dear you should see what we can find out about him. Stallions like that don’t appear every day. He’s yours he just doesn’t know it yet.”

“I don’t know. He did seem nice but I’m not sure. His card doesn’t have a name on it. Just his cutie mark.” She hoofs me the card. Sure enough, it was a plain white card with a black border, and in the center in what appeared to be silver leaf was a triskele.

“Maybe he is like Fleur de lys. You know somepony whose name and cutie mark are the same.”

Fluttershy’s hoof came to her chin as she considered what Rarity said.

Rarity just continued. “Darling you have to at least see if he really shows up to the gala. This calls for a new dress.” With that, she picked Fluttershy up with her telekinesis and ran to her shop.