Chapters Greetings!
I'm sure you're all wondering what you are doing here; let me give you a bit of context before we begin.
There was once a land... Or was it an island? Regardless, this land was known as Equestria, a paradise for any and all creatures, blessed by both Sun and Moon. Of course, we all know this. You wouldn't be here without at least some preliminary knowledge, correct? Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra...
This paradise, with the light of the gods shining upon it, prospered.
In the days long ago, gods roamed freely among each other, peaceful, even if anathema to each other. One could look outside and not be surprised to see Discord evenly conversing with the Entity Harmony, or witness the reshaping of the world by an idle deity, or see grand displays of majesty soaring through the sky as the beings held friendly competition. Animals led their young over the hooves of the mighty, and the weak were at peace with the strong.
But then, everything changed when the Fire Na- Oh. Wrong story.
Things were as they always had been; things were as they always would be; and as was the nature of life, things changed. There came a being truly of a different ilk. His name was Entropy. Fragments of fragments, wisps of thought, shadows cast by the brightest light... All of these collected in the new creature, this... un deity, this... abomination. Even I can barely fathom his being, and believe me- I am old! I can't describe him to you. Perhaps if I use the Entity Harmony for contrast: Harmony was, of course, an Alicorn. What? Equinkind was the first mortal race, designed after her! Even if Dragons are superior. Her domain- nay, her birthright was all of existence. To look upon her was to look upon perfection- no blemish, no flaw; the air grew still around her, and the animals lay down and rested in her presence. The Sun envied of her radiance, and the Stars longed for her beauty- any other deity, from the ever-fickle yet reliable Fortune, to the stick-in-the-mud Law, the Sisters Celestia and Luna, Jackal with his Three Children, and so on and so forth... They all yielded to her. She was their god, the Overgod, the one that brought to them peace and stilled their rages, quieted their disputes, shielded them from the fear of isolation. In her, there was Unity, and with Unity, came Harmony.
Back to Entropy. To sum him up, everything that Harmony was, he was not. Need I go any further? Oh, fine. I know what you're thinking: some generic, evil, black-as-sin, Alicorn bloke who was too big for his britches. Well, you're wrong. Entropy was not evil. He was not even black-as-sin! That would imply he had a color, of course... Entropy manifested as nothing . His very essence and presence was a hole in the space of the world. Where Harmony created, Entropy destroyed, and to behold him was to behold death itself. The Entity Entropy strove only to undo Harmony's work, to make Unity into Void. It was terrifying, I say; the clash between the Tamer of Creation and The Unmaker birthed the last of the Great Entities, Time.
Change had come with blood, fire, destruction, and Death. Harmony knew the Entity Entropy would only grow more devious as Time passed, and set into motion the end of the Era of Gods.
I'd continue, but I really must move this story along. Not much of me yet remains.
Memories of days long past, of when Sun and Moon warred with Stars and Earth, where the Unity of Harmony and Void of Entropy pulled at the fabric of the world, had long faded. But it was not to be. Though Discord and Luna had returned to Unity, Celestia still needed to prepare her Faithful Student for secrets belonging to the rulers of Equestria. She never had the time.
You are here to bear witness to what ended one of the greatest Eras of Peace.
You are here to pay witness to the ramblings of good old Time, summing up the End of Days.
You are here to give me the strength needed to act when I should have, for my failure brought about the doom of the world.
The future that should have been will be, even if it costs my life.
And here we have the Opening Act, what They forgot I collect.
See now a new doom, one forged both of old and new.
Nightmares and Scourges, do not be discouraged!
There, with his eye upon you; Master Time will not make you a fool.
Let the tale unfold, to make amends.
Let the tale unfold, Where Harmony Ends.
Let the Opening Act begin!
Discord shivered. It was impossible, I know. One does not simply make a god... 'cold'. Yet the feel of something predating even him had momentarily filled him with a feeling he had not felt in a long period of existence. It was the cry of a newborn foal, the primal instinct of something weaker than another, the first step to the End of an Era. Discord, Spirit-King of Chaos, felt fear .
Canterlot glistened in the midnight sky backdrop, a quiet breeze drifting through the hills below Discord's resting place. One would almost call it an eerie night, even as others praised its beauty. The animals had gone to ground, ponies and other sentients alike huddled before their hearts for an unknown, cold, grasping fear. The stars and heavenly bodies watched apathetically, and Time itself seemed reluctant to move, knowing what was to come. A reckoning had come.
Discord sighed, "So, have you finally come to destroy me, Law? I expected you to be here long ago."
Where Harmony Ends
Thunder had rippled through the night sky. Or, what sounded like thunder.
Celestia awoke, and knew something was wrong; the balance of sun and moon had shifted yet again, and not by an internal means like Nightmare Moon...
Where were the guards? Celestia pondered the absence of the ever-present Royal Guard, as she galloped through the halls, attempting to find the source of the disturbance and turmoil she could feel within herself. She could feel it in the air, echoes of a cry caused by means most foul and evil; she could feel it in the stones of the castle beneath her hooves, no longer a foundation to be trusted, cast into question by recent events.
There, in the heart of her castle.
Celestia looked upon her throne room with despair. The beautiful stained glass windows depicting many heroic deeds both old and new were shattered beyond all recognition. The scent of burnt flesh and depravity saturated the air, all traces of the typical, clean atmosphere having long since fled, and something could still be seen shifting in the corner. Celestia quickly trotted through the desiccated chamber, her facade of a thousand years pushed almost to its breaking point before the figure that lay in the corner. Luna was flayed, her mane and tail in tatters; the normally lustrous night-sky coat blackened with burns and desecrated with many cuts, almost peeled away like an apple along her legs. Blood was all that Celestia could see, as Luna looked up and opened vacant eye sockets, and let out a breathless scream-
Where Harmony Ends
Oh. It appears I've started too far ahead.. I can't seem to remember what happened after that. Let's roll it back further and see if we can find what we're missing.
The Elder God 'Law' drifted down, descending to the pink cloud over the castle upon which Discord rested. If one didn't look closely enough, Law looked just like any other Griffin King. Same regal bearing, golden crest feathers similar to a crown adorning his head and chest. His coat gleamed with a silver-steel light. The cloud returned to normal as he landed on it, causing Discord to give an unappreciative grunt in response. Law reached Discord's upper body in height; just a little taller than Celestia, and definitely taller than Luna. The cold, gray eagle-eyed visage fell upon Discord- wherein one could see the difference from just 'any other Griffin King'. Law's face was scarred and pitted with centuries of battle, delt by Discord himself in the time following Harmony's death. He spoke with the rattle of a creature long dead.
"I'm not here to kill you. Yet. I know you've made peace with the Sisters." Law shuffled in place as Discord seemed to ignore him, the latter reaching instead for a glass of chocolate milk from the icebox that had appeared next to him. He downed it in one go and placed the glass on the cloud.
"And why do you care about little old them, Law? Am I not enough for you to fight anymore? Or is it just that you're bored of me as much as I am of you?" Discord pontificated, adorning his serpentine form with a steel skullcap and unsheathing a sword with his claw. He brandished it about randomly.
"Times are changing Discord. Old allegiances are being exchanged for new ones, and the forces of Harmony and Entropy marshall themselves. You very well know this," Law rasped, "Even you should have seen it coming the instant you chose a side. I'm here to tell you; I will put you down, Mad Dog, take your power for my own, and then rape those Sisters of their ability. I will give them merciful deaths if you stand aside and let me take them first. You'll even have time to run."
Discord burst out into inane laughter, wiping a tear from his eye, "Did you honestly expect me, of all the creatures on, over, in, out, and all around Equestria to accept that deal!?"
"No." And with that, Law lunged, swiping at Discord; he tripped over the empty glass in the process.
The resounding explosion could be seen from Cloudsdale, and nearly blew Canterlot off the map were it not for Luna's timely intervention. Ponyville was, as with every other week, nearly destroyed.
The full moon glistened in the sky- Luna hovered before it, eclipsing its light before her fellow deities.
"It appears you have both forgotten about whom watches the night! Cease this nonsense and return with me to the castle at once!"
Discord glared at Luna before reaching out and pulling her from the path of a raging Law emerging from the chocolate-dust cloud left behind by Discord's trap. "Lulu dear, please don't interrupt when the adults are talking." He vanished in a flash as the cloud flew upward, Luna struggling to stand upright at the incredible speeds it was moving- it had become soft and spongy, as she slowly sank hoof-first into the cloud. Luna continued to rise as the Discord and Law proceeded to showdown beneath her.
Discord's spurs jingled, as his paw flexed- he straightened his hat, and shifted the lollipop in his mouth. "Now that the lady's outta the way, shall we get started, ol' buddy ol' pal?" In a blur, he reached for the holster at his side, lifted out a banana, and yelled "BANG!" A flurry of multicolored bolts proceeded to burst out of the fruit's business end and towards the noble griffin, only to bounce off his metallic fur.
"Your tenure as a statue has made you weak, Discord. I am the strong one now."
Law flashed forward, once more swiping at the draconequus; where Discord dodged, however, was immediately rent asunder by a talon of ice. Discord let out a disappointed groan, and proceeded to fall with a string of night sky tied to his hoof, with his form fading into a mist. Law inspected the darkened landscape, searching for the chaotic god, before abandoning the search and calling for the cloud which had trapped Luna.
Luna looked upon Law, in all his furious majesty, and knew that to battle him was tantamount to suicide. Desperate and afraid, she struggled to pull her hooves from the cloud, as Law leisurely coasted up to her. "It appears your protector is gone now, Luna. You and Celestia really did a number on him if I was able to incapacitate him that easily. The Elements served their purpose quite well..."
Luna looked at the massive griffin approaching her, and, being unable to escape, glared defiance. "You shall never get away with this, Beast!"
"I already have." Law stretched out a claw to Luna's eyes, eliciting a panicked cry as he slowly, and with pleasure bordering on ecstasy, ripped out her left eye. Luna was silent as the pain ripped through her, denying him the satisfaction at watching her squirm. Law slowly began to breathe heavily, a lust filling his normally empty eyes; "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do this. Discord neutered me all those centuries ago, and I can finally get back at him through mutilating his allies! I will do him last. I highly doubt you'll survive the Power Circuit-" a grunt, as Luna's vision went fully black, and the pain intensified, "and I will definitely need your extra energy to track him through the night."
Luna channeled magic through her horn, flapped her wings, and jerked her legs, all to no avail. Without Discord or another of similar caliber to counteract Law's aura, she was helpless.
Law began to chant in a language long forgotten by the Lunar Diety, it's syllables making her ears fold back and quiver in pain as her teeth ground against each other. A blackened, smoldering hook materialized in Law's bloodied foretalon, and he carefully stabbed Luna's eyes on to the end. For a moment, all was still. The trees quieted, the wind ceased, and all life held its breath in anticipation of the tragedy to come. And the silence was shattered, as the Moon itself resonated in Luna's agony, being painted bloody by the magic violating the caretaker; Luna herself wailed at the burning, ripping, and tearing of her soul. Law looked up in an orgasmic glee, screaming his victory to the impassive heavens, "YOU HEAR THIS DISCORD? THIS WILL BE YOU!"
Law proceeded to start slashing at the prone, wailing Luna, only causing her wails to escalate as her flesh began to resemble the slow cooking of her essence; her coat turned a pallid color, quickly darkening to a gruesome black. To those attuned with the powers of gods, it smelt invigorating, inviting the consumption of the weak, the infirm. The eyes stabbed upon the hook began to not only bleed, but weep, as their owner's Deity pooled within the windows to the soul. Glass, crystal, and metal alike shattered before the Moon's pitiful keening.
Abruptly, the wailing stopped.
Discord twirled the hook idly as he examined Luna with a magnifying glass. "Interesting piece of work here, Law, I mean. The craftsponyship on this spell is amazing ! This has my name written all over it, except... I did not make it. Oh well, shame to destroy such an amusing piece of work." Law smirked as Discord closed his claw over it, channeling a large amount of chaotic magic to destroy it.
Discord waved his paw over Luna, vanishing both the half-cooked Princess and magnifying glass, and focused on the Black Hook. Luna's blood-dripping eyes had gone with the Princess, and the hook seemed to drain the life around itself even without a focus or target; a truly malevolent weapon. Law looked on, the calm demeanour as was his nature settling back on his face.
Law flashed forward once more and jerked Discord's closed claw to impale itself upon the hook, only to have it break into water as the point attempted to sting him. Discord let the cruel device fly to the griffin as he rematerialized behind Law, and released the stored burst of Chaos Magic into the Griffin Diety, forcing Law's passive manipulations of the space around him to falter. Discord then broke a baseball bat over his opponent's skull, causing him to momentarily drop from the sky like a rock.
With Law's presence fading, the Hook began to disintegrate. "I suppose the craftsponyship was not as good as I made it out to be..."
Without warning or movement, Law buried ice talons into the Spirit-King's chest, the Elder God's magic locking him in place.
"...oh. I get it now," Law wheezed, "You aren't any weaker... You've just gotten careless and cocky." The Beast proceeded to take the now-reformed Black Hook in his beak and lept upon the disabled Discord, burying the tool into Discord 's heart. Discord opened his mouth once, releasing a small cloud of smoke, closed it, and opened it again.
"All too true, old friend. You got me. Now if you don't mind, I will opt out of the Power Circuit and allow myself to reincarnate properly." Law's eyes widened, as the massive pool of Chaos that was the Spirit-King proceeded to evaporate; a true death. "I'm Chaos ol' chap! I break all the rules, and you would need something a little more damning than that toy to capture me..." The draconequus' laughter echoed emptily.
Where Harmony Ends
Now, I do believe we've caught up. Where was Luna again? Yes, that's right! The castle!
Celestia quickly moved to calm her sibling, whispering soothing, broken statements. Sobs could be heard emitting from Luna as the Lunar Goddess whispered, "T-t-tia, I.. It's so dark... There.. was a Beast.. a G-g-griffin God battling Discord..."
"Who was it Lulu? Tell me, and... wait.. not that one..." Celestia feared what it meant if whom she perceived it to be had acted.
Celestial glanced around the throne room, realizing for the first time the source of the evil, rotten stench being not Luna, but a pile of gore before her.
Luna's eyes, blackened and swollen with the essence of their master, had been rotting exceptionally fast. It was clear the Lunar Princess would not use those ever again.
"...Tia, Discord... He saved me... I fear for him. That god was as old as he was... and more powerful, too..."
Celestia turned her defeated gaze to Luna, and said simply, "He is likely already dead Luna. Law had long held a grudge against Discord, and Discord 's own cunning has long since faded."
"How harsh Celestia... I thought you had faith in the 'Magic of Friendship? ' It's quite clear that I'd escape real harm!"
Both heads snapped to examine the Spirit-King's tattered, transparent form floating just over the throne, as the glass depicting heroic deeds; namely, Twilight Sparkle's Ascension began to reform. "Yes. I'm dead, you're right as usual Celestia, blah blah blah. Now listen, I don't have much time. Both of you know exactly who will be the first pony to receive the essence of a defeated god, and considering YOU probably wished to reincarnated into Twilight Sparkle and let her rule, Celestia, we need to make plans. Law will be here soon, and he has figured out a way to bypass Inheritance; Lulu over there looks like she walked out of an oven as a result. "
Celestia immediately stepped forward, and declared to Discord, "Take Luna to Twilight. I will sacrifice myself to hold off Law."
The fading Spirit-King acquiesced, then drifted to Luna and smacked himself in the back of his head. His ghostly eyes fell to the floor with a wet sound. He quickly picked them up, and to Celestia's shock, inserted them in place of Luna's missing ones. "Just be careful when rolling your eyes dear, they tend to fall out. I assure you, I will return for those."
Luna, wincing with discomfort, opened her eye sockets.
She gasped as she beheld her reflection in a broken shard of glass; where Discord's eyes were normally fully mustard yellow with mismatched ruby pupils, they had changed to a milder yellow color, with blue pupils. Celestia merely watched in shock, as her younger sister tested the eyes of their much hated enemy.
"Discord, perhaps..." Celestia began,
"Thank you..." Luna whispered,
"Go Celestia! We must be off!" Discord, now barely visible, snapped once. Luna vanished once more. He snapped again, and Celestia found herself with a lake of glowing, foreign energy within her. "I gave you what I could spare. Sparkler's going to need the rest to survive the mantle of Godhood. Give that boring ol' Law a storm of Chaos for me!" With one last roar of laughter, the Spirit-King dispersed into a yellow spark, and faded away.
I'm sure you all want to know what happened between the Griffn God and Solar Princess...
Well, we can get to that later.
Where Harmony Ends
Luna staggered into the library with a crash, instantly rousing the sleeping duo of dragon and librarian. She breathed slowly, still yet recovering from Law's torture, and shambled to the seating area where a rush of air signified she had collapsed upon the wood floor.
Twilight Sparkle, alarmed by the crashing of somepony downstairs, began creeping to the first floor, telekinesis enveloping the closest object she had on hoof: her signature lavender magic had grabbed the incredibly heavy half of the 'Friendship Approved by Discord!' medal she had received following the aforementioned's departure. With Spike behind her tantalizing his disapproval, the pony crept down the final few steps, an unfamiliar third party breathing heavily from the Library's sitting room. Twilight paled as she examined the unharmed state of the entrance door, the pool of blood, and tracks moving away; with a final, deep breath, she quickly rounded the archway wings flared and horn blazing with incandescent violet light to intimidate the intruder.
"Get ou- oh Celestia, Luna!" The makeshift weapon plummeted from Twilight's grasp as the blue alicorn sister lay breathing, almost sleeping- the former adopted a horrified expression and teleported to Luna's side to examine the slowly healing burns and lacerations.
"Gather your friends... Twilight Sparkle... I can recover while you... retrieve them." Luna drew close to a trance, the air about her filling with traces of inner turmoil as the Lunar Goddess attempted to quell the warring emotions of terror, rage, and the echoes of violating pain from her mind.
"But, Luna... You're hurt!" At which point Twilight got a faint whiff of the odor clinging to Luna's coat and fled out of the room, quickly slinging a charm of fresh air behind her. Luna didn't even notice the mare had departed her presence. Twilight looked back and called for Spike to watch the Princess before rushing out into the early morning hours.
Where Harmony Ends
The moon hung low in the sky. Twilight idly noted the bloodied appearance as the prodigy's mind whirred with all the intensity of a hurricane; How did Luna get hurt? Where is Princess Celestia? What is that infernal racket!? The Carousel Boutique was filled with sobbing, and upon more upon awareness, Twilight noticed nearly every house around her had devolved into the same, heaving cries of despair.
As Twilight came further out of her self-imposed session of Twenty Questions , the mare realized she could feel it too... A deep sense of sorrow, confusion, and all around wrong -ness of the night; a night of Nightmares Unbound, a night wherein the ponies' dreamscape guardian was weak enough to be felt. A weakness rippling already long out of the borders of Equestria.
Putting the intuitive emotions aside, Twilight teleported into the boutique's main ground-floor chamber, only to find Rarity bustling about with a cup of tea shaking uncertainly in her magical grasp. "Twilight!"
"Twilight, darling, you simply MUST answer me! There's something wrong, isn't there? Do you know what it is? Tell me! Sweetie Belle is sobbing her poor heart out and I can't figure out why!"
Rarity proceeded to unleash an obviously building litany of complaints and legitimate concerns. It seemed her personality as a drama queen and experiences being the Element of Generosity had immediately discarded the emotions that had shaken many of the ponies who had not felt such terror before.
"Not enough time Rarity! Go find Fluttershy and tell her to retrieve Rainbow! Meet me at the library with the both of them."
"Don't tell me I have to run! I have to run don't I... Well, this is.. serious business.."
Ignoring her, Twilight blinked out of the building and continued her task.
Where Harmony Ends
Rainbow Dash was not asleep.
One would have thought the arrogant and proud pegasus would have ignored the call of a broken moon, but something had taken hold within her. Loyalty screamed in agony, and Rainbow could feel the rending of a law ancient as it was strong; following instinct alone, she flew upwards into the early morning, where the bloodied moon hovered low on the horizon. Shadows could be seen hovering in the rust-colored light. She flew closer, keenly aware of the air around her; it had been filled with an endless and exquisite rage clashing with the breeze of summer's last day and all the fleeting moments it entailed. She paused in a dark cloudbank created by Discord's mine, seemingly put in the perfect spot to observe what would transpire here.
A rasp. "So. Celestia. You alone stand before me and my goal of revenge. Discord IS here, and I know that he WILL die by my claws!"
The unmistakable voice of the Solar Princess resonated through the air. "Law, calm down. You don't need to do this... it doesn't matter that Discord is aligned with Harmony, you need only concern yourself with helping us as you have long before. Why have you let your wrath consume you?"
"I'm tired of Harmony Celestia. I'm tired of Unity. I want to see it all burn, And I will use yours, your sister's, and Discord's power to make it so. I look forward to the final death of Void, and so should you! You have had many faithful students over the centuries, and I can see how it weighs upon you. No amount of rebirth will be substitute to the lives of those you've sacrificed."
The shadow that Rainbow Dash recognized as Celestia seemed to sag at Law's accusations, but straightened itself back up as the griffin leered closer.
"You can die with Void, Celestia. I will be merciful and grant you that option. Or you can die here. Now. Let me take your power, your essence, and you will care about nothing ever again. Feel no more pain, no more sorrow. Time will look upon you and envy your peace."
Celestia's voice came out like a breath of wind. "I will see to it Discord has enough time to properly reincarnate himself."
Law's shadow jerked away from Celestia as a flare of sunlight emerged from both the opposite horizon, and from Celestia herself. The mare and griffin faced each other, now clearly visible to the pegasus. They glared at each other with the force of natural disasters, and Rainbow shivered.
"You're different Celestia. Something's off..." The Griffin King of Kings, Law, underestimated Celestia.
And in an instant, Celestia had ripped clean through his wing with a golden blade, and snared him in a cage of golden energy. What seemed to be sparks, each a different color dripped from her horn. Law froze with a look of disbelief.
"You're not powerful enough to harm me! How-" The Solar Princess had ducked her head, a kaleidoscope of colors surrounding her horn, and as she lifted it, the cage rose high into the sky.
Rainbow and Celestia both, upon realizing the griffin had disappeared in the blue expanse, became aware of the other.
"Ehehe, Princess... What just happpened?"
The Princess closed her eyes.
And then the sun went dark.
The rainbow-maned pegasus froze at the sudden darkness, and looked to see a luminescent river of molten steel enveloping the Princess; and a voice like thunder exclaimed, "You think... You DARE to stop me from my victory? There is a reason they call me Elder God, child. Even as you bind me, I have strength enough to bind you until long after your lands are in ruin. Farewell Celestia."
And then the sun flickered to life.
The Princess fell, encased in a prison of ethersteel.
Much to Rainbow's dismay, she realized that the Princess was much too heavy for her to catch, and fled to the only pony she considered might be able to help: Twilight Sparkle.
Where Harmony Ends
The sun, a source of solidarity in the lives of all creatures younger than the reign of Discord,
As the sun went out, if only for a short moment of time, the land... Or was it an island? Well, the world , yes let's go with that... The world knew what lay ahead.
In the far east, a sleeping dragon uncoiled and stirred for the first since the Time of Endless War.
North, a black shadow gathered itself. It was time to manifest a new puppet.
Not-so-far West, echoes of a long-dead pony collected in preparation for the coming storm.
Within the Deep South, a tribe muttered in foreign languages, performing rites and rituals to bring forth a guardian.
High in the sky, in mountains piercing the stars, a frigid wind; a cold long kept at bay by sunlight craved for the fear and hatred of entities far below.
From the depths of the earth, a fathomless Void strained at the ends of its dreamless and restless unconsciousness.
And as all the players of the coming trials began to wake, the Alicorn Twilight Sparkle and her friends gathered in the library.
Where Harmony Ends
Ranbow Dash plowed through the entrance door, being the last to arrive on the scene, only to discover Fluttershy in the midst of shaking her head sadly. Pushing her to the side, much to the yellow mare's surprise, Rainbow addressed an also-surprised Twilight.
"Twilight, there's no time to waste; I just saw the Princess get put into some shiny metal by a voice in the sky!"
Before Twilight had the chance to respond, or even really absorb the information, Luna called out from the other room.
"Quickly, attend me! There is no time to waste."
Rainbow realized that Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, all showing signs of being awoken roughly, had also been in the room quietly conversing to the side. Spike had long since been put back to sleep after cleaning... something; and she failed to recognize the faded bloodstains on the floor.
Everything seemed... off... as it appeared to Twilight. Rainbow was shaken, afraid of what she had witnessed. Applejack had a glazed look in her eyes, a childhood echo resonating with the invasive emotions emanating off of the blood-moon. Rarity was calm, almost tranquil; the mare looked like she wandered in a dream, unwilling to accept the reality before her. Pinkie Pie too, was calm, but not in the same manner; she held the calm of an icy cavern, the smile frozen upon her face slowly disintegrating as the group moved to the sitting room. Fluttershy followed last, quivering with suppressed sobs- the blood-moon's touch was most evident upon her.
As they all entered the sitting room, Luna lay with her eyes closed. She had turned to face them, and spoke with urgency.
"Sit down. All of you. There is not much time; Somepony must attend to Canterlot and ruling the nation, and without Celestia... I fear for all of our safety."
Rainbow attempted to interrupt, "Erm, Princess Luna... How did you know Pri-"
"We are Sun and Moon. We are keenly aware of the other, Rainbow, and that is all you need to know. Moving on, events have been set into motion that will require all of you to help Twilight survive."
Luna's ears turned to the group of friends, listening closely. There was a disbelieving silence.
First, Rarity: "But, Princess Luna, what in Equestria would ever harm-"
Then, Rainbow Dash bursting into agitated flight: "Just let me at him! Who is it Luna? Who is thr-"
Pinkie Pie, oddly somber: "I'd like to throw a party for the new pony, but..."
Applejack came-to: "Don't worry Twi', we'll take good care o' ya."
Fluttershy simply moved to Twilight and wrapped a wing around her protectively.
The mare in question, had sat down. Hard. Twilight visibly shook even as Fluttershy attempted to comfort her. "What... Why me Luna? Did I do something wrong?"
Luna sighed. "I was afraid I would have to be the one to break the news to you Twilight. Has Celestia ever told you of the nature of us gods?"
Only silence replied.
"The Sun and the Moon, Twilight. My sister and I are comparatively young to the entities that still roam the world today...
Where Harmony Ends
"I am old, friends. So old. Older than you might believe, older than even language itself, if you can comprehend it. But for however old I am, there are still things older. Me and my kind were afflicted with a curse as a result of a terrible struggle during the early days... Even now it eats at me, at Celestia, even at the monster who attacked us; Law.
My memories of the olden days are mostly decayed, but I still remember the curse. I always do. It eats at our forms, at our essences, draining out the memories and the power and the strength of days long past. It drove us to division and fractured our minds, and the strongest that had fought it for the longest suffered the price. All of us are immortal; Discord, me, Celestia... Law. The curse made me wish almost for a true death.
After enough time, when mortals had long since populated the world, we found a method. We shared it among all of our kin, be they hateful of us, insane, or simply lost. A method to shield us against the curse. A tragedy to mask another of a deeper nature. It was discovered, we could shed our flesh and be made anew- become recreated, reborn, reincarnated. It was not to be undertaken lightly, however. It was designed such that a mortal who had earned our favor could take upon our essence for themselves, and become a new god; the power, memory, and wisdom of the elder being fused to the energy and vigor of the younger; adding the old personality to compliment the new one that had taken over.
Things did not go as planned.
For all of our bleeding knowledge, we did not anticipate the agony of recreating an identity from shards of lives, and most often the mortal lost themself in the process, leaving only the god. All the mortal's experiences were little compared to the centuries we contained, and their identity often was lost within ours. Rare indeed was the mortal, let alone ascendant who had the will of a god. What's more, those with darker affinities found themselves able to force themselves upon the ascendant, immediately squelching the soul of the mortal and yet achieving the same desired affect.
You see, the curse was a product of form, of body. It sank into our godly bone and muscle and forced upon us the effects of age and permanently harmed us. I still cannot remember previous, what happened long before Nightmare Moon and the Time of Endless War. The ascendant's body was free of our curse, for a time... It brought us time to recover and heal. Each transference we lost a piece of ourselves and we restored it with each rebirth- not the same, bot something new.
Now I anticipate your questions about this 'Law', but let me finish first.
What I recall is only fragments of a great and terrible war. We labeled it the Time of Endless War; Law fought for Harmony, and Discord, at the time, simply sided as a neutral party. ...I believe Law sought out Discord to convince him to join us. I only recall Discord cursing Law to bear the injuries of his struggle for the lifespan of Time. Law devolved into senseless violence, rage and hatred consuming his once-noble soul. He finally struck last night, having done something thought impossible.
That monster somehow broke the loyalty of his essence to Harmony and realigned himself to Entropy."
Where Harmony Ends
Luna's entrancing voice faded from the brightly lit room.
Twilight seemed in awe, as her friends struggled to understand the concepts presented to them.
"Luna, does that mean... Was I to be Celestia's ascendant?"
Luna only coughed and turned her head away, "Sister was so sure you would have made it and pieced yourself together with your friends' help."
"Twilight, unless an ascendant has already been marked by a god, they shall receive the first godly essence that is liberated of form. I believe Celestia wanted to give you the choice to accept her godhood, and for that reason left you clean."
Fluttershy spoke up, querying, "Um... Luna... if it's alright with you, could you tell us where Discord is? If Law was here, I'd like to make sure he's okay..."
Silence reigned.
"Friend Fluttershy, Discord is dead."
More silence.
Luna listened closely, as it started with sniffles, and quickly evolved into sobs. The clattering of hooves rushing across the library floor sounded, and Twilight seemed to be struggling to form a coherent question.
Ever the trooper, Luna forged ahead, "Twilight Sparkle, you must be prepared. When a God's form is slain, their essence is rebirthed into a creature born the exact same moment, or... it is channelled to an unclaimed ascendant. That means you."
Twilight Sparkle, Alicorn Ascendant and Element of Magic, proceeded to royally ignore the Lunar Goddess and comfort Fluttershy.
Luna bowed her head as Kindness wept for the maddened, lost soul that had been only so recently saved; she wept more for the tragedy she now knew would befall one of her dearest friends. Theories separated to different parts of the library to collect their wits and allow the massive pile of information that had been given to them.
One by one, the ponies drew back to their lone Princess.
"How long?"The Most Faithful Student asked.
"You will naturally draw the scattered essence of Discord within a span of a month. Or I can give you a focus to pull it all to you now."
"Aside from losing myself, will anybody else be in danger?"
"No. But I have never seen nor heard of Discord reincarnating, and I would not not know how he may react, supposing you don't survive the transfer."
Twilight looked to her friends; Pinkie and Fluttershy both were thrown into a state of grief, Rarity frowned at the floor, Rainbow Dash snarled with an unfamiliar wrath, and Applejack glanced to the door, her desire to leave evident.
"Would you stay with me, girls?"
Their eyes gathered on the librarian. Twilight appeared drawn-out, tired, and completely out of her expertise. Her eyes looked closely back at them, trying to find a source of reliability, anything to silence the uncertainties and fears running through the alicorn's mind.
Not one flinched before her desperate gaze or looked away; they affirmed her question with silent vigil.
"One last thing, Luna. Why has Discord never reincarnated before if all the gods must do so now?"
Luna confessed of her ignorance, "Twilight... That's something you'll know yourself soon enough. I do not know Discord's personal conditions of the curse, and while we all must reincarnate and experience a general set of woes, some were... specialized."
"Now, Twilight Sparkle. Look deeply into my eyes."
And the Alicorn of the Moon and Stars opened her eyes.
Everypony in the room gasped at the pale yellow-blue pupils so reminiscent of Discord's own.
And the Alicorn Ascendant looked once, and closed her eyes.
Luna winced in pain, and closed her eyes; as she reopened them, they had returned to normal. Discord's last gift had been given, and Twilight refused to look any more. She backed up slowly, as once more the eyes of the room observed her. It started with the Comedy section. Laughter and various ridiculous-sounding antics could be heard coming from the literary devices; then the Romance section proceeded to act up with soft, whispered promises and oaths and loves of epic tales. Twilight looked around at her living-library, and collapsed on the floor of the main room, dead to the world.
Where Harmony Ends
"So, Sparkler, here we are."
Within a space of endless color, with sky ever-shifting and land ever-changing, a small orb of order held sway. In this, Twilight Sparkle awoke.
The Draconequus known as Discord looked at the mare within her island of safe, sound, logic and order.
"Discord! But... you're dead!"
"One does not simply kill chaos, dearest friend! I know my passing brought great pain, but rejoice, for I live!"
A fanfare could be heard in the distance.
Twilight looked at the Spirit-King and realized just how terrible his condition truly was. Luna had been right; the curse of the gods had nearly eaten through the soul of Chaos, and from a magical standpoint, layers of something black and swollen obscured a many-coloured light filtering it only to a vivid yellow hue. One could hear the wind blow through the hole-y form of Chaos. A foreign weariness filled the eyes of Discord, and the god sagged.
"Sparkler," he pulled a cloud.from below and lay back similar to a therapist's patient, "I will not make you bear my burden- I will do as I have always done and endure for the next day if I must." Discord pulled a handkerchief with various dessert items tucked inside and tied it to a stick.
"Discord... Why do you force yourself to bear such a cruel fate? Why not-"
The Elder God whirled around so fast Twilight took a step back within her little orb. Around her, the storm of sky and land intensified. He grinned.
"Tch. Do not lecture me, you are but a mere speck compared to what I am! I am Chaos! I am Change! I am... alone."
Discord glared at Twilight, "I have two primary reasons that are why I am the way I am Sparkler. The first, as you may know from dear old Lulu, regards that curse." He spat out the last word as one would a foul-tasting food.
Discord placed his travel bag on the cloud and looked sadly at himself. His eyes glazed over and voice turned wistful.
"I used to be beautiful, did you know that? I suppose you wouldn't. That is what the curse stole from me, personally. It stole the wonder and beauty of change, leaving only the ugliness of Chaos; it would have warped my mind as it did my magic, had I not sacrificed something dear to me to hold it at bay all these years."
Discord dabbed a napkin with his eyes, before replacing then in his head.
"And there is what I fear Sparkler. I fear both, that a rebirth into somepony weak would weaken me to lose both my mind, and the mortal to be consumed by the darkness I resign myself to hold at bay." The Spirit-King looked away at the landscape about him.
"In case you couldn't tell, I sacrificed my intellect. How else would I have been defeated by something so simple as the Elements of Harmony? I was infamous for being untrappable, unstoppable; I used to always find a way."
"Would you chance yourself like that, Sparkler? You once went to the ends of Equestria for me, but would you sacrifice your identity only to risk loosing something worse than I unto the world?"
The God of Chaos and Change had turned away from the bubble that was Twilight Sparkle's mind, and was thusly surprised when a warmth drew close and joined him on his cloud.
"They all still have their friends you know. Luna, Celestia and the rest. Those mortals that survived rebirth had their minds locked within, personalities to comfort and share joy with. I have nothing."
Twilight Sparkle spoke her mind; "You don't need to be alone anymore, Discord. You have Fluttershy, and even if you are a massive jerk, a pain in the rear, and an... irritating individual, you are also my friend too. Discord looked at the Alicorn by his side, then back at the fading, dissolving orb she had called her own, and realized what lay at the center. A picture each of her friends, a figurine of Celestia, a map of Luna's sky, and half of a 'Friendship Approved!' Medal. All these things she would die for. All these things she would protect long before herself.
Discord laughed, not spitefully as Twilight had heard long before and since, but a warm and hearty laugh. A laugh bespeaking warm hearths, summer beach days, winter family dinners and a good read. A laugh brought about by the change of good tidings and goodwill, rather than the madness and frantic nature that was Chaos.
"You truly are an Element of Harmony, Sparkler. Take care of us."
And with those words and fading laugh, Discord vanished. Twilight looked around, suddenly afraid to be left alone in the strange land without the familiar entity of Chaos. A great wind arose and blew strongly at the alicorn, as her wings snapped open and she was thrown back into the half dissolved orb she had woken in. To her horror, the orb had healed itself closed behind her; a fathomless void encroached upon its perimeter. There was something new, though- she looked up and beheld the changing sky. She looked down and saw the chaotic earth. It wrapped around her little island of logic and order from the inner perimeter now, and reinforced the orb, holding the void at bay. The alicorn mare was tired. She closed her eyes.
Twilight Sparkle was not the one to open her eyes in the library.
Hush, viewers. I'd continue the tale, but I'm tired and need my rest. As I said previously, I will need to intervene. There will be a point where if I do not act, this tale ends prematurely, and we will never get to see the World's End!
Until Next Time.
Author's Note
Do leave a comment below! And thanks for reading my exercise in creativity; I'd love to make it better, so feel free to be brutal with criticisms.
I'd ask for mercy with this being my first fanfic, but one does not get better by coddling themself.
And with all good things, there will come an end.
It shall be full of pain. It will be full of despair.
And I will, at last, be realized.
Entropy's Final Words
I'm back! Did I- Oh. Right. You're waiting on me. Well, no time to waste! Where did we leave off?
The blood-moon's touch finally faded as the Alicorn Twilight lay in coma.
Luna had finally calmed herself completely, allowing the ancient magic that was her birthright to stop projecting her distress.
With the departure of the near-omnipresent despair, the mood within the library lightened considerably; less like a mausoleum and more like a hospital, with the ponies within bustling about.
Fluttershy hummed idly as she attempted to make Twilight comfortable within her bed; they moved her upstairs following her panic and subsequent departure from the waking world. Rainbow Dash, with full consideration of the disaster that had occurred, settled for rereading Daring Do and the Griffin's Goblet . She proclaimed a full desire to study their enemy, but everypony present knew she was just saying it. Rarity and Applejack, being too responsible to simply let their livelihoods falter in their absence swore to return as soon as they could, and departed each unto their own home. Pinkie Pie, of course, set up a party.
"It's for the new pony!"
"For the last time Pinkie, Twilight will be FINE when she wakes up. She won't be lost to that wierdo Dipcord."
"Nonono, you're not understanding me Rainbow; my Pinkie Sense is already telling me there is going to be a new pony, and you know that the Sense is never wrong!"
Pinkie Pie looked around nervously and gestured for Rainbow to come closer.
"As a matter-of-fact, my Pinkie Sense already says the new pony is here in the library," she clarified in a loud hiss.
Luna looked on the pair with a growing amusement. It evaporated as she considered the pony- no, not a pony any longer. The godling resting above their heads. She felt a claw poke her foreleg.
"Princess, you might want to clean up. Your coat may have hidden the.. uh... blood in the dark, but you might shock them now if they examine you closely." Spike proceeded to point towards the bathroom and continued to organize the books marked out by Twilight's ruthless organization. Everything finds a comfort in routine, from dragons to ponies, even the gods themselves.
As Luna walked away, Spike shivered at the amount of blood that was hidden on the Princess' face alone. Despite seeing only a little of what had happened early in the morning, and even with the filter of sleepiness applied, it still unnerved him.
Where Harmony Ends
How do I transcribe this next part? How does one define the tongue of days long past?
Where Harmony Ends
Not-Twilight-Sparkle awoke. Strange noises emanated from below and all around; only one thing felt familiar within the vicinity, and it too made strange sounds.
Agony. Broken. It pulled from within the mare, calling for her to submit herself and be gone once more. Not-Discord disagreed. He moved the mare down an elevation, ignoring the creatures resembling itself. Making noises, pointing and waving.
A tall, blue mare that Discord recognized emerged from an enclosure along the opposite wall; with a jubilant cry, she called out, Moon!
The alicorn mare jerked around at the sound, horn aglow. Not-Twilight frowned at the bubble encasing her.
Quickly exchanging more sounds with the creatures next to her, Moon turned to address the newborn.
Let me help you, Twilight, she had said. Not-Twilight cocked her head in confusion; certainly Moon remembered her Uncle Dissy?
Please, Twilight, Moon pleaded once more. Not-Quite-Discord nodded slowly, and immediately felt a spell placed upon her. A simple one, performing an action she halfway understood.
"...and we would reaaaaaaaally like it if you gave our friend back!"
The pink creature's noises had suddenly become comprehensible.
A different, yellow being descended from above and alighted among the others; the pink one, and the arrogant rainbow-maned one smirking at her.
The latter creature was suddenly before Not-Twilight; "Enough with the pranks Twilight, we've got a Princess to save. Twilight? Hey!" She only received a blank glance as the lavender alicorn opened and closed her mouth, realizing she could do so.
"Moon," she whispered, "why does it hurt so much? Why do I feel.. broken?"
Luna simply asked, "What is your name?"
The blue one glared at Luna from Not-Twilight's side as the yellow winged creature inched closer to the pair standing opposite. A drake unnoticed before walked closely with it.
"They call me Discord."
The mare seemed to lose the pained, closed-off stance she had been holding; rather she became loose, sinuous in movement- a cheerful grin bloomed across her face. One could feel it in the air, sudden and yet subtle twisting of chance all about them, traces of chaos spreading all out from the library.
A triad of fillies in a schoolhouse distant felt the sudden need to attempt high-grade explosives in their crusade.
A designer was given inspiration of a... peculiar sort; and a peculiar design, too.
Ponies in the marketplace became a lot more certain in their decision, more willing to perform what they had set out to accomplish.
Unions were made. Lives taken.
"Only, I don't remember being.. what is this creature? I've never seen it before."
Much to the shock of all those present, Discord proceeded to pull a mirror from the ceiling and examine herself in it.
"Moon, dearest, would you please tell me why I look like something out of Nature's designbook?" She fluttered into the air, "And give me the relative position of my dear old cavern, please, before Law gets it into his head to ask me to try and join your side again. Harmony only knows what kind of madness I'd have to be infected with before I would be so desperate as to do something so foolish."
Luna looked like her heart had just been torn out of her chest.
"You don't remember anything, Discord? Nothing at all of recent events?"
"Moon, you make it sound like something terri- Wait. Where's Sun? He's never left you alone before... Hm. How odd."
Rainbow Dash had collapsed beneath the weight of the entity that had landed on her, and was breathing shallowly, unable to get air with the alicorn sitting on her.
"Moon. I think this one is broken."
This earned a glare from Rainbow as she finally succeeded in squeezing out from between the floor and Twilight's hindquarters.
"So fragile... Here, let me help o' weird, rainbow-maned being!"
The pegasus suddenly found herself encased in a block of ice, as Discord fell back into great whoops of laughter. Pinkie too.
"Oh, the pink one knows what I'm talking about; wherever did you find such intelligent creatures Moon? We could use them to trick the other gods when they attack us here in the open."
An awkward silence fell upon the other guests, but Discord continued, a dangerous and wild edge growing in his voice.
"Tell me, Moon. What. Exactly. Has. Happened. I can feel only a third of our former number remain, and it seems Law and Sun have nearly killed each other. They're all moving, all of them coming to here." The ponies cowered in fear calling for Twilight, Luna included; only Spike dared to get close to the confused mare.
Sparks ran along the length of Twilight's horn, as a pair of weapons began to hover around the room; a glaive fashioned out of the wood of the home around them, an odd pair of eagle-talons dripping with a clear fluid that had simply buzzed into existence.
Spike finally spoke up before the baleful gaze that was Discord's ire, "Discord, stop it! You're making a bucking idiot of yourself."
A newspaper whizzed from the mailbox, punched through the front door, and smacked Spike on the nose. Hard.
"Don't use that language in here, Spike!"
That tone, that stance, that irked glare all screamed of the former Twilight Sparkle, but the mare shook her head as the truth slowly dawned on her.
Discord's weapons fell to the floor as the realization sank in. She let out a lighthearted titter.
"You really should tell me if I have Resurrection Sickness, Moon. Though, I suppose if this really is what I suppose it is, I'd best go out and enjoy myself before that new-self wakes up! Toodle-oo!"
And she was gone; not even a flash of Discord's signature white light or a snap, just gone.
As one, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Spike turned to Luna.
"Yes... It appears I forgot to mention the Resurrection Sickness, didn't I? Erm, I've got to go and make sure Canterlot isn't burning down in Tia and I's absence. Have Spike send me a report!"
Luna bailed out quickly, leaving the four remaining to deal with cleaning up Luna's mess.
Spike volunteered to stay and 'clean' the party-readied library and chip out Rainbow while the other two looked for Discord.
Where Harmony Ends
Rarity was a mare alight with inner flame- one need only look at her to realize the fashionista had been seized by something stranger than herself, with the frenzied and single-minded energy of a creature possessed. Sweetie Belle was running to and fro trying to help Rarity reliably, the only way she knew how; ferry everything.
The masterpiece, however, seemed nigh on foolish upon first examination. A small piece of spiderweb that had dared to bear arms against Rarity lay on the side, both the source of inspiration and disgust. Of course, the former took precedence. It was a patchwork of many colors, almost a child's creation in appearance- only the elaborate styling set all across the clothing denoted otherwise. It was a spiderweb-patterned suit, and Rarity knew it would have to be just right, or else the pony it was meant for would hate it immeasurably. And her. Regardless, the dress alternated between the most fiery of crimsons, to the most mellow of oceanic blues- the storm-iron gray of thunderclouds, and golden sunsets capture in fabric glimmered along the edges and seams, and a horribly clashing whirlpool of what could hardly be described as any color seemed to shimmer along the back and side. It tormented the unicorn that she had somehow created something atrociously beautiful and yet not understood a single step of the way how she had done it. Verdant greens seemed to soar among rivers of flame along what had been at first, pockets, but had evolved into a pair of wing coverings; as Rarity finally was able to step back with her magical, creative, and physical reserves drained, she realized it for what it was: A flight suit.
Rarity heard a gasp behind her. Her sister had returned with the glass of water requested in the flurry of activity while she had made the article of clothing; "Wow Rarity! What is it?" Ignoring the tracks of water she would have to mop up later, the designer levitated the drink from where Sweetie set it down; greedily downing it in one go, she generously provided her best answer: "Sweetie, I have NO idea."
The sound of Twilight suddenly speaking from behind the pair made both mare and filly fly into the air-
"I love it! Creature with Nature's talents, you are too good to me!"
Rarity came down on her hooves hard, taking in great lungfuls of air in a pattern she had only just broken.
"Twilight, darling... Are you alright? You feel just a little bit... off."
Sweetie Belle cringed away from the lavender alicorn; to a foal, she radiated something only identifiable as not-very-nice, and to feel it coming from the bookish princess spawned confusion of a nature long since forgotten. The filly felt like she hovered upon the edge of a great, whirling gust of wind- or perhaps before a massive wall of water. She drew close to her sister.
"This will do nicely. And my name is Discord, glamorous designer! You know, you seem familiar... Nevertheless!"
With an action normally impossible of a pony, Discord simply appeared in the dress, with the equin-model it was mounted on replacing where she had stood before. Much to Rarity's horror, she inspected Twilight.
Something about her friend had shifted; the way she held herself, the method of speaking, even the look in her eyes- it was a terrible beauty, where if the dress alone was a collision of chaos, the mare projected deeds done in the dark of night, the grace of the killing knife, the horror that was a necessary evil. Color drained from the clothed form, becoming a gray-golden field of ill-borne turns of events and dramatically cruel irony. To call the lavender alicorn a friend was tantamount to a perversion of nature itself; Rarity had an eye for detail, and there was nothing of Twilight in the entity before her. All the choice that birthed chaos, from war to theft, tragedy and foolishness, the ignorance and refusal to choose was personified- and then she switched . With a simple shift of footing, life blossomed, light bloomed across the dress, all vibrant yellows and greens, choices bringing forth new life and new beginnings, happy ends and pleasant dealings. An avatar of rewards given for the good decisions made and the heroes choosing to redeem their foes; the necessary evil fallen away in the path of a group choosing a better path. Discord let out a relieved sigh, "It feels like I haven't stretched my goodwill in eons! " He looked to the stunned designer and her sister.
"A gift, for the both of you."
And she was gone, leaving a picture of the pair embracing each other taped to a pile of precious woven metals also dripping water.
If I might say, it was truly a- heh... a RARITY to see Discord exercise the positive choices he also represented.
No? Too soon? Bah!
Where Harmony EndsThe filly argued with her brother, albeit one-sidedly, about whether or not they should start preparing for rough times ahead, both in harvesting and protecting the crops.
"Big Mac, let's face it, with Celestia outta' the picture, we might not have a sun to grow crops with!"
"Nope."
"But what about those freaky vibes comin' offa the moon? Certainly that won't end well!"
"Nope."
"But what if I never get my cutie mark because the sun goes out and something really bad happens, or, or, what if nopony is is around-"
The middle foal of the three siblings was soon approach with a cartful of bushels of apples, when the elder and younger collapsed to the green earth, Applebloom's signature girlish drawl being cut off mid-speech. With a cry of alarm, Applejack began to gallop heedless of the various oddities emerging around her- most importantly, the chuckling mare clothed in mischievous shades of green, alarming ruby-reds, and glimmering yellows. With a passion any artist would envy, the world warped before the farmpony's hooves; from shades of gray to towering structures of iron trees, tunnels of earth, and colored deserts each stranger than the last. Applejack stopped on the hill she started, vomiting out water following what appeared to be an ocean replacing the air her body now clamored for- and heard an almost musical bray of laughter from behind.
"You are a fun one, aren't you? Well-"
Discord was slowly walking forward, eyes closed, when she felt a hoof stop her.
"Yer not Twilight, and that dress just looks downright weird. Discord, you'd have best not done anythin' to my friends and family!"
She opened her eyes to meet the farmpony's angry glare- and Applejack recoiled from the gold rimming Twilight's normally-amethyst eyes.
"Well, aren't you smart, harvester." Discord began to hover, still speaking, "but you since you were sly enough to see me immediately where others failed, I challenge you to a game of intellect!"
Applejack's expression morphed into a deadpan look . "You don't remember me, don't ya?"
"You seem awful familiar, but I doubt you are whom I think you are."
"And why do you think Ah'd play some smart ponies' game? You gonna let me outta this loopy road to help my brother n' sister?"
Discord laughed, "They're fine, I assure you!" Applebloom's bow drifted over in a sheath of prismatic magic, "I don't allow anything to be harmed while under my games."
"That's not what you did when we first met you."
Flashes of a maze, this creature and others moving through a maze rolled through Discord's mind; then she was one of the creatures, a mix of courage and fear churning through her veins as she looked upon an ancient hodgepodge of creatures rolling on its back in hysterics. Again, she looked out at the group of creatures, nearly all of them corrupted with a damning, warping Mark of Fate, before being swept away as among the group, she unleashed a torrent of magic unto the unnatural being.
The Resurrection Sickness was wearing off, and before the new Discord reasserted herself, the last sane fragments of the old one needed to prepare for the coming deathmatch.
Shaking her head, Discord turned to address Applejack, "Then I must not have been Discord of Choice then, eh?"
Applejack just looked confused.
"Very well, Miss Harvest-All-The-Apples! If chaos is change and change is chaos; does choice produce change, and therefore chaos, or does choice make its own change?"
The farmpony thought. All the gears the orange mare had in her head turned and whirled and spun, analyzing every word, clause, and fluctuation of speech. Discord seemed impressed by the level of consideration emitting from what she had assumed to be idiotic sentients. The dress' colors shifted lighter, forgoing the red for a calmer blue-collar and as she was about to speak, Applejack finally gave her answer. And it was the answer that would have made Discord herself proud, while forcing nearly all the other gods to perform a variation of face-meets-hoof.
"Does it even matter?"
Discord clapped her hooves together with a very Twilight-like movement before launching into the air, the hill flashing as the enchantments broke. In the distance, two very confused ponies tried to deal with a broken cart and dozens of bruised apples. Applejack looked behind her and realized her burden had been removed from her. The alicorn godling fluttered back to the now pacified mare and halted her once more.
"Now, for your fortune! I always give them to the winners of my games, and they're always true!" She summoned a tent, landing with a large 'pomf!' on the road, with the two ponies within.
The lavender pony leered closer. "Tell me your name, harvester." For all of Applejack's wisdom and instinct and experience screaming at her to flee, she stayed. She did want to make sure Twilight was fine, after all.
"Name's Applejack. You should know that already."
The fortune teller flinched at the name, glancing about furtively, hissing aloud, "Go back to sleep! I'm not done yet."
Applejack watched with apathetic grace, then started to speak. "Twa-"
"YOUR FORTUNE!" Discord mumbled to herself, as the tent faded around them, and the ground, and even the notion of direction. They simply hovered.
They did this last time, y'know. I always find it annoying when others try to peer into my domain and stopped them, but... You're right. I need to start stepping in.
Where Harmony Ends
I looked at the pair floating in timelessness. Discord's power may be able to let him enter here, and his wit and skill let him steal minor glances, but Time was my business. With Twilight Sparkle yet unawoken, the Spirit-King appeared in standard draconequus form, with Honesty beside. The latter clung to the former, and even Discord seemed unsettled by the nature of this place- it normally rebelled and churned under his presence. Always a pain to clean up. I stepped forth from nowhere, walking on even level as the pair floated.
Honesty looked at me, then shut her eyes, chanting, "It ain't real... It ain't real... Just another one of his tricks..."
Discord looked at me, then paled. Completely. I mean, literally bleached of color- it was really hard to see him!
I spoke. "You wanted a true fortune. I give to you one, now."
Then, I sang.
One day, Syndicate means everyone's the same-
All we've lost to the flame, listen to me now!
Baby close your eyes, don't open til' the morning light-
Don't ever forget, we haven't lost it all yet!
A tendril of Time's quintessence, needle-thin and unnoticeable even by the wily reincarnated Discord, crept up from what passed as behind the two. I knew exactly what was coming, and decided to give the tragically inclined mare one final gift. I drew before the two, close enough to touch.
"Yours will be the hardest, O' she of the Honest Nature. Yours will be the knife's edge upon which the world hangs. Your fate is Choice, of the cruelest kind- choice to define Change."
The gibbering mare drew silent at my words, and the song's final echoes drifted into the past, leaving only the sound of silence.
I struck as a viper, tendril slicing into the back of her skull, and locking eyes with her, and Applejack died five times. Five streaks of mane and tail, bleached a colorless, white-transparent. "Once for each life I've made you relive. Once for the Harmonious Elements. Once for each aplogy I give to you, and only you."
And I released the two from my grasp, tieing the departed Discord and Honesty back to the instant of time they had left, then sighed. I gave them a gift, and it took a lot from me to freely bare secrets left unsaid. Come, let me resume the now-modified tale.
World's End will come, and though I rollback every end, I grow weary and weak. If events are not perfect, I will make them so. I must.
Where Harmony Ends
Applejack staggered away, to Ponyville. Applebloom and Big Macintosh walked with her eyeing the middle sister cautiously; the glazed over, lost look was foreign on her face, and she flinched in fear bordering terror at every sound. Her mane hung disheveled, in wild and loose strands, her tail too in a similarly desolate state. They needed to see Twilight.
Discord, on the other hoof, had collapsed within the library, much to the defrosted Rainbow Dash and Spike's alarm. She looked at them, smiling weakly, before collapsing onto the library floor.
Where Harmony Ends
Twilight Sparkle awoke, aching and mentally sound. Power drummed its way through her body, more than she ever had- and of a wilder nature, too. It was obviously Discord's pure magic, an diversifying whirlpool of energy just begging to be set free and induce all manner of change. She knew everything that Discord was, and yet had managed to retain her original personality; an odd and extremely rare event, more so considering the mare had not event needed to piece herself together. She supposed that her mind bound the mad god's fractured personality and memories together, an inverse of the normal reassembly around the godhood. She had not rebuilt herself around Discord- rather he had remade himself around her.
Something was wrong- the library too still, and the ponies gathered with wary expressions held their breaths, watching her. Luna had returned from Canterlot, and stood with Spike not far- her friends simply gathered around the other two.
Twilight blinked. She ventured a simple question. "Girls, I understand I was... well, insane and rude earlier, and I'm sorry. But could somepony tell me what's going on? I need to make a list soon, and I don't have a schedule set up to deal with recent events!"
"Twilight. Is it really you?" Spike dared to venture.
A discarded newspaper was birthed from the air, as the mare blinked forward a furious expression written across her face. The newspaper walloped the young drake, before she snarled, "Who taught you that word?"
Spike drew back, spines drooping and eyes looking around frantically to shift the blame. "Applejack!" he blurted, claws squeezing his mouth shut after.
By this point the group had broken from the two, smiles wide all around except for the aforementioned mare- her now streaked mane trembled with near Fluttershy-levels of panic, and Twilight's most recently acquired memories flickered through her mind. Realizing the apple farmer's signature stetson was gone, she corrected it with a thought. A sandy, dented old thing fell onto Applejack's head, a familiar weight comforting her immensely. She took it off to examine it- only to give out a scream and hurl it a distance away.
"Applejack, what happened to you? My memories of that fortune-telling are... blurred."
Luna perked up at the phrase 'fortune-telling', and she asked, "Did you mean... A true request of the future? Did Discord legitimately have that ability?"
Twilight smiled sheepishly, "Yes... Sort of. I'm able, to.. Steal glances out of the mists of Time... It never had any good repercussions for me- You should know, I've done one for you before."
Luna gave a low whimper. "I'm sorry, but... I must confess that I'm not as useful as I made myself out to be- when the Elements of Harmony stripped away Nightmare Moon and the physically manifest curse, it also removed many of my past memories, past power, and godly power. The.. erm.. Curse of Void," the last part said hesitantly, "its hold only strengthened during my stay on the moon. It sank deeper, and had any more years past I would have likely succumbed to it and-" Rarity cut her off.
"Calm down, Princess. I'm sure we all understand."
Applejack finally spoke up. "Does it feel this way for ya Twailight?"
She only received a confused look in response.
"Discord's memories... do they press in? How do ah describe it!? It feels like Ah'm seein' six different things at once! Ah'm always me, but at the same time, Ah know. Ah KNOW! Ah know that Ah'm dead!" She devolved into indecipherable mutterings, only the names of her family members being made out.
Fluttershy hesitated, getting ready to try and comfort the deranged mare, but Pinkie seemed to help her more than Kindness; what Applejack needed was not a shoulder to cry on, but rather a focus to shrug aside the shades I had placed into her mind.
Where Harmony Ends
Don't give me that look. When you see what's coming, you will understand. They all will.
Where Harmony Ends
Longtooth Ignis approached. A wave of death upon the land, a master- no, the being that birthed fire and flames of earthly nature and which dwelt within the earth with the hordes and mountains of precious metals and gems. The dragon moved through sky and cloud with a grace unnatural to a monster of his size, idly burning in great waves what lay below him. He had sensed the weakness of Harmony's Unity; something had been broken, a loyalty shattered, a Law fundamentally violated. It was time to fulfill Entropy's wishes. Death and destruction would come by all that he knew himself to be. Unto Void does All Return!
Shadows layered upon each other pressed into the tundra. A Crystal City lay in the distance, quite possibly the last- and Ethos Shade looked on with varying degrees of lust; so many pure hearts and souls. All just ripe for the taking. The shadow wrapped around his form pulsed with life of its own, and made protests of being so near the Crystal Heart. "It destroyed our avatar once, but if we make it stronger..." Shade conjured forth an image of the former King Sombra, "This one was a fool who did not use our power to the fullest. I will make master's wishes a reality." Unto Void does All Return!
They called him great. They called him a true innovator. They promised him a godhood- a chance to live immortal and study eternal. Yet here he suffered, a spectre whose only crime was existence. Starswirl the Bearded looked from his desert wasteland, magic surging, watching the new pet of the Solar Goddess fumble around with her new power. The sounds of clicking could be interpreted as something else had the ghost not have notions of what was coming. A changeling queen stood before the Pale Pony; "You called... master?" "It is time, Chrysalis." The image of a pony touched the changeling's jagged horn, and his essence funneled into the Hive Mind and it's queen. His voice whispered in the Changeling Swarm, "It is time to make Equestria anew." Unto Void does All Return!
A guardian rose, as the denizens fell; each life had been sacrificed for this one purpose. A monolith of stone, magic, and life arose, with the one thing that must be protected at all costs in its heart. The now-dead tribesponies had never given it a name, only a purpose. But for your sake, I will tell you what it will be called in time to come; they will call it The Harvester- or, as the gods would say, Soul Render. The guardian moved away, to the North, with one last objective to carry out. Unto Void does All Return!
An old mare's tale, a legend from Equestria's Founding and previous times, windigoes gathered on a mountain top where it was always sunny. They were soon to be released upon the world, to blanket it with ice and hatred, once the Celestia-damned sun went out. Their time was coming soon, their wrath piqued and their numbers great. They would take the world by storm, and fulfill the wishes of the demon they had spawned from. To them, revenge was truly a dish served ice cold. Unto Void does All Return!
Our war ends here, Harmony. When you have known Void, so too will all creation understand.
Where Harmony Ends
The Goddess of Chaos' ears flicked, and she turned to address her friends.
"You all must go- I don't know if you can feel it Luna, but..."
"Yes. Harmony fades, her Army of Unity is long defunct and depowered, while the Legions of Void have bid on our fading away, and it seems like they have won. No Elements, no allies, no Celestia." Luna gave a look of despair. "We will all die."
Silence reigned, as giant brooms appeared and brushed her friends away from Luna.
"We are the only ponies that can do anything anymore. Girls, this is something you have to think carefully on. I've made my decision. I would see you on the hill..." The eight of them found themselves on a hill not far from Sweet Apple Acres, overlooking a familiar gorge, "Here, tomorrow at noon, if you've decided to join me." Pinkie Pie bounced on her bed, realizing she had just been teleportal'd away by the new Discolight Pony. Rainbow Dash turned, and nearly fell off her cloudhome drifting near the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy "eep'd" as she fell onto her couch. Sweetie Belle gave a startled noise as Rarity came walking out of the bathroom, mane soggy and her hard work ruined. Applejack, Luna, and Twilight had all been teleported back to the library, the last of the three shaking her head as she popped a goldfish from her ear.
"For all of Discord's memory and power, I still can't get a solid grasp on making it do what I want to!"
Applejack muttered darkly, "Yer just not as chaotic as ya need t'be yet, Twai..."
"Why is Applejack still here, Twilight? I thought you wanted them to decide on their own."
The lavender alicorn only pointed to the near-invisible locks of hair.
"You're different AJ, and I can feel an extremely powerful magic shrouding both your mind and body. What happened when I brought you outside Time?"
"...A song. Some weird-looking creature, Ah think it mighta been a pony... It sang a song, said somethin' about choice to define choice, and apologized... Once for each of tha' Elements not my own, an' something about relivin' lives." She clammed up and flinched away from the odd-looking stetson still lying in the corner. "That was mine... Ah know for a fact, Ah wore that particular hat the day Ah died, tomorrow."
Luna asked Twilight, "Do you think it was... him ?" ...
Honestly, these ponies can be slow sometimes. OF COURSE ITS ME!
Twilight nodded slightly. "There's no creature powerful enough left to rip alternate futures and implant them into the mind of my friend."
"It looked like a sad critter Twai... It apologized; did Ah mention that? It called mine, the 'cruelest fate', and sent me away..."
Twilight tried to grab a transparent strand of hair, only for it to have no effect. A pair of tweezers whirled around from behind Applejack and attempted to do also pick out a strand, but that too passed through.
Applejack shook her head, clearing her thoughts... for now. "Ah'll go with ya Twai. Ah need to get answers from this out-of-Time fella' and Ah get the feeling he'll show up again when disaster strikes. You know how things always go in Ponyville..."
They shared a smile as Luna coughed. "Twilight, perhaps we should discuss on how to free my sister. The day grows long, and my moon will rise soon. I may have set Canterlot upon autonomy for now, but the longer they are free of our influence, the harder it will be to reclaim the throne."
Where Harmony Ends
Don't you just love it when a story brings down the drama? I'm tired. So tired... I must rest, and soon.
The Wonderbolt Academy graduate practiced her routines. She flew through them with a fury only birthed in those who know they are out of their league, but at the same time went anyway. The sun was on slow decent, as a filly observed from far below, buzzing her wings in an amazed manner. The mare-in-flight was afraid of missing this. She was afraid that in whatever madness to come, they would not all return. She was afraid for her friends, and even of them. Harder she flew, attempting to discard her petty concerns; she had no family left, none but that of her friends, and she would protect them as herself. She had no lover, nopony to spend the night with for comfort, but herself. And maybe the filly below her. Even her position as an aspiring Wonderbolt paled in comparison to the disaster they were now faced with. She may not have had the Element of Loyalty, but still Element she remained. There was no question in the matter. She would be at the hill tomorrow.
The Party Pony of Ponyville gave a profound sigh. "Looks like I'll never get to meet Cheese Sandwich this time, huh?" A calender marked Dash's birthday only a few days away. She had just tucked in the Cakes' foals, seeing as how the parents had rushed between child-care and managing the store had left them both exhausted in their own bed, unable to perform actions. Pinkie Pie didn't fear anything. She didn't overly concern herself with the future, or lose herself only in the now. Pinkie Pie knew a day would come like this eventually, the gypsies that had taken her away from her home had told her so. "Pinkie" , they had said, "There will come a time when you will die with your dearest friends in a tragic and final battle." They were so nice to her, even though she didn't quite understand at the time what they meant, but she did now. She hummed quietly; the gypsies were also the ones that told her to sing all the time, and taught her how to make songs that sprung from the heart. "Pinkie" , they had said, "You must always sing! Sing from your heart. Sing by knowing who you are, who the ponies around you are, and sing by the intention of joy, and you will always find music within." All of them would need her Joy and Laughter in the dark times coming. She would be at the hill tomorrow.
The animals urged her to go. They could feel the coming doom, and their concern was not for themselves, but for their caretaker, and hers for them. Terror and courage battled each other; where Rainbow concerned herself with the 'what would come', Fluttershy concerned herself with her friends. She was afraid of her own involvement, that she would be the weakest link. A bitter, cruel voice whispered within of her own futility and weakness. A soft, confident voice cited of her success with Discord and Iron Will, her ferocity in talking down the dragon. Fluttershy busied herself with tidying up the cottage, as her own angel and demon argued sides.
Your friends trust you. You're weak and helpless. You can help by presence alone. Your presence will result in their death. You can make a difference if you only try! Fluttershy was in tears as this last thought plowed through her fears, courage having won the war within. She knew what she would have to be. Kindness had no place in battle, but she would ensure that her friends lost neither their souls nor their lives. Kindness had no place in battle, but in war, they called it the infamous Mercy. She would be at the hill tomorrow.
Rarity was in tears. Her beautifully horrid creation wasn't even mentioned by Twilight! It had seemed to disappear upon the alicorn's awakening, and wasn't mentioned even once. She fretted over her tools. Fighting was messy, crude, and unbecoming of a lady. Yet she knew it was important, after all, some brutes would never take 'no' for an answer. Drying her eyes, she sighed; whatever came tomorrow, all of her friends would need to be ready. And by ready, she of course meant fashionable! A trace of discordic magic began burning within her, as she began to create; Sweetie Belle had been sent to bed after the moonlight spread across the floor. The horrific screaming had at last been silenced, and the moon was white once-more. It served as just enough light to sow by. All through the night she worked upon her outfits, following instinct. She was Generosity; a gift that kept on giving. With this in mind, her horn lit an ocean-blue, imbuing the outfits as she worked. A gift that kept on giving. Come rain or shine, sundeath or moonfall, the mare would be at the hill tomorrow.
Applejack jerked awake, screaming Applebloom's name, only for the younger to rush over from downstairs to comfort the elder. Applejack was no warrior. Warriors were far and few between nowadays, violent, unstable, and almost always associated with tragedy and times of trouble. Yet her dreams said otherwise. Her dreams were haunted with images of ponies mutilated everywhere- spines ripped out, eyes placed on toothpicks and arranged in orders of color and size. Blood ran in streams, all around Ponyville, with her home in ashes along the distance, and low moans and death rattles all about her. It felt... good, she thought. She enjoyed watching ponies who came to her stall lying there with stomachs ripped out, a cruel fate to eat and be not be satiated. She grabbed one of the eye-on-a-stick bundles and proceeded to slowly eat them, the slimy, bloody eyes disappearing one by one into Applejack's dream-gullet. She saw her friends, Dash's coat stained crimson, wings ripped off and discarded in her vision- the pegasus was yet alive. She put her out of her misery with an unhesitant stomp of a hoof on her head. It felt like crushing a pumpkin. Rarity was eyeless, chained to a sowing machine, sobbing Sweetie's name as a white leather flowed in-
Harmony help me... What have I done? ...I must still relay my tale, but some of this is truly evil.
-flowed into the machine. Applejack's line of sight trailed back, and she let out a bark of laughter as the white leather trailed back to a quickly reused corpse of a foal, muscle and viscera revealed as the coat was ripped away by the foul magic of Rarity's curse. Applejack killed her, too. Pinkie Pie was literally split in two. Applejack saw fit to move on. Twilight Sparkle lay in the center of Ponyville, surrounded by the bodies of foals and mares laden with their babes. Applejack approached the bereaved mare; she was unharmed, bound only by chains of her personal fault.
"Applejack. Please."
"No."
Applejack let out a beatific smile, and trotted away with a spring in her step, as Twilight devolved into wailing howls in the center of town, surrounded by the corpses of those she could not save, and further tormented by the loss of one of her closest friends not to death, but to a fate much worse. A song rippled through the air. Applejack began to frolic in among the corpses of the dead, laughing wildly and grabbing up the bodies of ponies and swinging them around in a dance. It was wrong. Unbelievably so.
Baby close your eyes, don't open til' the morning light-
Don't ever forget, we haven't lost it all yet!
The laughing, playing mare ground to a halt.
[centerYours is the knife's edge... "Applejack?" A filly's voice asked.
Distracted, the farmer's mind broke from macabre dreams, bloodied faces and coats, the horror that was the high consuming her. "Don't worry Applebloom. Ah'll fix this." The filly tried to ask what was the matter, but the question bounced off of the unsettled mare. Her coat had lightened, very slightly; but her mane and tail were completely transformed from the blonde to the colorless, semi-transparent white. Her Honesty resonated in the Tree of Harmony, far away, as she said, "Ah'll fix this. Ah will be on that hill come mornin', and if Ah can't, Ah will make sure nothin' ever is harmed by me. Ever." She hugged her confused and worried sister close.
Where Harmony Ends
Luna watched Twilight stare out into the night, gaze distant. It was clear she's reliving memories she had yet to review. "Are you Twilight, or Discord? I must know if my friend is truly alive." She was quiet at first, then, "A bit of both. When I am Twilight, Discord whispers into my ear. When I am Discord," Rarity's dress reappeared on the alicorn, "Twilight does much the same- moreso even that hers is compulsory where mine is but suggestion. I believe it shows the nature of our relationship." Luna nodded. The dress took on a pensive, clear blue, golden trimming highlighted. "I'm afraid for Applejack; something powerful and strange has seized her." A chess board grew from the ground, and a knight fell over. "Chrona's magic is that of the Great Entities, and I cannot help. It is frustrating." Twilight excused herself, citing the need to organize the up and coming events following Celestia's release. Luna nodded again. Her sister needed her, for once. She would not let her down. She will be at the hilltop tomorrow. She looked at the tipped over knight, replaced it, and tipped over the queen. That piece seemed a better fit.
Oh, you silly filly! What could go wrong?
I can't stay much longer... The Mists of Time call for me to rest and recover, but such a period will be too long.
The mare convulsed upon the ethersteel spear, being impaled and mortally wounded, but still going strong. The ponies looked on in horror, as blood poured from the entry and exit wounds; twin waterfalls of crimson blood, flowing unceasing. Law looked in with horror as the creature he had caught with his weapon screamed a bloody, torturous murder at him, sliding further along the shaft, trailing blood and bits of muscle as the wickedly barbed shaft tore at her.
"What are you, demon!?"
The Griffin God, called Beast by his foes and allies, took great delight in the torture and suffering of his foes. It was part of his curse. To see another such of himself, however, shocked him to the point where his thoughts ran clear- only for a moment.
Then the mare tore herself off the spear.
He looked into the multicolored eyes; one a deep, emerald green, cold and blazing with white fire.
The other a colorless, bleached thing, tracking him where it should have been blind, flaring with eldritch power.
This was not Discord's work. This was of a scale beyond him, to make a mortal unkillable, even by the weapons of a god. Before his eyes, wounds cursed to bleed and remain unhealed sealed themselves back together.
"Ah will rip your throat out!" It growled at Law.
And it performed a leap towards him, murder in its eyes.
Where Harmony Ends
The party of seven gathered on the hilltop. Twilight had worn Spike out with his stressing over her mental well-being and thawing Rainbow Dash from the ice-cube the day before, so she left him behind. It was better that he didn't place himself in danger.
Twilight, of course, arrived precisely on time. Her arrival was synonymous with a step out the door; such teleportation came easy to her now. She was quiet. Collected. Confident. Surprisingly, Rarity and Applejack had arrived before her. Perfectly acceptable.
Rarity was snoring lightly, a blindfold on and sprawled out along her 'fainting' couch. Her mane was disheveled, messy, but Twilight had seen the mare work before and knew Rarity would be able to fix it easily. Though, not without complaint. A picnic basket lay next to it, as well as a pile of assorted clothing. It was unremarkable, which was completely unlike the fashionista.
The farmer, on the other hoof, looked like she had gotten no sleep. She stood, swaying, very much in the early stages of her sleep-drunk state from Applebuck Season oh-so-long-ago. Her fears and worries weighed on her, mentally fatiguing her even further. She seemed to have grown subtly paler, and much to the lavender alicorn's shock, my spell had progressed further- both Applejack's internal magical circuits were enveloped by the foreign spell, and her mind snared completely into the spell's effect. Her mane and tail were an unrecognizable, unbound mass of see-through hairs. Twilight watched worriedly; she could take no action for fear of her friend's well-being, and how she might need to adjust the plan to account for her friends' faults. She blamed herself for her friend's condition.
Rainbow Dash arrived, not noticing the unicorn and earth pony's exhaustion. "Oh yeah, I'm pumped for this next adventure; just another chance to prove my awesomeness," the pegasus over-loudly proclaimed. The sudden burst of sound startled Rarity off her couch, eyes wide and looking for danger. Applejack's reaction was worse; in a move unfamiliar to all of them except Dash, she proceeded to jerk awake, and attempt to uppercut the low-hovering mare. Dash, being just THAT awesome (and not at all on edge), dodged successfully, calling out, "Sheesh AJ! Watch it, will ya?"
Applejack just gave a nervous twitch and mumbled an apology. Fluttershy gasped, arriving just as the mare turned her head and made eye contact with the animal caretaker.
She called out, in signature Fluttershy style, "Um... Applejack, um... If you don't mind me asking, but... Can you see alright? One of your.. uh.. eyes.. You suddenly have heterochromia..."
Twilight stiffened, quickly blinking in front of the farmer to examine her closely. Rarity, now fully awake, just shared a confused look to Rainbow.
Applejack let out a slew of curses I will not dare to repeat. After all, they all apply to me; I most definitely don't want you to repeat them.
Where Harmony Ends
The steel splintered, and broke apart.
Celestia, Solar Goddess and Princess of Equestria, was freed. She looked at her faithful, closest subjects of the current time, and her sister.
Celestia, Discordic Triumphant and She Who Brings Day, collapsed. Then they heard the rattling laughter. And Law ripped off the Sun's wings.
"Don't hide from me, Discord," the Griffin God rasped, "I've managed to bring about the end of the world- even if I can't get you, nothing short of Chrona and Harmony and Void can save you!" The Griffin was different. He had abandoned all appearance of regalia, instead burned and charred by Solar Bindings; the black and crisped flesh still yet pulsed with venomous life, feathers all brownish-black; the crown plumage broken and scarred, eyes flashing with true madness and an indescribable pain. To look upon the god was now to see a creature half-cooked alive. And to still call it alive was a cruelty in its condition. Celestia's beautiful snow-white wings dripped blood onto their owner, as Law summoned forth his crude Power Circuit hook. He quickly impaled the wings on the end of the hook, no care and no ritual this time; he did not want Celestia's essence at this moment. Just her power.
Unlike Luna, Celestia had the self-control equal to the madness that was Discord at his height of self-castrated insanity.
I need not expand on that statement.
"I know you're here Discord," Law hissed, "I can feel your essence here, trembling. You've finally found somepony stupid enough to take your essence, didn't you? I sure hope you told them quite clearly what it meant. Maybe I'll let you live just to see this mortal lose their sanity, and their light by your very nature! " And he dove at Twilight.
Where Harmony Ends
It's getting harder to remember the events as they change and warp around my involvement...
Law scrabbled away from the mortal. Unbecoming of a god, I know. After he had worked so hard to defeat Discord and his pitiful motley crew of allies, despite their impressive rally and performance, there was one last guardian to defeat. If it should even be called that. With his own rule turned upon its head, Law could not take flight, and he could not simply declare her to be dead. Violating his own essence took long enough, Harmony alone knows; all the loopholes and backdoors needing to be crossed kept him occupied for the better part of half a century.
The raging mare charged towards him recklessly, and Law doubted that it even noticed the fact that he had just killed it several times over. Discord looked on with appalled expression, he noticed. Law confirmed his theory that this was not Discord's work- not only was he unable to power such an incredibly powerful enchantment strong enough to warp the very state of a creature not himself, but this new Discord would have lacked the ability to do so. Her inhibitions had not yet been lost to time.
Dodging several punches and bucks, Law tried another tactic- he parried a wild buck, jumped forward on one claw, and spun with the leftover momentum, cleanly decapitating the demon-pony. A look of surprise crossed its face. The defeated bystanders all let out a cry of despair. Satisfied that nothing mortal could survive that blow, enchanted or no, Law turned to end this struggle. He alone would stand against the Legions of Void. He needed no other. He was Law. He was-
With a solid crack, Law smashed into the pitted earth. To his shock, the pony had somehow regenerated from what should have been an instant death, preventing such an action. There was even less equinity in its blazing eyes now. His shock locked him in place as a hail of blows rained down upon the corrupt god; first, his forelegs, then his hindlegs. All four of them pulverized in that single instant of shock. Desperate, Law attempted to call out his power- defining the world immediate him, only to have his beak smashed inward by an impossibly hard blow.
Where Harmony Ends
Twilight pulled Celestia to herself from wherever in the Earth she lay. There was not enough time to seek her out in an easier and less costly faction. With a mighty heave of magical muscle, multicolored ropes, string, thread, and cable were birthed from the hilltop. They soared high into the ground, and reality bent for a moment, folding and yielding before Twilight Sparkle, also called Discord and Spirit-Queen.
The earth held fast, before with a great sound like a roar, Celestia burst from the ground wrapped up all pretty-like. Sparkle couldn't resist it. "Dear old Celly," she taunted, "you've gone and made yourself more boring by becoming a statue- let's get you out of that metal and liven you up, shall we?"
The dress slowly reformed as she summoned the Princess, and as Twilight spoke, it fluxed to gold-gray. The mare herself looked like a statue ribbed with veins of gold. The dress flared shades of crimson as Twilight began to unwrap the enclosure upon Celestia; Luna began to help too, weak as she may be. Twilight was the one with power, but Luna still had her finesse; a touch of magic in the right place made the overall cost drop greatly. Overhead, the early-afternoon sun trembled with the release of its master- and the one scythed within its depths, raging and growing close to freedom.
Where Harmony Ends -- Applejack
Ah could feel it. Ah don't know if the others could, though it didn't matter. That motherbucker who cursed me was here... Watching us, especially. Voices scream at me; run away! they say, protect your household, kill all the creatures you see, flee for the distant hills, carve flesh and bone, don't ignore us! Surrender to us! Ah ignore them. They're nothin' more than a pain I intend to make go away when I beat sense into the Timelord fella'. They can't see it. The skipping... One moment, a griffin is before us, and Ah'm attacking in a blind rage, others we're just gettin' together... He's close. When he reveals himself, Ah'll make him fix me. And again... The time skips again....
Where Harmony Ends -- Chrona
The thread unravels from both my mind and view; I will step in, now. No more time for tact.
Twilight's eyes widened at the sudden attack, only for them to widen further as a rainbow-colored barrier sprung into existence. It was not hers; it was a construct of Harmony. Something had activated the Elements from the Tree of Harmony, somehow... All her friends were blown away from the perimeter, leaving them at the hilltop's edge and immobile- Luna alone managed to stay near Twilight.
The Spirit-Queen looked at her friends, realizing they too had been affected by the sudden activation. Rainbow staggered, her form glowing and leaving afterimages following every action. The athlete would have likely loved the effect outside of their situation, but there was no time to. Pinkie Pie squealed with her own lucidity- her eyes glittered with secrets revealed and knowledge gained, if only for a time. Fluttershy stood straight in front of her, confident and unyielding. How odd. Rarity seemed content to look down at the forgotten pile of clothes. She murmured something about "Uniforms..." and they all disappeared. The magic enveloping her horn had taken on an ocean-blue color, close to but not quite her natural mana pool. Applejack, though... She remained unchanged. Twilight could feel Honesty being rebuffed by my spell.
Law let out a cry of outrage. He drew from a deeper power. Become Undone! Rainbow shivered. Here was the voice of the one that had banished Celestia; resonant and kingly, irreconcilable with the rasp used before. The shield shimmered at his command, but remained. So too did the mares endowed by the elements. "Element of Magic, you will not deny me my prize! I will have Discord, even if I have to kill a million Bearers! Face me, guardians."
One Aggressor, One Defender. None Shall Escape. Mercy, Face Me!
Fluttershy was yanked forward on unseen force, and Law raised himself up. Celestia's sun flickered slightly, as Law glowed with the mix of Lawmaker Magic and Solar Magic. Fluttershy struck fast, unhesitant, only to be blocked by a readied claw. She dodged to the air as Law struck back. The Elder God didn't appear to really be trying. The others stood in shock seeing Fluttershy act without fear; Luna quietly commented, "Somepony's activated the Elements' War Function, but... Who is old enough on our side left able to do so?"
"I didn't think even I could do it if I tried," Twilight replied.
Law struck Fluttershy a crippling blow- her left wing had been broken and folded awkwardly against her side, and she was knocked backwards into the dust. "Do you resign, Mercy?" Fluttershy only had one option left to her- the Stare. She made eye contact, and mentally pushed. He seemed to waver for a moment before laughing. "I had not known any remained capable of Lawmaker's Gaze. I shall test you, mortal." Then Law returned his own Stare.
Rainbow started laughing on the side, as the two opponents just Stared at each other. "Of course Fluttershy would get the easiest fight, I mean, reall-" A sharp crack cut her off as one of the colors surrounding Twilight shattered like glass. Fluttershy limped away from the fight cowering before the amused eyes of the god. "Weak," he said. Twilight tried to cast something, anything, but it seemed the barrier worked both ways. The outside world was untouchable to her.
Joy, Face Me!
Pinkie bounced forward from her position on the hill top. "Hi, my name-"
She ducked as a claw swiped lazily through the place her head was the instant before. "-is Pinkie Pie! What's yours?"
The Griffin God snarled. "The whine! Make it stop!"
"I have nooooo idea what you're talking abou-" She jumped away from the accelerating griffin.
"Rarity is the that likes to whine and complain! I just like to party, do you? Huh-huh-huh?" Pinkie nimbly danced around the Griffin's swipes and punches, all of them faster than the previous as his annoyance grew.
"I know Discord's not the nicest of ponies, but can't you just let it go, Griffy ol' pal? I'm pretty sure Twilight's sorry on his behalf!" She patted Law on the head. He was swinging at empty space.
SILENCE!
Pinkie opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. She looked surprised, then took a fist to the face. Joy's layer broke beneath the subsonic-speed blow, as its power moved to sustain Pinkie's life. The Party Pony went flying, blood streaking out from her crushed snout, and she landed atop Twilight's protective bubble, before sliding off and landing next to Luna, still.
Rainbow snorted out a burst of agitated air. "Bring it, lame griffin, I'll buck you into next week!" Though I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who could do that.
Law's beak didn't open, but the voice called out, Loyalty Approaches!
The griffin whirled around and received a wing-propelled hoof to the chest, knocking him airborne. Rainbow was below him again, kicking him higher, then above him, kicking down with as much downward force she could muster with the short time she had before he collected himself.
Law was shot into the ground, creating a new crater. "Fast." The griffin rasped. This pony was faster in the sky than him, maybe even on-par with some of the other flight-based gods. Loyalty served this one well. Suddenly the pony was on him again, striking him in the face, disorienting him, low-sweeping his forelegs and aiming to buck him in the jaw. "You've had experience fighting, and you've experienced griffins, but you've never actually fought a griffin, let alone to kill, have you?" Then the buck landed and Law was in the sky again. The pony soared up so fast he could see a mach-cone form around the foremost hoof, which then struck his ribcage. He was in the sky even higher than before. And again the pony slammed down from above, also staying with him as a mach cone formed- this one ready to break.
Thunder echoed through the sky as Dash reach Sonic Rainboom speeds and peeled off, leaving Law alone to smash into the hill.
Applejack, Luna and Twilight all cheered. Rarity only watched as a claw reached out from the smoking, deep crater and materialized a spear. The sun flared into Rainbow's eyes, causing her to cry out and hover in place- Rarity called out, "Rainbow! MOVE!" Wherein Law's spear tore clean through Rainbow's wing-joint. Fluttershy and Pinkie had their injuries light by comparison. The blue pegasus' right wing was torn off by the force and heat of the blow, instantly cauterized by the red-hot spearhead. Law crawled out of his hole, unharmed.
The proud pegasus crashed heavily to the ground, her arrogance and unwillingness to aim for killing blows being her downfall. Law retrieved his spear, before moving to the downed Dash. "You are too soft ," he hissed, "Die for your incompetence!" The spear descended upon Rainbow's body, aiming for her heart. Twilight jerked her head, breaking the weakened Loyalty barrier in the process of intervening; Rainbow was grasped by a moving cloudbank and dragged off to the side.
Generosity Approaches!
Rarity eyed the now-pitted hilltop with disgust. Her Gem-Finder spell, however, had informed her of large emerald deposits within the unremarkable ground, however. Three of the gemstones ripped through the ground where Law stood, spearshaft in the ground, slamming into his body and knocking him aside. Law opened his maw and breathed an unclean, stone-melting black fire; it seemed more of Celestia's power was beginning to be made of use to him. Rarity dodged out of the way desperately, losing her tail in the process- rather than scorching greatly or catching on fire, what was left was simply a slightly singed edge.
"This is getting annoying, chicks. They are coming; or can you not feel the first of the Worldenders drawing close? Ignis will not be as merciful as I am. Surrender!" His only reply was more emeralds ripping forth from the earth below him. Then the white unicorn's hoof disarmed him, knocking the spear away, followed by more of the accursed green rocks from below. Law grunted and ignored the pebbles, preferring to lunge forward for the unicorn, who had closed distance by knocking his spear away. Rarity gulped and backpedaled, but not fast enough. Law took a bipedal stance, lifting a screaming Rarity with both claws, before hurling her into the iron-hard barrier, where it flickered, leaving only Honesty as a guardian.
Rarity was silent, with labored breathing and bleeding where she had impacted the barrier and been grasped by Law. The concussive force had forced at least 3 ribs into the open, blood pooling in the grass beneath her. The barrier flickered again, as Rarity got to her hooves. Horn glowing a pale, frozen blue, the surrounding air began to freeze over; Law's eyes widened as he recognized the feel of the magic.
Ice crawled over her injuries and her eyes seemed to glow a misty white; "Windigo..." the griffin god hissed, taking to the air and dodging the crawling ice on the ground. Hovering in place, he prepared to dive with his spear the same way he had at Twilight. He flew higher, dodging the subzero temperatures expanding below that would slow him, if not freezing him in the mind-numbing cold.
Cold Is Heat, the Griffin declared. Then he dived.
Rarity began to smoke, the ice within and without scorching her flesh. With a wild scream, she threw herself to the side, the magic of Ice and Crystal fading from her system. Law once more was rebuffed by the one-layered barrier the mare had been fighting with her haunches against. He caught a glimpse of the pony inside.
Twilight simmered with impotent rage; even if Law didn't break the barrier soon, her wrath would sunder the Elements' influence on its own.
Law turned away. Discord wouldn't have a chance to do anything so long as he dropped the barrier before critical rage- he knew that point himself. She was close, but not quite there.
Honesty Approaches!
Where Harmony Ends
I stepped out of my own realm at the base of the Tree of Harmony. I split my mind to continue the fragmented tale, as I intervene here. They will need time to defeat Law, and time is the one thing I can provide at the moment. My body flickered. I was not wholly present in this reality, but it would be enough. Twilight Sparkle never considered Harmony's gift in her plans. Few have ever earned it, fewer still used it- the 6 keyed box lay open at the Tree's base. They would thank me later. Maybe. Probably not, they never do.
Not enough time, never enough time, they should have found the third key soon had events not twisted as they did. I pulled out the box's contents; a floating set of runes, meaning in the oldest of meanings, Balance . I tapped each Element with a rune, converting the peacetime devices to weapons of war. Then the runes vanished into my realm. Then I took the runes and flew outside to confront Ignis. Every time he comes, to burn Harmony and begin World's End. Each time I have delayed him, only for the Elements to fail their quests. This was the last time. After this, I would be too weak to rollback, and the world would end. It will fall to Entropy or be reborn by Harmony. The end is here.
For now.
The massive ruby beast looked down on me from the ruin of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Ancient stone was reduced to dust beneath its weight, and any full-grown dragon was only a shadow of this god. Ignis, Bringer of Fire and Destruction Incarnate just looked at me. His scales glittered with the light of a million cascades of lava, and his girth was such that he could fit only his neck into the canyon- his body could easily hold Canterlot inside. The head peered at me with vicious intellect- his mind only calculated how to best destroy me and the Tree in one action. Ignis' tail snaked into the canyon. Celestia nor Luna could stand before Ignis and call themself equal. Not Discord at his prime, nor Law; Nature was the last to fall from the Army of Unity, and she fell with Ignis. Long they fought, equal and opposite, until Avarice stepped in and tipped the battle in Ignis' favor. Nature hadn't been seen since.
"A pony. This is the massive force I felt activate the Elements' Combat Actions. Not even Celestia, not even Luna. A nondescript, albino pony."
He paused, cruelly ironic lake-blue eyes scanning me.
"You are familiar. An entity I have not felt for eons. A watcher, not an intervening force. Time. Chrona."
I nodded. He would catch such a movement even with my relatively toy size.
I reiterated the lines I have said hundreds of times before; we both played a script, albeit his participation unknowing.
"I will not let you pass Ignis. World's End will not come yet."
The dragon's voice was booming and earth-shaking, rolling smoothly from low, gravelly tones to boisterous and lively laughs. He let out a laugh now.
"Oh Chrona. You are a fool. World's End comes on my schedule. Not yours- not that I presume you even understand what a schedule is. Time is powerless before me and my kind."
I give out a sigh. He says that every time, and it still gets on my nerves!
"Challenge Accepted."
Time stops around us. I've defeated him the same way for the past hundred rollbacks. I don't have the power for even that anymore. I lunge for the dragon's eye, intent of ripping it out of the socket it rested in. Ignis blinks, and I am deflected away. It seems that this time around, there is a chance for me to lose.
Ignis is slow; my being out of phase allows me to think, act, and be all around faster. I cannot leave, though- the instant he realizes I've left, the Tree will be toasted, and no amount of my intervention will allow a recovery. Acting again before the dragon recovered, I drew more my stretched essence into space; I could feel Honesty actively siphoning my magic, reinforcing the protective enchantment layered on the farmer far away. I may not have had enough power to defeat him, but I still had enough to delay him for the Elements to do the work themselves. This will be a messy turn of events, that they must defeat the first Woldender at their weakest.
They've done it before.
And with that in mind, A large clock appeared over the Dragon.
And I say something new.
"I will cannot defeat you Ignis. Not anymore. But I will make you wait. You ARE on my schedule now; three months, or seventy-five days. I shall be back."
Ignis could not respond. How could he? The beast was frozen with my words in his head, stuck counting down the seconds. None of the others can act without his disruption or success, however, and as such I have also purchased time for all of us.
Where Harmony Ends -- Applejack
The world is thundering around me. Ah can feel it in the air, ah can feel it in the earth, ah can feel it thrum with the wrath of all things green- it's directed towards the Nature-defiler before me. The voices screaming bloody murder within are silenced by this deep, rythmic beat... And above all else Ah can still feel the odd clarity brought forth by mah Element. The time skipped again. For a moment Ah see a massive beast in a familiar forest; then I'm slowly walking towards Law.
"Ah will ask you one question, and you better answer me straight."
Law was sweating. Though with Rarity's magic quickly fading, it was still overly-warm, and the Sun appeared to be throwing ice down at the hilltop.
A tear rolled down mah eye. Ah didn't know which one, and it don't matter. The earth called out for vengeance upon from the being bearing it before me.
"If you bring all this pain to the Elements of Harmony, how will you protect Harmony as a whole?"
Law paused for the moment. "I will protect it because I have said I shall. And my word is Law."
Ah hardly felt the spear slide into me.
Where Harmony Ends -- Shade of Chrona
Twilight burst from the restricting bubble as Applejack fell; a hail of chaos moved in her wake as the dress forming around her held only black and veins of gray. Colors inverted, red sky and yellowed grass, the earth was covered with layers of blood, oil, sweat and water, clouds boiled and dirt surged as raging rivers. Tears streamed from the enraged mare's eyes; a grief and rage against the one who had dared to enter their lives and so brutally declare them worthless. She slammed into Law with a speed that would have made Rainbow proud; and the mare tore into the griffon with weapons pulled from the air. If Law had his spear, then Discord's claw and glaive would service to alleviate her pain, as she the claw swiped with frenzied speed and the glaive blocked Law's counterattacks.
"Consequence and Reward are already out, Discord? You're too serious!" Law taunted, before scoring first blood as Twilight failed to completely dodge his swipe at her face.
"Stop doing this- you're doing it wrong! " A voice within Twilight hissed, but she ignored it in her emotional outpouring. Hack-Slash-Hack-Slash, was her only real conscious thought at the moment. Law really brought out the worst in Discord; be it actually Discord, or his reincarnation's personality.
Then she made a fatal mistake. She over-committed a swing with the glaive, letting go of her defense, and Law parried the two to the side and struck the unprotected goddess. It hovered for a moment at Twilight's dress, the colors all whirling and concentrating on the point to be pierced, before freezing and being broken as the spear passed through cloth, magic, flesh and blood.
Twilight fell, the wild outpouring of chaos reeling back into the mare with an audible snap!
She landed in the dirt, as Law cried out in exuberant victory.
Discord Falls; The Victor Consumes the Loser!
Celestia looked on from her perch. She had retrieved her sundered and decayed wings, but had not touched them since. She watched as her ponies fought and fell. Her power was diminished, and Law may not have absorbed the right to use Solar Power, he had absorbed her long-built energy reserves. She could see quite clearly how the effect showed, with his long-lasting and exceptionally massive Lawmaking. She watched the scattered Elements; each was siphoning off the power of their own Element, at such a great distance, to sustain themselves subconsciously. Applejack had already staggered back to her hooves, and.. Shouldn't she be dead?
Applejack lunged for the griffin god as he dove for the killing blow upon Twilight.
Wild-eyed, Twilight drew upon her basest ability; Chaos.
Victor Is Undecided, Flight Is An Impossibility!
The Lawmaker's Voice called out, warped and distorted by the Chaotic Magic forcing it out.
Law froze midair, and plummeted like a rock, and turned his spear upon the charging Applejack.
Where Harmony Ends -- Applejack
It hurt. By Luna's black plot, it hurt. Ah would like to say Ah was in full control while taking all of the Griffin's attacks, but that'd be a lie.
Ah was trying to figure out how it hurt so much, yet Ah had failed to die.
Mah hooves move seperate mah internal anguish; another pony moves them.
Mah voice screams out with the pain Ah feel, but Ah cannot close it.
The voices in mah head are pleased with this turn of events.
Honestly, Ah didn't expect to turn out smashing the face of a griffin into the green earth, but somethin' in me just snapped when he tried to kill me. And Ah won't lie in regards to this fella'. Ah enjoyed giving the 'Law' its just deserts; again and again, right forehoof up, right forehoof down.
Ah'm finally able to stop long after the griffin god stops moving- the pain and rage and wrath is gone, now. Ah look at the others; Twailight's disbelief, Luna's shock, RD's approving look masking a subtle fear. Ah feel the skips cease, and Ah know he's comin'; that pony who gave me the rage and the pain.
Twai gives a cry of alarm, and Ah can feel a blazing shard of ice enter into me. Today doesn't like seem it wants to work out.
Death. Will. Know. You!
That's when the clarity fell away, and the pain grew even greater. Somethin' was pulled from me, somethin' important, and Ah can see it as he moves in front of me.
Ah unbeatin' heart.
Where Harmony Ends -- Chrona
Almost there, almost time. Twilight should've snapped and defeated Law by now, or perhaps Rarity managed to delay him with the Soulgrasp Ice. Regardless, he should be out of the way. They will need answers, instructions. The clock is ticking.
I can feel the Elements' Combat Options fade away on my approach- they sense my presence and purpose. They know I will not harm their bearers, and that I can help where they are unable. All is quiet. I begin a slow shuffle up the hill; my weakness forces me to pull even more of my essence from my own home, and I cannot allow myself to become overcome by sensation- the crunch of the grass beneath my hooves, the defending Sun flashing into my eyes, air whistling past my ears, an unfamiliar taste in my mouth, burnt fle-.
Burnt flesh? That's new. There's an overabundance of Lawmaker's magic still here... did they lose? All the times they've battled him, and I had to land the one time they LOSE! Sometimes, Chance just infuriates me. I do suppose I wouldn't be able to have a chance of success without Discord, though.
This is my last opportunity, and all my assets are nearly gone.
Rounding the top, I feel a visible surge of magical drain as my enchantment entered an emergency state-of-the-art one I can clearly see as Law shook a torn heart around, laughing madly all the while.
"Not gods, not demons, not mortals! I am Law, and I declare myself victorious! You were all fools for battling against me."
I calmly trotted up to him. Law is an idiot, and I will dispose of him as such. He turned around, and stopped as he realized who exactly I was. It should seem that his memories, or enough at least, remained for him to recognize my aura.
"Come now, dearest Law. You know exactly whose strings you dance to." Then I ran an axe through his spine. Applejack began to stir, coming out of her shock-induced unconsciousness; I really should fix her soon, the magic drain is becoming bothersome.
The other Elements, Luna and Celestia never having been able to step in to begin with, also came to. Their injuries had been reduced to severe, but no longer immediately threatening conditions. I should be able to fix those too.
Now you would think Law might finally be dead after being thoroughly thrashed by Applejack and finally being bisected by me, but Celestia's raw power and his unyielding nature sure did make him hardy beyond belief. My gaze returning to the recovering griffin, I spoke again.
"Congratulations Law, you've nearly destroyed the last hope of the world. I hope you're happy."
The griffin's eyes widened; he knew that I knew the future if I really tried, and even through his rage-insane mindscape my words rang true.
Finish Him!
"I do believe you've just decreed your own death. I am sorry. Farewell."
With their eyes all upon me, I settled for the simplest execution. I overlaid his possible time frames, and in each one I decapitated Law. In their view, of course, all they could witness was a blur, and the Griffin God, the Beast, Father of Order once upon a time, became rigid with unseeing eyes. He fell down. I know Celestia and Luna could handle the brutality of any other way to kill the god, and maybe Twilight, but I doubted the others could hold their stomachs from such a brutal display. They rather looked on in both shock and awe; that a being who had defeated both Princesses and nearly killed them all had just keeled over, dead.
As Law's death settled, there was a shudder across the land, as laws of all kind, be it nature, mortal, immortal became a shadow of what they were- crime would run rampant for a time and tragedies birthed until police force could rally and enforce what had once been divinely supported. A true death of a god stole the essence of what they represented away from the world. Not many happened, of course, but the last I could still feel was my execution of Fallen Soul.
...We can get to that later.
Applejack was still alive without a heart, much to the others' surprise. They realized that I had placed an enchantment on her, but I don't think they realized how strong I made it. The mare in question just blinked dumbly at me as I began to reverse the physical states of the Elements; Applejack's heart got returned to its proper place alleviating the magical drain on me, Rainbow's wing simply snapped back into position, Fluttershy's included, Twilight who was really unharmed remained untouched. Pinkie let out a huge grin as her voice returned, obvious by the loud, "HELLO NEW PONY!" she let out; her soul's structural integrity had also been repaired. Then I turned to Rarity. It seemed like she got the worst of the encounter, as she stood loosely with charred coat and exposed bone. That was easily undone.
Luna and Celestia cautiously approached from their respective sides of the hill. The Princess of the Sun still had wingless stumps, but the injury was of too deep a nature for me to easily fix.
Out of the corner of my eye, both Twilight and Applejack glared at me.
Where Harmony Ends -- Shade of Chrona
Chrona stood, the albino stallion with diamond-clear eyes, watched them all.
"Chrona. That has to be you."
Celestia's voice rang out in the silence, tired and older than ever before, her once proud and steady stance drooping and submissive.
"You have never stepped in before; I had not known that you could even manifest here, let alone with genuine form..."
The Solar Princess was the image of Time pressing down on the elders and immortals, the long-lived and gods. Her voice came out in a disbelieving wbisper.
"Why now, Chrona? Why now, long after Harmony's armies have fallen, long after terror and evil and corruption arrested us? You have power equal to that of Harmony and Entropy, I know that all the foes we have faced are nothing to you... Why now; what is so different? Why not when Nature fell and Harmony was scattered? Why not when Discord unleashed havoc across the land? Why not when my own sister-" Luna winced. "went against us?"
The stallion flickered, immaterial and physical at the same instant. He spoke with the same tone.
"How do you know what I have seen Celestia? I have always been there, just that you never saw. Just imagine how you could manipulate the world, Celestia, if you knew all the future and past and present, just imagine what you could do if you were able to relapse time to bring about the perfect ending. Just imagine. I am older Celestia, older than time itself, with centuries and eons spent in time undone. I have made myself here because of the desperation to come. Nine hundred ninety-nine times I have twirled, twisted, shaped the events to come. All have ended in disaster. This is my final play, nearly all my strength gone. I may have once had the power you speak of, but no longer."
Twilight spoke up, as an alarmed sound and exclamation point rose up over her, "So you are here to help us? Why did you curse Applejack then- how is that helping! Whatever alternate futures you put into her have hurt her!"
Chrona shook his head. "You have no idea what I did to her, do you?"
"All Ah know is that ya better fix it before I decide to do to you what I did to Law!" An angry Applejack spoke up, unsteadily moving to her hooves.
"And leave you to die? I am afraid you're out of luck dear, the only imaginable way that you could've had a beyond-fatal wound like that would be if the Element of Harmony's Combat Option reinforced what I placed on you. Undoing it now would most likely create a feedback and kill you instantly."
"An' the time skippin'? Is that also a part of yer 'gift' to me?"
Chrona peered closely, then staggered back as if something just occurred to him.
"Damn the Elements. Damn all of them. Damn my own stupidity, too."
The Entity personifying Time, and all that it entailed slowly, very slowly, put a hoof to his face.
"I would love to tell you what exactly is going on. But I can't. I'm sure Celestia knows why."
Celestia, who had regained control of herself, now looked at Applejack; a look of horror grew across her, then was quickly suppressed. That reaction in turn made all the mares slowly drift towards the farmer, unconsciously attempting to protect their friend from possible danger.
"I thought so. Go ahead tell them."
"Aside from why the Entity of Time refuses to explain his actions, I can tell you this. Ponies have long since adapted to the magic in their systems... be it excess, or deficit. I remember when Discord created the changelings, oh so long ago by stealing all the magic from their systems. Sombra himself carried an overabundance of shadow magic, becoming one himself. The Crystal Ponies in the Crystal Empire have an even mix of both earth-attunement and crystal-attunement Alicorns, obviously, a large but evenly spread mix of the three earth pony, pegasi, and unicorn magics. It appears that the enchantment placed on Applejack has overcome her natural magical resistance to subversion, and as with all other ponies, her form is adjusting to the new mix..."
"Applejack, when Discord brought you into my realm, I settled to start my intervention there. For all the times I have replayed and retried the series of events to come, I have not once fully stepped in. Now I shall. I started with you, but it appeared that in my haste, I didn't ask for your permission. It's too late now. You already have all the tools you will need; the memories of the farthest reaching, and failing Applejack of the alternate timeline, the regenerative properties now a part of you, and whatever you may become will assist you in your task. Yours is the hardest task, and the first one to be completed. All the others will receive gifts of their own and guidance. You, I must dismiss now."
All the ponies present bristled immediately. The Elements were being split up.
Chrona summoned forth Balance , and before any could react (or their time simply slowed), the farmer was surrounded by a whirling column of runes and pale-white light. And she was gone.
Author's Note
Time to test my hand writing an action scene!
Oh wait, that's already done. Please let me know what you think if you cared to read past the first chapter!
-Kennyton the Kenniest of Kens, Out!
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Intermission 1 - Fractures of Past and Present
Author's Note
I wrote a short chapter just before I get into heavier stuff within the next few chapters!
This will likely be the length of Intermissions to come. See if you can catch any foreshadowing!
Kenneth Out!
Intermission 1 - Fractures of Past and Present
Hello there! Shade of Chrona, or Shade-C you can call me, here!
...
Why don't I occupy you with tales of what may be, what was, and what might have been instead?
Where Harmony Ends
Harmony and Entropy
The two Great Entities watched each other, one in hatred, the other in pity.
The world around them was putty in their presence, as reality protested the stress of supporting two beings above gods and demons in such close proximity. Harmony had at last drawn the line; the Entropy had spurned Her Kindness and Her Generosity, so it was time to be Loyal and Honest with Her allies and Self. Magic whirled through the air as the being brought to bear, for the longest of times, the magical of Loyalty and Honesty- both hard and unyielding, the truest and safest of battle-form magics able to be used without fear of breaking Unity.
Odd. I can't seem to recall...
Well, it was before my existence, so I'm afraid I'll have to come back later as I recover the fragments of events that occurred back then.
To Choose a Form 1. Rainbow Dash
"So be alone then! I don't trust you... For all I know this could be some massive trick!"
The Alicorn, Rainbow Dash turned away from Discord, retreating back to her own vaingloriously shining orb. Discord watched her go.
Heaving a dramatic sigh, the draconequus looked at the retreating figure.
"I'm warning you now Dashie, ol' pal old friend! You will regret this!"
The response was yelled backwards without any hint of acknowledgement.
"I'm too cool for regret! Now leave!"
The Spirit-King left, and the turbulent earth and shifting sky with him. Dash hadn't even reached the safety of her own mind as a void stretched out, spearing her rear hooves.
"Wha-"
And she was gone. Consumed by the void of death.
2. The Canary-Pegasus
"Oh, well, if you need a place to rest and recover..."
Fluttershy quivered in fear at the thought of her friend simply passing on and she never being able to see him again in her lifetime. Plus, he looked really desperate and she didn't doubt that he needed to help.
A warm smile bloomed across Discord's oddly-proportioned face.
"I could always count on you, dear Fluttershy... But alas! This is one matter that you cannot help with."
The pegasus found herself safely back inside her mellow-yellow orb. She squeaked at the sudden movement, now looking out at Discord from a yellow-tinted view.
"Don't get me wrong, you have been my dearest friend in many an eon, and I would gladly take you up on your offer, but... I fear for your safety Fluttershy," he tapped the yellow orb, as it easily gave before the god's claw, "I do not believe you have the stamina or willpower to remain yourself after our union..."
"This is as much for your sake as it is for mine."
And he was gone- the Void closed around her, and all alone inside her own head, she wept.
3. Generosity Slips Up
Discord finished his whole "being alone" spiel, while Rarity admired herself in the glistening mass of her own mindscape. Only a true artisan would have successfully redesigned the simple orb to a grand and awe-inspiring palace.
"Mmhm. Yes, darling; whatever you need," she responded distractedly.
"Excellent! I just know you and I will get along splendidly, Rarity!"
There was a moment where she took that in, breaking her concentration as a look of horror dawned on her multifaceted reflections.
Then the draconequus swooped her up, and ran from the now-encroaching void, pulling his own mind from the gaping maw.
One episode of insanity later...
Rarity woke up, the alicorn yawning widely as she considered the strangeness of her dream. She opened her eyes, to find a mirror before her; she let out a scream at the yellow-and-red eyes peering back out at her.
4. The Honest Truth
Applejack just listened closely to Discord, listening for any lie or subtle twist of words, but only received a refreshing bit of truth from the secretive and insane being.
"Oh, alright. Ya can stay here for a bit Discord; but if Ah see any form of trickery or schemin', Ah'm giving you the buck of a century."
Discord seemed miffed at the threat. He gave out an exaggerated sigh, and began following Applejack to her simplistic Home-ified mindscape. The storm raged around a house, standing unyielding and unaffected by the raging of the sky or the churning of the earth. A faintly orange orb flickered as the two passed the barrier of what was defined as belonging to 'Applejack', and the draconequus looked back as his storm quietly settled into place within the orb, the void claiming everything beyond its boundary.
Discord tried to thank Applejack, but his voice was gone. Looking down at himself, he realized his entire lower-half had turned to stone, and it was quickly creeping up and over. Something was wrong; it shouldn't have been this way.
The mare whose mind he had just stepped into looked on, a vicious light in her eyes.
"Well, Ah reckon I'm a mite not-fittin' ya 'friend'. But don't worry, Ah can keep ya safe for a bit."
Discord, astonished by the amount of willpower bearing down on him, was enveloped in stone.
"Well, Ah reckon the girls might be jealous of me somethin' fierce once I figure out how to make him show up outside-a' here."
Chaos and Insanity
Pinkie and Discord were singing something about being over a rainbow, when Chrona stepped into the orb.
Pinkamena just watched the two, attempting to fight a smile spreading across her fading face.
He glared at the two of them, and watched the flexing and expansion of Pinkie's vividly-pink mind-orb.
"No. This will undo all I have worked to save."
Then he isolated the timestream from the whole thread, and left.
In that particular reality, doom came not by Entropy, but by the storm of cheery chaos enveloping the world.
Where Harmony Ends
Wasn't that fun? I still remember the particular headache I got just from watching The Pink Insanity roam the world. I don't know why I didn't nip that in the bud... Oh, wait. I did!
'Mild' Tampering
Chrona was excited; at long last, he could restore the Elements to that of mortal kin! Of course, while I- he, could just force the Elements onto creatures, warping their minds in the process, it almost usually never turned out well. Celestia, for one, had lost most of his warlike and turbulent nature as befitting the Sun. What's more, she even became attuned to Harmony's magic! The multishaded mane was evident in showing that much at least.
He looked along ahead, searching for compatible and easily accessible bearers. Celestia was most likely making plans of her own, but she still had no idea whom might be able to take the Elements. Chrona always considered it odd that the creatures capable of bearing the Elements of their own nature a little strange; but, he had put a hoof in some of those families. The rest just came from natural mutations of magic.
The first he found was a joyful soul, waiting only for the right stimulation that might never come. Corona observed her through the span of a lifetime, as the foal grew into filly, and at last mare, never realising its true potential. She would live a long, boring life, with events coming and events going, toiling in the fields with the rocks. That never quite made sense to Chrona, the rock farming, but he could use it, easily. It started with visions and dreams of a maternal figure, an image of what she could be. He let the phantom do its job as he left to seek another.
The next was a true diamond in the rough, one that might have gone unnoticed if not for the breath of cold air that he could feel even in an immaterial state, even in a different dimension. He looked down at the little filly, observing her work in clothing, redundant as it may be, and the darkness yet unfelt within. A Crystal Unicorn, long thought extinct, magic rendered inert by the flow of Pony Unicorn magic- this filly was destined already for great and terrible things. Two strong possibilities; one, the mare brought down a wintry doom to Equestria, spurned and rejected by the world, the other she stood against it in a manner only those long before her could, birthing a Crystal Heart given in full generosity and at the cost of her whole self. A simple enchantment pushing her towards the latter path would provide growth towards the desired attributes.
Then came a beacon of magic, pulsing with the frantic energy of youth; a small lavender filly reading quietly in Celestia's seat of power. Chrona knew that the Solar Princess would find this one easily, once her potential revealed itself. He needed a way, and a place to tie all the bearers together...
Examining closely for any significant events, he saw... The Return of a Mad God... A Black Swarm Before Deepest Shadow... A Fall of a Mare undeserving her fate...
...Too significant, and some were even unclear on the details of occurrence. Likely that they hadn't been fully set on a path leading to them yet, but they would definitely occur. Landmark Events, he mused. Moving further backwards, he saw... A Violation of Ancient Law... Moon's Descent... An Anointing of Sky Marrying Flesh... There! That last should do nicely, the Great Entity considered.
He looked closer, citing location and who- Cloudsdale. That's already out of the question. The pony in question, though... a fate tied closely with another pegasus- one loyal to a fault, the other kind to a poison. A cruel irony that they should both die in the storm to be brought about by Generosity, being the first to notice and react desperately. He considered the second pegasus as Kindness, an obvious and undeniable pick. Creatures of her nature were rare and far between, with true empathy and compassion an uncommon trait. Hers would be a life of struggle and quiet endurance lest she be moved away and placed elsewhere more understanding. The one to succeed with the Anointing, however... Arrogant, brash, unpleasant and somewhat caustic in nature- while she may have been Loyal, she was not altogether a pleasant being to be around. Perhaps the yellow one would be able to temper that temper...
He shook his head- that blue one would be Loyalty if she could prove herself deserving of it.
A central location would be needed.
A location within reasonable difference of the explosive result of the Anointing..
A location not large and impersonal, but close-knit and easy to connect to others..
A location easily accessible to all of them..
Ponyville would do.
How ironic, Chrona thought, that such a small town would play a key role in many events to come. Already he could feel the shifting of the timestream, as he settled on the location, events shaping themselves around his decisions. He could already see an eerily familiar filly stepping away from home, planning to entrap herself in webs of deceit and so-called-elegance. Honesty was truthfully the easiest of Elements to align oneself to, but the hardest to remain true to. One would have to be shaped properly from early years to properly use it, not just to bear it. The filly's home seemed ideal, and perhaps this experience would service to reinforce her ideals. He left that one alone to only be called back by the rainbow-maned one.
He may have set it up, but they would all need to find their own way to Ponyville. He couldn't make it that easy, after all.
Funny, isn't it? The nature of how easily mortals can change.
A 'Mild' Tampering I called it... Oh, how wrong I was.
Care to peek ahead? No? Well, alright then... quit mumbling about 'spoil-er-z'.
Look! The mists bend so easily now!
Nice to see that things are getting better; we'll be able to resume the tale, soon.
Where Harmony Ends
The Task of Those Left Behind
All the remaining ponies stared open-mouthed at Chrona, Celestia excluded. She just watched sadly.
Silently, he turned to the remaining four mortals; "Don't fight it. This is for your own good."
The runes and light enveloped the trembling yellow pegasus, vanishing her as well. Dash attempted to charge and knock the albino stallion off his hooves, but as she drew closer, she too was snared and made immobile by the spell being placed on them. Rarity fell asleep even as the spell claimed her, her magical exhaustion paramount over alarm, fear, and defensive instinct.
He ceased at Twilight's death-glare, and sparks flying from her horn.
Chrona laughed. "You really think you can stop me, godling? In case it wasn't clear, you have no power more than Luna until you find Harmony and Unity within. You know this; the protests from within, the arguing with oneself. Take this time here to balance yourself. Then come after me. Luna, you will need to balance yourself too before the Elements permit you to recover fully. Both of you are needed. Now if you don't min-" And he was gone, a glass sundial marking where he had departed.
It slowly shifted of its own will, turning margin by margin, counting down to the release of Ignis.
Aw, it seems like the mists are clouded again.
Well, I do believe we have time for one more mini-story!
Where Harmony Ends
Rise of A Mad King
Once he was grand, blessed with the grace and form of anything he chose, but as the curse burned itself into him, he found that he was drawn inexorably to a twisted mockery of what he had been. Sure short transformation still worked, but no longer had he free will to be as he chose; ironic that chance and choice had been stripped from the Spirit-King of Chaos and Master of Change.
They called him Fortune, once, wielding Consequence and Reward as tools of his trade and weapons to defend the station he occupied. His job was to be mover, shaker, challenger of routine and old ways; and following Nature's fall, guardian as well. His power may not have been enough to impress his opponents, but his wit and mind held all those who would approach at bay.
Of course, there was those days when he could feel it. He could feel a black poison scorching its way through soul and body, warping and twisting as it passed. Slowly, bit by bit, the Guardian grew more erratic and unpredictable; less identifiable to friend or foe, both from his view and from outside- and he began to abandon his post more and more often. The burning, the scorching, the ignition of a madness and darkness that threatened to consumed him scared Fortune.
In the last few days of his tenure as Protector of the Tree of Harmony, Fortune made one of his last plays in lucidity. Already his allies and enemies had abandoned his old name and called him something new, something darker; Discord they called him, and he shuddered how aptly a perversion of who we was fit. The bright glowing cave that had been his home for so long now serviced to banish his madness temporarily, with Harmony reaching out and binding the fractured mind that was both Fortune's and Discord's.
"I will not let them take it... Your death.. WILL be avenged! " Fortune burst out into a fit of insane laughter as the draconequus performed his spell weaving upon the cavern- his last able act as Guardian.
First, was the entrance itself- it must be protected from whatever came after, be it him or agents of Void or Unity. None shall be allowed in, except those of true need of the Elements. A magical web layered itself all over the walls, the floors, the open-entrance, cloaking and shielding the cave from everything short of Entropy himself walking over and dispelling the cave. Not that the enchantment was powerful- no, rather it instead pulled ambient magic to nullify any opposing force moving through if without fitting the prerequisites. Second, he must hide this cave even further; such that none should dare to even approach. With a great upheaval of the earth, a forest began to grow over the oncee lovely-green countryside, with rolling hills and a beautiful mountain, resources abundant and the gem of the world. Those who lived in the area, be it pony, dragon, griffin, animal, changeling or plant were snared by the trees, and twisted into horrifying monsters by the corruption of Fortune's magic. In his state, he considered it an acceptable loss. And lastly, a select few should know where to look if he truly went insane through his own safeguards.
The siblings of Sun and Moon in a land distant both jerked away as they felt magic-of-oil commune with their minds, carrying instructions. The name Fortune and all that it represented was stolen away as the tendril departed.
A distant Griffin King shed a tear as his once-closest friend left him the instructions to trap, or even kill him. He would soon leave to confront Discord, to try and convince him back to the side of Unity and Harmony.
A Diamond Dog trembled with knowledge of a doomed comrade, and fearing the reprisal to come, sealed himself deep into the Underdark.
All the meanwhile, with his last bit of lucidity, Fortune both sealed his intelligence to capture evil, and his name and memory to bind power. With safeguards in place, the god was lost; Master of Change no more, only the Spirit-King of Chaos remained. Driven by an impulse deeper than he realized, Discord pulled a cup of chocolate milk from the air, and proceeded to down it in one go.
All alone in both mind and body, fire in his veins Discord let out a whooping, mad laugh.
I bet even Twilight Sparkle or Discord don't remember this incident!
...Oh! It seems like the mists are stable and clear now. I do believe it is time to continue the story.