Chapters It was a cold, silent night in canterlot. Winter has covered the mountain city in snow from head to hoof, the roads run thick in ice and no matter where a pony stepped, trotted or galloped, they would slip. It was, however a brilliant night to spend indoors with friends and family, laughing and drinking hot chocolate, laying next to a fire curled up with a book or with your special somepony bathing in the warm glow. However, it was a different night for a particular solar princess. This walked around in the great stone garden, statues depicting various ponies and monsters dotted alongside the pathways. Breathing in the cold winter air, she hesitated for a second before walking up a nearby hill that overlooked the village below the mountain city and sat down, grass and twigs stitching to her coat and ever flowing tail.
“A thousand years.” The princess said, removing her eyes from the village and moved them to the natural satellite. “It's nearly been a thousand years since we've seen each other. I wonder if you still hate me. Ha, who am I kidding, of course you do. You're older sister banished you to the moon, what other emotion are you feeling?” She said with a hollow smile. “I wish I had known what I could do to make happy, back then. I wish I got off my flank and pulled you out of that darkness that I unknowingly pushed you in.” She sighed softly, her eyes drifting away to the four stars that ever so slowly inched their way to the moon. “I suppose time will tell what will happen soon.”
Sharing her head she rose to all fours again and began her hike back to the castle, feeling both mentally and physically exhausted. However, as she began her walk, she heard a sound in the distance. ‘Huh?’ She thought, her ears twitching and swiveling, trying their best to hear what the sound was. Confused, she changed her path to follow the sound, the sound itself growing louder and louder as she grew closer. ‘Is that, crying?’ With a concerned look, she doubled her efforts to find the source, and the apparent foal. Upon reaching the foal, she froze mid step, causing her to slightly skid across the dirt. The source of the crying laid under one of the most evil creatures she and her sister had ever fought. The embodiment of chaos itself, Discord.
Again, she froze as fear and terror crept up her spine and made her blood run cold. All sounds of the world cut out abruptly, no gentle breeze, no rustling leaf of branch, not a sound from the castle. She could hear her heart beat slowly increase in rhythm. Faster and faster and faster it rose, her throat felt like it was closing as it got harder to breath. She struggled for what she felt was days before the screaming foal brought her out of it, her line of concentration on the statue snapping like a branch. Forgetting what she felt for a moment, she looked at the red blanket that held the foal within like a cocoon. The blanket dazed her for a moment, not noticing it before. 'How did I miss that?’ she asked herself before shaking her head and picked up the blanket with the foal inside with her magic.
“Shhhshhshh.” She whispered as she gently rocked foal back and forth, somewhat calming the child. Carefully, she unraveled the blanket to expose the foal within. But, as fate was opposing her expatiation, it wasn't a foal at all. Within the blanket was a small, hairless ape with dark brown skin, strangely reminding the princess of a soft chocolate colour. It's small, brown eyes spared but a glance in her general direction, indicating the child to be no more than a few months old. The crying stopped shortly after once the child directed it's attention to her, leaving small whimpers in its place.
The princess was beyond shocked. Thousands of questions ran through her mind before the first second ticked off. What was it? Why was it laying here, cold and alone? Where are it's parents? These three questions occurred most. However, before she could even guess, a pony made herself known to the princess.
“Princess Celestia? What are you doing here, you're going to catch a cold!” The pony said, trotting towards the pony in question. “Honestly princess, what would you do if you were too sick too…” Her dialogue collapsed the second she laid eyes on the scene before her. “Princess, what is that thing?”
Princess Celestia turned to the pony. Sunny Day, one of Celestia's most trusted friend and maid. Her autumn coloured eyes dance to Celestia to the child and then back to Celestia. Her coat was a beautiful shade of rosemary, complimenting her eyes. Her natural sized horn sprung out of her soft, golden mane. Her tail swished back and forth, the dyed tip of her tail brushing the ground gently and it trailed in the wind. She was one of the many maids that helped to clean the castle, wearing a simple maid uniform.
“I, don't know, Sunny.” Celestia said as she turned her head to the maid and then back to the child. “I found it under this statue wrapped up in this blanket screaming. Oh, it must be so cold. Who knows how long it's been outside. Come, I'll need to borrow you for a few moments.” She said to the mare before charging up a spell and teleported the three of them into the princess's private chambers. With a flicker of light, Celestia set the pile of logs inside of her fireplace a blaze, the fire instantly spreading it's warmth throughout the bedroom. It's soft orange glow lit only a small part of the bedroom, leaving the majority of it swallowed by the darkness.
“Sunny, I need fresh warm blankets and, if it's anything like a foal, a fresh bottle of milk, pronto.” Celestia said as she galloped into the bathroom, using her magic to plug the bathtub and start to fill it with warm water.
“Right away princess!” Sunny nodded, galloping out of the bedroom and down the hall. Now that both the bathroom and the bedroom were warmed up, Celestia released the magic that held the blank it in place and let it fall to the ground, exposing the rest of small child. It was ape like and bipedal if the fingers were anything to note. However, the more she looked, the less they looked like the fingers or toes that she has seen before, they looked rounded and stumpy, not thick or protected like the minotaurs.
“Well then, I guess I should call you a he instead of an it, huh?” She giggled to herself. An act that was gleefully copied by the child in her magic. “Alright then, down you go.” She lowered the child into water before shutting the water off, letting it rest at the child's elbow. “There, how’s that?” She asked, getting a giggle as an answer. “I wonder what you are. You look like a member of the minotaurs, but you are much so small, let alone hornless and hoofless.” She said as she propped him up with her magic. Her reflecting caught her eyes for a moment, her usual beautiful multi-coloured mane were dirty and disheveled sticks and leaves dotted here and there, the same could be said with her tail. Her pristine white coat dirty and stained with grass smudges and mud from galloping through the gardens.
“Hehehehehe, it seems I also need a bath.” Celestia chuckled, stretching her wings to full length causing the child to 'ooo’ in wonder. Three light knocks came from the doorway. “Ah, there you are Sunny. You can place the bottle and towels over there.” Celestia said pointing to a cabinet next to the sink on the other side of the room behind her. “Then you can take the rest of the night off.”
“Of course Princess. May I ask if you have figured out what this little...guy...is?” The maid asked dropping the things off, ignoring a toothpaste stain on the mirror above the sink next to her as she walked in, much to her chagrin.
“No, unfortunately. He looks like a minotaur child, however, he is much to small and lanky for a newborn of their species.” Celestia sighed, exhausted from this evening. “But figuring that out will have to come later, I'm afraid.” Celestia lifted the child out of the water and wrapped him up in the white fluffy towel. Celestia trotted out of the bathroom and to her bed before resting on it, laying the child next to her barrel.
“Well, if there isn't anything else, I shall leave you to it.” She said before yawning and walked out of the bedroom, leaving the room silent. A small rumble drew Celestia's attention and causing her to jump a little.
“Oh, goodness. You gave me a scare there, little one.” She smiled, before levitating the bottle of milk out of the bathroom and placing it on the bed gently as well as draining the tub. “Hehe, forgot about those. Here you are, you must be rather hungry.” The child grabbed the bottle and started to chug it down with enthusiasm. Smiling gently, Celestia curled around the child and watched as the child fed. Her mind fled as she watched, drifting to Discord’s statue and what she felt. She had stared upon that statue thousands of millions of times, however, that was the first time she had ever felt that the statue was staring back at her.
'What did it all mean?’' She thought, staring blankly at thin air. 'Discord has shown no signs of breaking free, or gaining power. And yet it felt like he was standing right before me, only worse.’She was snapped out of her thoughts by a large burp and relaxed sigh from the child, raising Celestia's eyebrows in shock. A small yawn followed pursuit as he snuggled into the warm towels.
“I think I shall follow your lead, Young one. Though I'll have to come up with a name to give you. I mean, it would be right if I kept calling you child and young one all the time.” She raised a hoof to her chin and hummed in thought before shaking her head in mirth as the child poked her muzzle with one of his small fingers before rolling onto his stomach and caterpillaring towards her neck, pressing as much as he could into her coat. “Such a random child.” Celestia giggled before curling as much as she could around the child and draped a wing over him.
“I think I have a good name for you. How does 'Entropy’ sound to you. I, personally, think it suits you. Considering you are progressively getting more and more random each moment that passes. What do you think?” She asked, not really expecting an answer. But, much to her surprise, the child nodded before falling asleep. “Hmhmh, I think my life has just taken an interesting turn.” Celestia spoke as the darkness of sleep took her.
The next morning brought the warm rays of the sun, a sharp contrast to the winter night. It was still below freezing temperatures, but at least it was more tolerable. The large fluffy clouds were filled to the brim and bursting with snow, the pegai of all shapes and sizes did their jobs of pushing the snowy clouds in accordance to the weather plan of canterlot. The nobles went about their days, gloating about their power and political prowess while walking to their destination, presumably to a social gathering. Nonetheless, the upper streets of canterlot were dotted with ponies going to and fro shops and vendors. The royal guard marched along the walls of the city, looking on past the battlements to watch for any suspicious activity outside the city.
Celestia, having long since woken up, was sitting in the dining hall, a white porcelain plate with a slice of chocolate cake was gently placed in front of her with magic. Thanking the pony who placed it, she quickly dug into it, devouring forkful by forkful. A small giggle brought her attention from the cake, something once thought impossible. Entropy sat on a small cushioned section of the floor, recently transmuted to be comfortable and as safe as possible. Entropy was playing with a toy snake, the tail end rattling with every move he made. Instead of wearing a towel, Celestia had commissioned a pair of clothes for him to wear around the castle, seeing as he had no fur to cover his privates. He wore a plain white shirt and light brown pants, a pair of underwear underneath them, as well as a pair of white socks with a royal purple soles.
“Are you sure about this, Princess?” Polished hooves asked standing next to Princess Celestia. “I mean, I trust your judgment, and I respect you above all else, but are you sure raising this... thing... is the best solution?” Celestia sighed irritatedly, nobles were always bigoted and racist, especially Polished Hooves. He was a young pegasus, just past twenty and was gray in color his mane and tail was a light shade of silver. Like many of the nobles, he wore a tuxedo, the tail end stopping half way down his barrel, the legs stopping just past his elbow. The tuxedo left the lower part of his body uncovered, exposing his silver quill cutiemark.
“Yes, I am quite sure. He is a new creature altogether in this world, and i have searched high and low for any mention or depiction of his species, and so far, I have turned up nothing.
Besides, he is but a child and he has become attached to me, and I hate to say it, but I have grown attached to him as well, so I shall raise him as my own.” Celestia said, placing her for down next to the half eaten cake.
“Princess, that is ridiculous. You don't just get attached to it overnight, it's not some animal. Although it does look like one.” Polished muttered under his breath. [P]
“Polished, may I remind you that it can hear you. And he is not an it. Now if you do respect my decision, we will drop this conversation. You may leave.” Frustrated, Polished was about to speak before being cut off by Celestia. “If the next few words are anything other than an apology, I don't want to hear it.”
Finishing the cake, Celestia picked Entropy up, along with the snake, with her magic and placed them both on her back and walked out of the dining hall, leaving the shocked pony standing in place. With a heavy sigh and her head low, Celestia walked down one of the many halls in the castle. 'Ugh, sometimes these nobles are worse than BlueBlood. And he's only a colt!’ Celestia thought as she walked, stopping to look out of the window for a moment. She smiled as she looked past her city and towards the horizon.
“Excuse me, Guard? What time is it. It seems I had lost track of time for a moment.” Celestia asked the guts behind her. [P]
“Oh course Princess. It's nine-forty five.”
“Thank you.” Celestia said as she continued on her way. “I suppose it's time to open day court. What do you think Entropy?” With a giggle as a response, Celestia changed her course towards the throne room. “You're right, what can possibly go wrong?”
'Four hundred and ninety six ticks, four hundred and ninety seven tocks.’ Celestia thought as she listened and feigned interest to the, rather simply solved, problems of the canterlot nobles. She watched as the tapestries flowed like a ribbon caught in a breeze, their wooden holder rapping against the marble walls. Light permeated through the stained glass windows, illuminating the room in a beautiful glow. Entropy sat on the throne just in front of her, playing with the toy snake that he refuses to stop playing with. Celestia simply smiled as she watched Entropy play. [P]
Celestia continued to 'listen’ and answer questions almost automatically, seeing as most of them continue to repeat questions that others has asked weeks before. This continued on for hours seemingly droning on for an eternity until one question snapped her out of it.
“...and that's why it would be better to ban griffons from our city entirely, what do you think?” One noble asked, causing the room to be cast in eerie silence. The noble froze at Celestia's icy glare.
“Remind me, why should we ban the Griffons when they have both respected and honored our traditions and, while not the kindest race on the planet, have been true to the peace treaty that I have made thousands of years ago?” Celestia asked levitating Entropy out of the way before setting him back down in the same spot.
“W-well because they are murderers and meat eaters, why I'd bet they would even eat us if the treaty didn't exist.” The noble defended, sweat drops running down her auburn coat, her blue eyes darting back and forth nervously.
“My little pony.” Celestia sighed, raising a good to her face. “The Griffons are not savages. Yes, they eat meat, but so do dogs and cats. Even some birds eat meat, Tartarus below, even we can eat meat, although in small amounts.” Before the noble could speak, Celestia spoke once again. “I think the court is done for today.” She said to herself. “Can you please ask the castle staff to prepare a royal announcement, I have a something I would like to declare to everypony.” She asked the guard to the left of her.
“Right away princess!”
“I do believe you know you're way out.” Celestia said, once again levitating Entropy onto her back and left the throne room.
“Ponies of Canterlot’” Celestia began, spreading her wings to full length, “it is with great honor to stand before you all on this marvelous day. For today a new member of the royal family shall be introduced, one who I have adopted just earlier today.” Excited murmurs spread throughout the humongous crowd that had gathered around the stage a few meters away from the large golden gates that held entrance to the castle. To Celestia, the many faces of canterlot blurred together, unable to pick one from another.
“However, he is not a pony, or any other race known to Equis.” The murmurs slowly turned from excitement to confusion. “Not much is known about him or his race, the only thing I do know is that he is as intelligent as a newborn foal. May I introduce, prince Entropy.” She declared, lifting Entropy, who has been surprisingly silent, off of her back for all to see. Already she could see the disapproving stares of most of the nobles and anypony who had any political power. Most of them. Fancy Pants, one of the nobles who was much kinder and more accepting of other races and the lower ponies, looked like his heart had melted upon seeing the child, as did his wife.
“Funnily enough, I had only met this bundle of joy last night.” Her voice full of glee, she teleported a cushion on to the floor and placed Entropy onto it. “I know that this may come as shock to many of you, but despite having known him for such a short time, he already made a place in my heart.” She lifted a good to her chest, right where her heart would be. “So i ask of you this, will you treat him as you treat me, with your respect and loyalty?”
It was silent for mere moments before an uproar of cheers and happiness spread like a fire throughout the large group. A smile graced Celestia's face, happy that her ponies accepted the new prince if equestia. 'I wonder what the future will bring, and I hope that you will accept your nephew as our ponies have, Luna.
Author's Note
so yea i want to thank https://www.fimfiction.net/user/218310/Nightblade64 for writing this he will be the one writing the chapters for this new series which i hope you all enjoy leave your thoughts down below
Boop.” Celestia gleefully said as she poked Entropy's nose with a hoof, his nose wrinkling at the sensation before bursting in laughter. It had been a few weeks since the announcement, and Celestia had been up to her horn in letters ranging from congratulations to party invitations. She, however, would much more like to spend time with her new son than go to a party. And that is what she was doing right now. She was in her bedroom early in the morning playing with Entropy on the bed, sunlight lit the room up with its warm glow, the light rays bouncing off of the white marble walls. A golden tapestry with a yellow sun emblazoned across hung above the bed and gently swayed in the breeze caused by the the open window.
“Come on, come over here,” Celestia patted the mattress in front of her with a hoof, “you can do it!” Entropy got on his hands and knees, trying to crawl over to his mom; succeeding for a few moments before falling on his face. “You're so close.” Celestia encouraged him further as he did the same again, this time actually making it to hug her neck. “Yay! I'm so proud of you!” Celestia hugged him back, her hoof stroking his hair and giggling as he nuzzled into her furry coat. A warm smile graced Celestia's face as she lifted him onto her back and climbed off of her bed to walk toward her dresser. Donning her regalia, she walked out of her bedroom and down the hallway, her metal hoof coverings tapping along the stone floor. This has pretty much become a routine; waking up, playing with her son, putting her regalia on and walking to the dining hall to eat.
But this time, it was different. Waiting in the dining hall was a small unicorn, no more than five or six, tapping her hooves together in nervousness. Her coat was a very light amber, her eyes were a nice shade of aqua blue. Her mane and tail held two colours, yellow and red, and strangely enough, her mane and tail looked like an open flame. The filly caught Celestia's gaze and straightened up, puffing out her chest, her chest fluff bouncing slightly.
“Calm down, Sunset. It's alright.” Celestia smiled, the young filly let out some air, resuming the tapping of her hooves. Sunset Shimmer had caught her eye a week ago, her prowess in magic at such a young age impressing her greatly. Celestia had never heard of a young filly who could bend a thick metal beam with little to no resistance, and yet, there she is, sitting not too far away from her.
“Have you eaten yet, Sunset?” Celestia asked, sitting down at the head of the table and placing Entropy down on a foal eating chair next to her, obviously modified so that he could sit comfortably.
“N-no your majesty, I arrived a few minutes before you.” Sunset said as her stomach chose that time to growl at the mention of eating, causing a furious blush to spread from ear to ear.
“Well that won't do, will it?” She asked-rhetorically-as she rang a bell on the wall directly behind her with her magic. Shortly after, a caterer entered through a side door to the left of her, a notepad held within his arctic-blue aura. “Two plates of pancakes please, and two glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice.” The caterer bowed, writing her order with a quill before leaving back through the same side door.
“The reason I brought you here, Sunset, is because I want to discuss with you about joining my school for gifted unicorns.” Sunset choked, not expecting Celestia's reason for bringing her here. Nonetheless, Celestia continued. “Forgive me for sounding like a broken record but, as I said before, I've never seen magical abilities so strong at your age. And I believe that, with proper guidance, you could become one of the greatest unicorns of your generation.”
“I...I don't know what to say, princess. I…I mean, thank you for the offer but-.” Celestia raised a hoof, silencing the young filly.
“I don't need an answer now. I know it's a large and difficult decision to make and I'm not going to force you to decide right this second.” The side doors opened once again, with a white pegasus, his cutie mark hidden by his uniform, lifting two plates of stacked pancakes along his wingspan. Hot steam leaked out of the air pockets within the doey pancakes. The whipped cream and various berries scattered throughout the dish created an alluring scent. As if practiced, the pegasus placed the dishes gently in front of the two, along with the glasses of juice without any spillage.
Bowing, the pegasus left the room, shutting the door. There was a short pause in the room before Celestia began to eat, followed shortly by Sunset, who was rapidly growing more and more nervous as she thought about Celestia's offer.'This is a once in a lifetime offer. I would be a fool not to accept it.’ She thought, as she forked another mouthful. Her thoughts were turned momentarily to Entropy, who seemed to be enamored with a silver spoon, mushy paste-like stains where smeared over his table. Sunset giggled, her small hoof covering her mouth.
Sunset layed in her bed late that night, sleep eluding her as if she were a disease. She tossed and turned for hours, her mind plagued by thoughts that should not have befallen her. She sighed, focusing on the clear, star-riddled night sky; Her view only slightly obscured by the frost growing on the window, closing in from the edges. Three days and nights she had been like this, thinking on the princess offer. Yet, strangely enough, her thoughts at some point or another would turn to the young prince. She had only met him once, and yet that particular memory of him playing with that spoon had always derailed any line of thought. It had never failed to bring a smile to her face. She groaned, grinding her head into the pillow in an attempt to get comfortable before flipping the pillow and doing the same to the cooler side.
“Gah, ponyfeathers.” She cursed, laying a leg over her eyes to block what little light there was. “Normal fillies don't have to worry about this stuff.” Then again, she isn't a normal filly. At least by societal norms she wasn't. Normal fillies would be having fun with other foals, laughing and prancing around and hating the very thought of school or learning. Not her though. She loved to study and learn, her books within her bookcase well beyond worn and used from repeated reading and re-reading. Sunset, for her age, was more mature than any other foal she met, even rivaling most adult ponies, and was even teased for this by the common bully. But she never let it bother her. Not by much, at least.
She grunted as she opened her eyes to the blank, dark ceiling of her room. A light hung from the centre by a thick, white wire; It's crystal hidden from sight by a golden shade. She concentrated on the flow of magic in the wire that was diverted from the house’s magical leyline. For some reason, it helped her relax when she got stressed or was unable to sleep. Like the current problem she was having right now. However, it wasn't the case this time.
“Alright,” she said to herself. “I’ve decided. I'll enrol in Celestia's school. I'll become the greatest 3 unicorns out there!” She launched out of her bed like a catapult, standing on her mattress with two hooves, somehow keeping her balance as she pointed to the ceiling with another hoof. “I'll learn everything about magic, every secret, every spell! I'll be so powerful I'll be stronger than the princess herself!”
Two loud thuds echoed from the wall behind her, surprised by the sudden noise she lost her balance and landed face first into her pillow.
“Keep it down in there!” A male voice said through the wall, irritated about being woken up so early.
“Sorry dad!” Sunset said, a small blush of embarrassment spreading across her muzzle. “I'll become the greatest mage in existence.” She quietly said, her mind made up and no longer bothering her. Sleep finally got her in its clutches as she smiled, determined in her path to greatness.
Sunset trotted through the streets of canterlot, a little skip in her steps as she made her way to Celestia's school. Almost two months of preparation, and ruthless studying of what she already knew, have come down to this. The entrance exam. Something that every young unicorn had to go through to show what they could bring to the table and how effective they could perform it. Sunset stopped just before the threshold of the school grounds; the golden emblem above the door practically glowing in the sunlight. Releasing a breath of air, Sunset did a final check of her belongings inside her saddlebags.
“Books, check. Blank scrolls, check. Quills, check. Extra quills, check. Ink pots, check Snacks, check. Thank you mom. Alright, everything is with me.” She breathed in and out one more time, calming herself before trotting onto the school grounds. Excitement welled within her as she got nearer to the main section of the building, golden-coloured steps leading up to the white and purple building. The pink, brown and purple swirls on the roof held a nice contrast to the original black roof. Two towers sprouted from either side of the building, both of them connected by a golden rail that ran the length of the roof and connected to a much larger tower at the back of the school. The cone-shaped roofs of the small side towers tapered off into a bulbous-like spire while the main tower’s roof led into a sharp point.
Sunset entered the building, marveling at the ancient building’s interior. Paintings depicting great and powerful unicorns, each with varying titles and trophies. The most famous of course being Star Swirl the Bearded. White marble pillars and support beams sprouted out here and there, as if they were trees in a forest. A mahogany desk, previously unnoticed by Sunset, sat in the back of the room, with two slightly ajar side doors sitting on either side of the desk, light from the rooms beyond spilled out like a cracked water pipe into the main room.
“Ahem.” Sunset heard from behind her, startling her and making her spin around. Before her stood an old unicorn mare, her face slightly wrinkled, displaying her age out to the open. Her faded pink bushy mane held a flower within close to her ear. The flower, red like a rose, wafted a pleasing scent in the air. Her coat, similar to her mane, was a faded purple, silky and smooth. Her cutie mark was a plain white quill, writing on a blue clipboard.
“Are you Sunset Shimmer?” The mare asked her, pushing up a pair of red glasses.
“Yes, I am Sunset, miss.” Sunset confirmed, nodding as she puffed out her chest, her chest fluff bouncing.
“Alright then, my name is Velvet Serenity. I, along with two others shall be evaluating your entrance exam today.” The pony droned on as she began to walk, opening the door that was on the left side of the desk with her magic, motioning Sunset to follow, as she did so. “Unfortunately the participant before you has, uhm, well, blown up the examination room.” Velvet said, passing by the destroyed room as she did so. Sunset could see the charred remains of desks and chairs, the room was chipped and broken, coloured black by the smoke and ash. The only part of the room that wasn't black or destroyed, and remarkably preserved, was a small circle in the centre the room, to which Sunset could only guess was the epicentre of the explosion. Behind Sunset was the remains of the door, having be blown off its hinges and shattered into many pieces along the ground.
“Fortunately, the princess has allowed us to borrow one of her rooms to take the exam, not to mention personally being there to watch over it.” Velvet opened the closest door, which happened to be on the left, revealing a mostly-empty room. A small table and chair sat in the left corner of the room followed directly by a bookcase filled with various books. In the centre of the room was a circle drawn out of chalk with runes and other lexicons of a language she had never seen before. She could only tell that it had a powerful and potent magical signature. “The other two who will be evaluating you are already there waiting for us, so when you are ready, please step into the circle.” Velvet trotted over onto the circle, to which the circle responded by glowing a blinding white. Taking a deep breath, Sunset trotted over beside her future mentor. The blinding light shifted a few colours, matching Sunset’s fur and teleporting the both of them into Celestia's castle.
“Come on, you can do it. Say my name. Cel-es-tia.” Celestia encouraged Entropy, spelling out her name. She held onto his hands, helping him stand up on his feet. Still, even with Celestia's help, Entropy struggled to stand, wriggling his butt back and forth doing whatever he thought could help him stand.
“C...C...Ce.” He struggled with the words, rolling the syllables over his small tongue. Celestia stared at him with stars in her eyes, barely holding back her excitement. “C...c. Chaos!” He shouted in childlike glee, his hands springing into the air in victorious glory, before promptly falling on his butt with an 'oof.’
“I suppose it's better than nothing.” Celestia sighed, rubbing up his hair with her hoof and a smile as she grabbed him with her wings and hugged him with them, the tips of her feathers tickling him and making him laugh. “Although, what you said does concern me a little.”
“You can't decide what a child's first word is princess, he'll say your name eventually, it just takes time.” A stallion said, sitting down next to Celestia. His steel-plated blue armour covered most of his body, his gray fur sticking out from under it. He had a scar over his left eye, dragging down over his muzzle and stopping at his nostrils. His dull blue left eye stared at Celestia blankly, the pupil barely reacting to her. His left eye, however, remained focused on her, watching her every move. His mane was hidden by his helmet, but from what could be seen from his tail, it would be a rather deep shade of navy blue. His cutie mark was a sword and shield, the shield held in front of the sword.
“That is true, Captain Cross. I suppose he must have heard that word from one of the guards.” Celestia said with a smile and a shake of her head. Entropy repeated the word over and over, with varying levels of volume and inflection, as if questioning how he should say the word.
“Have you figured out how old he is yet?” The Captain said, looking at the child in front of them, smiling as he caught his gaze, if only for a moment. Celestia shrugged her shoulders as she looked back over to the Captain.
“No, but since he can, sort of, walk by himself and he responds to me whenever I talk to him, and listens to me almost intently as I talk, I would make a guess of being around four or three years old. However, I'm not certain.” Celestia looked around the room, briefly looking at the other two ponies in the room. The both of them were unicorn stallions, and from what she could see, one station had a brown coat with a caramel mane, while the other was maroon with a black mane. Other than the colours, she couldn't tell what other features they had. The circular room they were in was mostly cleared out, a single lone blackboard sat in the back centre of the room, pressed up against the wall and full of calculations. A chalk circle was drawn directly in front of the blackboard, filled with runes and ancient lexicons that only she truly understood. Two clipboards were levitating in front of the unicorns, however they were to far away to read the words.
Suddenly, the circle glowed before flashing brightly, revealing two unicorns, both of which she knew before the test. Sunset shook her head, clearing the daze from her mind after the teleportation spell. The other unicorn, Velvet Serenity if she recalled correctly, simply walked over to her fellow lecturers, also levitating her clipboard.
“Sunset Shimmer,” Velvet spoke with authority in her voice, looking down at Sunset through her glasses, “today you will show us why we should let you into Celestia's school. Use whatever you have learned to show how effectively you can put your knowledge into action. Begin when you are ready.” Sunset nodded, breathing in and out, closing her eyes in concentration. A cyan aura surrounded her horn, the hum of magic heard by all. Sunset furrowed her brow, struggling with all her might. Slowly, she rose into the air, her aura spreading throughout her body, wisps of magic sparkling over an invisible dome created to protect Sunset. The magical exertion causing an unbelievable strain on her. Multiple chairs and desks began to levitate and were drawn towards Sunset, slowly flowing around her in circles, getting faster and faster. One by one the furniture was enveloped in a brilliant flash that changed them. Each and every object was constantly changing, never staying the same, and with time became nothing but a blur as they span around Sunset at intense speeds.
Then, the objects started to slow down as she descended from the air, returning to their normal shape and floating back over to where she picked them up. As her hooves touched the ground, her magic cut off, dropping the chairs and desks onto the ground with a hard thud. Gasping and with sweat dripping from her forehead, she looked up to her examiners, smiling softly at their shocked faces. She looked over to Celestia, who was also shocked, and her smile grew wider.
“I...Uhm, ahem. As shown from your… demonstration, you have proven your worth, and will be joining Celestia's school as of next semester, which also happens to be next week. We hope to see you there. Oh and, don't be late. I'm sure the princess would like to talk to you, so we shall show ourselves out.” With that, the three ponies stood from their seats and trotted over to the chalk circle before vanishing.
“I must say, well done Sunset Shimmer. That truly was quite the display you showed us.” Celestia said, sitting Entropy down on her barrel in-between her wings as she walked towards Sunset. “What do you think Entropy?” She asked with a gentle smile.
“S…. Sunset!” Entropy shouted, stretching his arms towards her. Celestia, like a child who’s lost a toy, pouted, emotionally deflated at Entropy's choice of words. “Sunset!”
“I wanted to be your second word.” She said sadly, rubbing a spot on the ground, her ears folding back. Sunset blushed a little as he reached out to her, trying to grab her. “Would you like to hold him Sunset?” Celestia asked after a short while, tilting her head.
“Uhm, sure. I guess.” Without another word, Celestia lifted Entropy from her back with her magic and into Sunset’s awaiting hooves. Immediately, Entropy wrapped his arms around her neck in a hug. Stars flashed in her eyes as she hugged back, supporting his back. “Ooh, aren't you just the cutest thing?” Sunset cooed, feeling a warm flurry in her heart that slowly spread to her cheeks.
“I can only hope that the next word he says is my name, as is every mother's best dream.” Celestia said, her hopes quickly dwindling down an invisible drain. “But alas, congrats on passing your entrance exam. I'm sure your parents will be beyond delighted upon hearing the news, as only a select few have made it in this year.” With a stretch of her wings, Celestia lifted Entropy and placed him back on her barrel, who promptly began playing with her hair, and placed one of her wings on Sunsets back. “Come Sunset, there is a lot we must discuss before the end of the day.” With that, the two walked out of the room.
Celestia sat alone in the dark, a single candle illuminating the desk that she was sitting at, the flickering light prancing over the various documents and papers that were scattered across the wood. She sighed as the dipped the tip of a quill into the inkpot, letting the left over ink drip back into the pot before making the quill dance over the many many papers. She shuddered as a cold wind blew through out the room, blowing out the candle. An ominous laugh drifted by, no louder than a whisper, but loud enough for Celestia to hear.
“I know that laugh.” She said silently, dropping the quill onto the desk and standing from her cushioned seat and flaring her wings slightly. The door creaked open, directing Celestia's gaze to the slowly opening door, her horn lighting up as she prepared a spell. However, as it finally opened, it revealed a sleepy Entropy crawling on the ground, causing her spell to fizzle out completely.
“Oh, what are you doing up so late little prince?” She said, lifting Entropy in the air and hugging him with her wings as she sat back down. “Couldn't sleep either, huh?” She asked rhetorically, resting her chin on his head. “I suppose I've done enough work for tonight, how about you and me sleep together, hm?.”
Receiving a nod from her son, she teleported the both of them into her room, levitating her regalia off and placing them on a nearby stand before snuggling in bed with Entropy, wrapping a wing tightly around him. She stared at him as he hugged her tightly, falling asleep in seconds. A beam of moonlight touched her face as it poured through the uncovered window by her bed. As she looked at the moon, dread filled her heart as the stars around the moon inched once more, getting ever closer to the celestial body. The image of the Mare in the Moon sent tears to her eyes as she closed the blinds tightly, her breath hitching. With the room fully consumed by shadow, Celestia nuzzled her son, fear and sadness clear on her face. She stayed like that for what must have been hours, simply cuddling her son and breathing in his scent, sighing in delight each time. Entropy grumbled in his sleep, burying himself deeper into Celestia's chest fluff. Rubbing his head with a hoof, she cooed, trying to relax him.
“Shhh, it's okay. Mommy is here.” Curling around him, Celestia nuzzled his hair with her chin and tightening her wing's grip of him.
“Mommy.” Entropy murmured softly as he settled. Silence rained within the room, a rather large smile dawning on Celestia's face before they fell into a deep sleep.
Author's Note
so hey hope you all enjoyed chapter 2 sorry for the long wait for this chapter leave your thoughts and feeling below
Sunset yawned tiredly as she walked the streets of Canterlot, more specifically, towards Donut Joe's. The young prince, in a similar state as Sunset, walked alongside her. Enjoying the sound of grinding rocks and gravel, taking in the sights and smells of Canterlot, waving at ponies as they bowed to him. Two expressionless guards silently trailed behind Sunset and the prince on their walk, two more trotted in front of them deterring those who would interfere with them.
“So, what's your favourite….drink?” Sunset said out loud, watching the city life flow by her. With summer just around the corner, Sunset could see ponies of all types galloping around, splashing in puddles of water kept cold by unicorns, or with an ice cream held within their grasp.
“Uhm, chocolate milk, duh!” Entropy said with a ludicrous gaze, as if it was the obvious choice.
“Oooh, chocolate milk, I haven't had one of those in ages!” Sunset said with a dreamy look upon her face. 'More like two days ago.’ A smug smile graced her face. Donut Joe's came into view, a blue, single-story, square building with a cartoonish donut sign nailed onto the roof. The donut was a rich chocolate colour with pink icing and blue sprinkles. It was all wooden, so it wasn’t particularly good to eat.
She breathed in the smell of freshly baked dough. The air was filled with a sugary tint, the kind that you could taste at the back of your throat without causing discomfort at all. Her hooves tapped against the black-and-white checkered floor, the freshly cleaned tiles creating a reflection of Sunset and Entropy, his rubber shoes squeaking on the tiles, irking the other ponies in the establishment to no end. Donut Joe, somepony Sunset has come to see as a friend over the past year, stood behind a purple bar, with a clear glass case off to the side displaying various doughnuts of all colours. Behind the pony, racks upon racks of the freshly-baked doughnuts cooled to an edible state, permeating the room with their scent.
Her mouth watered as she strolled towards Joe, the guards taking up positions beside the doors, their stoic faces waiting and watching for any sign of trouble.
“Howdy Sunset!” Joe proclaimed as he ducked behind the bar, doing who-knows-what. “What can I get you and the young prince today?” He continued, calmly waving to Entropy with a smile. The calm facade didn't fool her though, she was sure he was freaking out on the inside.
“A baker's dozen of your strawberry and chocolate chip doughnuts, please-” Sunset said, looking up at him since she only reached near the halfway point of the bar.
“And a chocolate milkshake!” Entropy cut in. Unlike his friend, Entropy was now tall enough to look at the pony without straining his neck, his eyes rested above the horizon of the bar, thanks to an unusual growth spurt that not even the royal scientists could not figure out. He offered the working pony a sweet smile that you children could somehow pull off. With his wide smile, a missing front tooth could easily be seen, giving the child a very slight lisp.
“Yes and a chocolate milkshake, better make that two, please.” Sunset sighed and shook her head with a smile. The pony nodded, running a large beige hoof through his dark brown mane. As the bulky stallion went to work, Sunset thought on the past year learning from Celestia's school. She remembered helping to teach Entropy to speak and read, upon the princess’ request, and he has made astounding progress. He still had problems learning words and writing them down, but then again, who doesn't at that age?
She remembered how jealous Entropy was of her expertise of magic and wanted to use it himself. He would pick books at random, most of them being too advanced for him to understand himself, but the fire within him refused to stop burning when he became stuck, often coming to Sunset with a list of words he hastily wrote down with crayon. She felt sorry for him, for neither she nor Celestia could detect a ‘Magical Matrix’ in him, something that enabled each of the pony races to use some sort of magic. He would often stare at unicorn guards and servants that were using magic, writing down notes and questioning said ponies about the topic. She jumped out of her reprieve as a single box of doughnuts dropped onto the table, stamped with 'Donut Joe’s Doughnuts™’ in blue fancy writing. Alongside the box slid two glass cups with a brown iced liquid, red and white paper straws stabbed through the thick drink.
“Here you go, that'll be five bits, please.” Sunset levitated the golden coins onto the counter and the two walked to the nearest booth, which just so happened to have a large window facing the streets of Canterlot. Dropping the drinks and the box gently onto the maroon table, Sunset sat down by the window, bathing in the sunlight that streamed through the window. Entropy walked over and sat next to her, having momentarily forgotten what he was doing at the time.
Entropy poked at the condensation on the glass with a finger, seemingly enjoying the cold layer of water. A small sigh of content passed his lips as he drunk heavily on the milkshake, amusing Sunset greatly as she sucked on her own milkshake. The pair enjoyed their 'meal’ in silence, enjoying each others company. This was the first in a long time that the two of them could venture out and visit Canterlot freely. The both of them rarely had any spare time to spend together, mostly having to go to lessons or do chores, or sometimes both, depending on the day.
Sunset spared a glance towards Entropy, who was current relishing the chocolate shake, and wondered. Most pony foals started to speak around twenty words by their first year, however, according to the princess, he only started to talk at the age of five, when she brought him to her test. 'Does his kind learn slower?’ She thought to herself, popping a large chunk of the dough in her mouth. 'Was I a catalyst of some sort?’
“Whatcha thinkin’ bout, Sunshine?” Entropy asked, tilting his head slightly with a small smile; she hated her nickname. And hate she did, as she accentuated it with a growl and glare. He'd given mostly everypony he met a nickname. One one hoof, some ponies would like their nickname and think of it a cute way Entropy would remember them. On the other hoof, some ponies, much like her, hated them and would find them annoying.
“Nothing much.” She sighed, before she gave him a sly grin, “You smelly monkey.” The glare he gave her was pure satisfaction.
“Humph, you have to do better than that Sunny.” Stuffing a doughnut in his mouth, he turned to view the populous of Canterlot. Being in the middle ring of the city, Entropy could see all manner of ponies going to and fro. Shops ranging from designer clothes, to knick knacks and props. The ponies there were happy, regardless of how rich or poor they were, something that couldn't be said about the upper ring of Canterlot, where the ponies were mostly narcissists and snobby. That being said, you do, occasionally, get the same snobbiness here. However, the instances are rare.
Later on that day, both bellies filled, Sunset and Entropy found themselves in a study room. The earthy scent of books filled the room as dust drifted on the wind, glinting in the beams of warm sunlight. Entropy sat in a dark corner of the room, completely unnoticeable unless you knew he was there, old worn down books laid in a semi-circle around him that were filled to the brim with ancient magic and scrawlings made by great wizards of old. One particular book caught his attention, a book about basic teleportation. He couldn't read the title of the book as it had new words that he had never heard of before and he didn't want to disturb Sunset with it. Despite this, he continued to read the obviously advanced book for him, ‘basic be damned’, and took notes on his notebook, equations and mathematics that he could ask one of his teachers about later.
A thought came to his mind while he was reading, if he couldn't do the most basic of spells, then he had no hope of learning spells like teleportation. So, with a heavy heart, he set the book aside and picked up another, one with a much easier title to read. 'The Fundamentals of Levitation.’ After a brief read, he closed the book and set it on the ground before shutting his eyes and cleared his mind before focusing on the brown book in front of him. An image of the book materialised in his mind, with heavy breathing he lifted his arm up and out and visualised the book lifting from the ground.
He cracked an eye open to check. Nothing. The book lay lifeless on the ground, unmoving. Disgruntled, Entropy tried again, focusing harder on the lifting, and less on what it looked like. Droplets of sweat formed on his brow, dripping down as he grasped at too-small threads of what he thought was magic. He checked once more, the same result present in front of him, causing to gave up, for the moment.
“Horseapples.” He cursed, falling to the ground with a disheartened thud. He wanted to learn magic so bad it was killing him. But he knew that building up magic and using it was just like any other skill. He'd just have to keep on trying till he got it, and nopony could stop him. Still, he can't help but feel jealous of ponies like his mother and Sunset, ponies gifted in magic and among the strongest of their kind. It doesn't help when he might not even be able to use magic in the first place.
No matter what event through his mind, one thing was certain. He will not give up.
He can't.
A few days had passed since then, all of them spent practising magic on a medium-sized red mug. Entropy's eyes were level with the desk, concentrating solely on the mug, blocking most everything else in his line of sight. Like before, he cleared his mind and pictured it levitating a few inches above the wooden surface. Entropy soon heard soft tapping emanating from the desk as the handle, hidden behind the mug, was wrapped in a grey-ish aura with light golden filaments dotted here and there. Slowly beginning to lift the mug millimetre by millimetre, the strain on the handle caused it to wobble slightly.
“Yes!” He shouted as he raised his hands in triumph, only to cause him to lose his grip and drop the mug back onto the desk. “Oooh, sugar honey ice tea.” He sighed in disappointment as he slammed his head down. 'Look at you, laughing at me with your...muggyness...nis.” He thought as he glared at the inanimate mug, mocking him at his failure to do basic magic. Just then, three knocks came from the door. “Come in!” The large grey stone door opened swiftly and quietly, no doubt due to various enchantments, revealing the pony behind it. “Hey, mom!” Entropy greeted the alicorn as he turned his head to see her.
“Hello, my dear.” Celestia said as she strolled into his room, opening the window and the blinds covering it, letting rays of the afternoon sun bleed into room. Entropy hissed like a snake and covered his eyes with his arms. “Oh, hush. This room is way too stuffy, and you need the fresh air.” Entropy grumbled as he buried his face into the nook of his elbow of one arm and motioned a 'go-away’ signal with his other. “Any luck?” She said with a frown as she sat on her haunches next to him, rubbing his back with a hoof.
“Kinda-sorta.” He said with a shrug, sighing as he enjoyed the back rub. “ I managed to lift the mug for a few seconds, but that's it.” He sighed, resting his chin on his arm and stared at the mug, lost in his own thoughts. “You need me for something?” He asked, scooting his chair back away from his desk and standing to attention. She motions him to follow her, to which he complies as he walked beside her, her wing guiding him along.
“Yes, I do. While I am beyond happy to hear you are getting a grip of your magic situation, I have something important to tell you.” She started as she matched his slow pace. “My niece, princess Cadence, should be arriving in about a week, and she's been very excited to meet you as of late. So, when she does arrive, I want you on your best behaviour alright? None of your pranks, none whatsoever. Alright?”
“Yes mom.” Entropy replied, disappointed as he slid a small book titled 'Epic Pranks’ back into his pocket. “I’m guessing she was sent there for diplomatic reasons?”
Kind of. It's more like a vacation of sorts, spending casual time with king Ironbeak, a good friend of mine. Do you know who he is?” She asked him, tilting her head in his direction.
“Yep, second son of the late king Asvarkin, head of the Valkyrie clan, second most powerful clan in Griffonstone.” Celestia's eyebrows rose in shock, before sighing with a shake of her head and a soft smile “What?”
“You've been spending to much time with Sunset. Not many know that sort of information offhoof, my son.”
“Yeah well, once you start reading, sometimes you just can't stop.” With a shrug, Entropy dove his hands into his pocket and looked at the city life below him as the two of them passed by the many windows of the castle. A silence had fallen between the two, not an awkward silence, like one that would usually follow after Entropy told a very bad pun; a content, blissful silence.
“So, how are your studies going?” Celestia asked after a while of walking, curious of her son's school life.
“Alright I guess, made a few friends here and there, got some bullies that I don't care about. I'm getting better at math and equish.” He counted off of his fingers as he spoke. “Magic…well you already know about that. And Sunset helps me with things I don't understand. “He shrugged, his hands sliding back into his pockets. “That's about it.”
“Wait, bullies? Why on Equus do you have bullies? Have they been hurting you?” Celestia asked with shock, how could she let this happen in her city? Why would they hurt her little boy?
“Eh, it's not big. Just some name calling is all. Nopony has laid a hoof on me, if that's what you're worried about. It'll all blow over eventually. I hope.” Mumbling the last part, Entropy climbed onto a passing window sill and started to hop from sill to sill, making use of his lightweight. Celestia's eyebrows furrowed in concern.
“What things have they been saying to you, my dear?” She asked, readying her magic just in case of a fall.
“Things like, ‘Here comes the adopted freak,’ ‘Who let an animal in here?’ and, my personal favourite, ‘That must have been an intense fire, your skin is so black’. Which I'm not sure why they thought that was an insult. My skin's black, so what?” He stated, getting an increased look of horror from his mother.
“Well that will not do at all. I am appalled that the teachers have done nothing about this. You did tell them, right?” Entropy nodded, nearly missing a sill by a hair. “Well I'll have to go down there myself and talk to those teachers.
“Mom, don't. I've already tried to talk to them, and it's made it worse. Besides, they are going to stop...eventually, and it's not like I care about them.” He dropped onto the floor and dusted his hands. “I'm, gonna go wait for Sunset. See you later, mom.”
“I- w-wait!” Entropy waved a hand back, ignoring what she was about to say, and jammed his hands into his pockets, walking down a passage leading to the gates. “What's going on with him?” She asked nobody as she watched him leave. “Was it something I said?” Celestia sighed as she began her journey back to her throne room.
Entropy sat on the steps of Celestia's school, waiting for classes to end. He watched the weather pegai push large fluffy clouds around the sky, losing himself I thought. 'Why was this school called 'Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns’ if mom barely teaches there? Did she fund it herself?’ He asked himself before shrugging it off. A golden glint caught his eye to the left of him, a royal guard that was instructed to follow the young prince, the light reflected off his armor.
Entropy grumbled as he noticed his unkempt hair and pulled a rather large brush somewhere out of his pocket and combed his hair. In the corner of his eye he could see a small group of three colts walking up to him with smirks on their faces. 'Oh, great. It's them. Wonderful, just what I need right now’. Yes it was in fact his bullies from school, however not all of them. Two are missing from their group. Neither of the three seemed to see the guard to the left of him, perfectly obscured by the staircase.
“Well, well, well, look what we have here. It's the freak.” The leader of the group says as he stops a few metres away from the staircase. The guard immediately flinches, an angry scowl on his face as he turns to scorn the bullies, only to be stopped by Entropy, raising a hand and shaking his head slightly. The guard stiffly nods back, obviously perturbed.
“Good evening, Box Cutter.” Entropy sighed out as he watched the group snicker behind the leader. Box Cutter was a light grey bulky unicorn with a darker grey mane and tail with large brown eyes that had a few freckles underneath each of them. He had no cutiemark, unlike his 'friends’. To his left was Sugar, a light green pegasus with a lighter shade of yellow for his mane and tail with bright green eyes.He has a golden blueberry muffin as a cutiemark. And finally on his right was Rosary Pea, a lanky earth pony mare with a crimson coat and black mane and tail and frosty blue eyes. Her cutiemark was three red and black peas connected to a beautiful white flower by a few vines that wrapped around each pea. Entropy honestly felt sorry for the mare, being the younger sister of Box Cutter, she was often forced to go along with her brother's antics. The shy mare mouthed sorry at Entropy when their eyes met.
“So who left a turd like you on the steps of the most famous school in all of Equestria?” He asked mockingly, looking smug as he usually does.
“No idea, but it somehow rolled onto the ground and started to talk to me.” Nonchalantly, Entropy leaned back, propping himself up with his elbows.
“Tch.” His smile narrowed and quietly trotted towards Entropy, leaning towards him in a threatening manner. “So, somepony is acting tough all of a sudden.” He snarled, glaring at the prince. “What, are you stupid or something?.”
“Not as stupid as you, apparently.” Entropy pointed to the guard beside him, the cold glare he was giving Box Cutter made him blanch as the colour drained from his face. “Did you really think I wouldn't have a guard by me at all times? By Celestia, you're really dumb. Now I think you and your friends should leave, don't you? Don't want to be put on the record at your age, huh?”
“You're gonna regret this.” Box growled before galloping away.
“Toodles!” Entropy waved at them as they ran, giving Rosary a genuine smile. He gave a nod of gratitude towards his guard before watching the sky again. 'Kinda wish I brought a book with me’.
Sharp continuous ringing awoke Entropy from his daydreaming, jumping as the unexpected sound scared him. A large group of ponies galloped down the steps, oblivious to him and leaving cloud of dust in their wake. Gaining control of his heart and senses, he painfully turned to face the entrance of the school, as a lone amber unicorn that he had become familiar with walked out of the school, their eyes immediately catching each other's gaze.
“Heya, Sunny!” He shouted, waving a hand back and forth, catching passing glances from nearby ponies. Blushing in embarrassment, Sunset swiftly jammed a hoof in his mouth.
“Shut up, dung head!” She glared at him, an embarrassed blush spread ear to ear, to which he smiled innocently. Carefully, she removed her hoof before huffing and trotted down the steps.
“Hey, wait up!” Entropy pounces from the steps and landed next to the mare, matching her pace.
“So, what are you doing here anyway. Shouldn't you be studying or something?” She asked, an eyebrow raised.
“Eh, I've already gone above my quota for today. Besides I wanted to hang out with mah best bud.” He shrugged, wrapping an arm around her.
“Ooh, a new word. Where'd you pick that up, a dictionary?”
“Why yes I did, thank you.” He beamed, giving her a noogie.
“Ow! Hey, I'm older than you, I'm supposed to do that to you!” Pulling him into a headlock, and grinding her hoof against his head violently.
“Ow ow ow! Hey, quit it! Guard she's attacking me, do your job!” The amused guard snickered behind his hoof.
“I'm sorry, my lord. You brought this on yourself.” He said, his laughter barely holding.
“Gah! You're the worst guard on the planet!” Entropy shouted as he pointed towards him, shattering the guard's steel will and causing him to breakout out in laughter. Finally, after a full minute of torture, Sunset relented her attack, leaving a small pillar of grey smoke billowing from atop of Entropy's head. Mumbling, he rubbed his sore head and glared at the bane of his existence. “My hate for you is beyond words.”
“And yet, you still hang around with me.” She smirked as she started to walk again.
“So, where we headin?” He asked, at a much safer distance from his tormentor, staring daggers at her head.
“Well, I still have to study for an oncoming test, so I can't really do anything with you, unfortunately.”
“Aww man.” Entropy's shoulders sagged, disappointed.
“Buuuut, I suppose since you're here, you can walk me home. But, you have to carry my bags!” She added after the look Entropy gave her.
“Done deal!” He exclaimed happily, taking off her saddlebags and throwing them over his shoulders, jogging in front of her. “Come on slowpoke!”
“Wah-? Hey!” Sunset stammered before galloping after him. “Slow down, ya idiot!”
Early in the morning, around one o'clock, Entropy laid on his bed concentrating hard on a small ball of yarn floating in his aura, a beaming smile scrawled across his face. Its golden filaments illuminated the room like a disco ball. With light gestures from his hands the ball rolled in mid air, slowly separating the strands from each other and becoming a long, single strand of thread. The singular strand circled the room multiple times before reforming into a ball again. With a yank of his arm, the ball came rocketing towards him and almost pelted his face, him catching it with only centimetres to spare.
“Well, that was close.” He muttered to himself as he chucked the ball into his bedside table. Barely holding in his excitement, he concentrated on a book on the other side of the room, extending his arm. Exactly like the ball of yarn, the book was surrounded in his magical aura, levitating it off of the ground and gently floated towards him. Opening the book to a random chapter, he placed the book into his waiting hands.
“Ha ha! Yes! I finally did it!” Shutting the book and laying it on the ground, Entropy took a deep breath. “I can't wait to try other spells.” He whispered to himself before groaning in pain, the pressure caused by the spell putting an agonising level of pain in his head, as if something was hitting him with a mallet. “Owie, maybe I should focus on mastering levitation first before trying other spells.” Harrumphing, Entropy curled into a ball, hugging his duvet tightly as he buried his face into the pillow.
Entropy groaned as sunlight passed through his curtains, hitting him square in the eyes, a monstrous headache spreading deep within his head. Groggily, he got out of bed and landed on his face, his headache worsening. 'Ugh, why does it have to be a school day?’ He asked himself as he got off of the floor, rubbing the sleep from his eyes while he was making his way towards the bathroom to get ready for the day. Freshly showered and a clean set of pearly white teeth, he donned a suit of smart clothes. A buttoned, black shirt with a light maroon tie, its shell hidden behind the tough collar of the shirt. A pair of dark gray trousers hung slightly loose on his frame for better movement, tightening around the ankle. Blue socks were hidden by a pair of smart black shoes. Most of these articles of clothing where experimental for his tailor, apart from the socks and tie.
With a stretch, he took one last look around his room. It wasn't special, no nicknacks or other things to give his room any personality, apart from a few books littered around here and there. With light breath, he opened the door to be greeted by a royal guard.
“Good morning, my lord!” The cheary face of the guard bolstered Entropy's mood greatly, partially forgetting his headache.
“Good morning!” Entropy waved at her with a contagious beaming smile. The guard trailed behind him as they walked in the direction of the castle entrance. Entropy rarely noticed any difference between the guards due to their armor enchantments, even if they were different races. They either had white coat with blue manes and tails or a dark grey coat with white manes and tails. They even had the same cutiemark! This guard, however, was different. She was a pegasus and had a light blue coat with a yellow mane and tail, with a strange shade of yellow for her eyes that Entropy just couldn't figure out. Her cutiemark depicted a yellow lighting bolt. Lightly-plated indigo armour rattled with each step she took, a streamlined helmet rasping against her side.
“I don't want to be rude or anything, but why don't you look like the others?” He questioned as he strolled along side the guard.
“Huh? Oh! Well I'm a lieutenant of the third branch, thus I am allowed to switch the enchantment on or off when I wish.” She smiled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. “By the way, my lord, my name is Yellow Flash.”
“Nice to meet you, Lieutenant Yellow Flash!” Entropy gleefully said as he stuck a hand, to which Yellow reciprocate with her hoof. Which was kind of awkward due to the differences. The kind-hearted guard stiffened as, what Entropy could only assume was, her superior rounded the corner.
“Captain!” She saluted with a hard voice.
“At ease, lieutenant.” He replied with a wave of his hoof, acknowledging both of them with a simple nod. “My lord.” Entropy nodded to him, creeping him out with his dead dull-blue eye. Entropy shivered once the captain left from sight, leaving the two of them in a respectable silence.
“Captain Cross always gives me the creeps. I mean, he isn't a bad pony, but that eye of his? Uuugh,” Entropy shivered again, “I know it isn't his fault, but still.”
“I know exactly how you feel, his cold uncaring gaze terrifies the rookies. But eventually you get used to it. Now, come on, we don't want to be late now do we?”
“Ugh, when school is involved, I don't care if I'm late. Especially if Cutter is there.” He grumbled, sliding his hands in to his pockets.
“He still giving you trouble?”
“Yeah, but nothing I can't handle. I mean, he's the one stupid enough to make fun of a prince.” The pair came across a set of stairs, leading to the entrance of the castle.
“Hey, wait. Aren't you supposed to have a bag with you?” Yellow asked, blocking the sun's rays with a hoof as they crossed the threshold.
“Yeah, but I left at school by mistake. I'm just glad we had no homework to do.” After a brief moment of thinking his face paled. “I hope.”
“Okay class, I want all of you to hand in your math homework, please.” A rather chubby pink mare said over the chorus of ponies speaking to their friends, walking down the rows of desks.
“Ponyfeathers.” Entropy cursed under his breath, having forgot his homework. Rummaging around his modified saddlebag, he faked looking for his homework, despite knowing his fate.
“Entropy, your homework?” He froze, fearing the face of his teacher. Biting the arrow, he looked up from his bag with a nervous laugh. He found it hard to focus on anything other than her eyes, while they weren't angry or disappointed, he didn't want to know how they would react to what he was about to say next.
“I, uhhh. I seen to have-”
“Entropy, please don't tell me you've forgotten your homework?” The teacher looked at him with concern as she brushed a lock of her snow white mane out if her face. “I-.”
“Here it is! He dropped it on the ground.” A filly said next to him as a sheet of paper dropped onto his desk, surprising him. The usually shy Rosary Pea raised her voice to draw the teachers attention, as well as the whole class, whiltering her sudden puff of bravery. His eyes flicked to the sheet of paper, noticing the recently erased name of the filly behind his own hastily written down name. Picking up the paper up with a hoof, she scanned over the numbers written in the boxes next to the questions with an intense stare.
“Very good, Entropy. Full marks.” She said, handing the sheet to him, all answers ticked.
“T-thank you miss Pinkheart.” His head snapped to Rosary with enough force to crack his neck as the teacher left, making the young filly to wince. “Why did you do that!” He whispered harshly. “Now you're gonna get in trouble. I'm grateful yes, but why?”
“I don't know. I just...did.” Shrugged, not looking him in the eyes as if she were being scolded by a parent.
Entropy didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything, feeling guilty that she did what she did for him. She was held back after class, as he knew it would happen, which made him feel worse as he left the class for break, watching the filly as he did.
After around ten minutes, he counted, Rosary was let out to join the rest of the children, only to be pulled aside by her brother, rather violently from the looks of it. From his spot in the playground, Entropy stood up and began to walk towards the three of them, catching a glimpse of Sugar's tail. From what he could see and guess, Box was trying to force his sister to climb the tree, for some stupid reason, making her distraught and panicky which made Entropy speed up considerably. But, he was too late as she reluctantly started to climb, managing to reach a good three quarters up.
“Rosary, what are you doing!?” The young prince shouted, drawing the attention of everypony and nearly scaring her off of the branch that she so happens to be perched on, clinging for dear life. “What in the name of Tartarus below have you made her do, Box!?”
“What?” He half asked, half laughed, as if it was the most funniest thing ever created. “She needs to get over her shyness, it's honestly such a pain to even be related to a filly like her.”
“Are you mad!? What if she falls!?”
“Who cares, prince, she's an earth pony, as disgusting as it is, she'll live a small fall. Besides why do you care, you're Royalty earth ponies are below you.”
'Ooooh, you're soooooooooooooo gonna get a punch in a second, Box.’ A snap brought Entropy out of his thoughts as Rosary yelped. Without warning the branch snapped, causing her to fall, fast. Upon instinct, Entropy raised his hand and tried to levitate her, only to rapidly slow her descent. Knowing that it was without a doubt possible for his spell to fail, he quickly walked under her, ready to catch.
And fail it did.
Entropy gently cupped his horseshoe-shaped bruise on the left eye as a nurse examined his broken nose. A tissue was held gently against his nostrils to hold back the bleeding. His nose was bent at an awkward angle, puffy and swollen red. A yelp escaped his mouth as the nurse set his nose in place, whispering an apology to him. His head throbbed with an intense pain, as if somepony was banging on some drums inside his skull.
“How's Rosary?” He asked, tracing the bruise with a finger.
“Well considering you broke her fall with both your body and your spell, she's perfectly fine.” She said with a joking smile, applying a thick- supportive plaster on his nose. “She feels awfully guilty though, you might want to talk to her later.” She levitated her equipment back into a small medical box and slid the box into a cupboard.
“I'll be off then.” Entropy slid off of the table that he was sat on and held it, shaking the dizziness out of his head before he walked out of the nurse’s office. “Ugh, I hate breathing through my mouth. I can literally taste the antee, the antieh, bugger, I can taste the chemicals in the air.”
“The word you're looking for is antiseptic.” The nurse said, amused as she busied herself with some paperwork.
“I knew that!” With a huff, he left the small room and into a waiting area, where he was attacked by a rather strong hug, metallic plates digging into his already sore body.
“I’m sooooo-ho-ho-oooo sorry I wasn't there to protect you!!” Yellow cried out, tears streaming down her face as she nuzzled his side. “What kind of guard am I if I can't even protect the person I'm assi-hii-gned too!?” Entropy bared the weight of the lieutenant with a deadpan stare. 'How did a mare like this get into mom’s guard?’
He huffed as he opened the door to his class, which went quite easily upon his entry, dragging the guard in with him, who promptly snapped out of her emotional state and swiftly trotted to a dark corner of the room. Her armor helping to blend her into the shadows trying to hide her from the class. That didn't stop the sniffles, however. Entropy slammed his head against his desk, an exasperated sigh leaving his lungs in embarrassment. Shortly after, the class returned to what they were doing, mostly ignoring miss Pinkheart and whispering in their little groups. 'Probably talking about what happened at break’.
The rest of the day was an awkward one, what with Lt. Yellow 'sneaking’ behind Entropy in his shadow. Box was sent home, possibly for a few days, while his parents thought up a suitable punishment for him. Entropy talked to Rosary every chance he could, both in class and at lunch. Over the relatively short amount of time they had to talk, they had grown to be quite good friends, coaxing her to come out of her shell. This had a snowball effect on the rest of the class; groups coming up to her and Entropy, talking about random things. He was fifty-five percent certain that it due to a prince hanging out with a quiet mare like Rosary.
“So what are your plans for the rest of the day, Rose?” He asked her, arms behind his back as he breathed in the warm afternoon air.
“R-Rose?” She asked quietly, stumbling a little from the unexpected nickname.
“Yeah, I thought it would be easier to call you that rather than Rosary Pea or just Rosary. Why, do you not like it?”
“N-no! It was just, well, unexpected is all.” She said with a blush forming on her cheeks. “W-well I'm probably going to go to a garden and read a little.
“You like reading in gardens?” He asked curiously as he tilted his head.
“Uh-huh. It's a perfect time to on a beautiful day like this.” She sighed, her ears folding to the side of her head. “I would love to see to royal garden though. I hear it has all types of exotic plants and critters scurrying around.”
“Well hey, if you'd like, you can see them right now.”
“Really!?” She exclaimed, joy written all over her face, her second out of character moment today. “I- I mean if I'm allowed to, yes please!”
“Sure thing.” Entropy said with a laugh as Celestia's school popped into view. “We just have to pick up somepony first.” Entropy jogged over to the school, Rose quickly falling into place, jumping slightly as plated armor clanged behind her. The pair reached the school quicker than they thought, so, to recover some strength, the two sat down and leaned against the stone. Entropy dug around within his bag and pulled out three stones, each scaling up in size. The first stone fit comfortably within his palm, his fingers barely surrounding half the stone. The second stone was about the same size as his hand and the third was half the size of his head.
“Why are you lugging around three stones?” Rose asked as she tilted her head, her left ear flopping to the side.
“I'm practicing my magic. After all, I could barely hold you with that levitation spell. Soooooo, I decided to practice on stones that I found in the courtyard.”
“Ah.”
Same as all the other times, his aura encompassed the smallest stone, lifting it a good few feet into the air with, surprisingly, little resistance. Applying a small amount of force, the rock began to spin clockwise in place before orbiting Entropy. 'Alright, easy enough so far.’ He thought to himself as he watched the stone orbit him. 'Lets try the second one.’ The second stone raised into the air slightly above the first, albeit with a greater strain. The stone wobbled as he made the stone orbit him at an angled path, the stone spinning in an anticlockwise rotation. The addition of the second stone made the first one rock slightly as he divided his concentration between the two. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as he lost himself in his thoughts.
Suddenly, he lost his grip on the stones, his matrix overtaxed from the strain. He yelped as the first stone pelted his head with a 'thwack’, narrowly missed by the second.
“Ow, owowowowowowow!” He held his head in his hands, reeling from both a horrendous headache and from the impact. A thin trail of blood leaked down his forehead and dripped off of his nose.
“Entropy? What's wrong?” Sunset asked as she descended down the steps, books caught in her magic.
“Eh?” Entropy turned to her, rubbing the spot where the stone hit him, smearing some blood into his hair, causing her to gasp after she noticed the painful looking bruise on his face. The gasp grew into a growl after she spotted Rose behind him covering her mouth.
“Did you do this!?” Sunset screamed as she walked closer to her, getting right in her face. “Well!?” She shouted, glaring at her as she stumbled backward, trying to get away from her as her ears pinned themselves to her head. “Answer me!”
“Sunset, calm down, she didn't do anything!” Sunset broke her glare from the filly, looking concerned as she quickly trotted over to her friend, making a big deal out of his wound. “Sunset will you just stop and listen for a sec? Please?”
“I,” she started before the harsh look from Entropy silenced her, “alright, I'm listening.”
“Thank you, I was only practicing my magic with those stones before it gave out and they dropped. Rose had nothing to do with this. Now say sorry or else!” With a glare, Entropy stared at her before, with a sigh, she gave up what she was going to say and turned to the young filly.
“I'm,” she paused before shaking her head, “I'm sorry about the way I acted, I just assumed things.” Sunset hung her head in shame.
“Its okay.” Rose whispered as she turned away from Sunset. An awkward silence filled the air as the three rubbed their necks.
“Right well, I don't think introductions are in order but I'll do it anyway. Sunset this is Rose, my new friend. Rose this is Sunset, also my friend.” The two nodded to each other, catching each other's gaze before turning away again. “Riiiiiiiight. Anyway, let's head to the castle!”
Sunset snarled under her breath as she watched the duo talk about random things children do, all the while being looked at every now and again. 'I know what you're planning.’ Sunset thought darkly as a hateful glint caught in her eye. 'You're planning to take him away from me, aren't you? I see how you hang off of his every word like he was a tankard of water and you're dying of dehydration, planning to take advantage of his title. Well it won't work! I won't let you take him. He's MY friend! My best friend. You're nothing, you'll only ever be nothing! He doesn't need any more friends, he only needs me!!’ She shouted in her head, her eyes were drowned in shadow as more and more dark and morbid thoughts crossed her mind.
“What about you Sunshine?”
“Huh?” Sunset snapped out of her thoughts. Entropy and Rose were staring at her. “I- I'm sorry, what was the question, I wasn't listening. could you repeat it?”
“Teh, dummy. I asked how you and your friends were doing.” Entropy asked with a beaming smile as he walked backwards.
“Huh, well I'm doing fine. And I wouldn't know, as I don't have any friends.” She said nonchalantly, staring blankly at the ground.
“WHAT?!” Entropy shouted, drawing the eyes of everypony around them, causing Sunset to, for some unknown reason other than base instinct, take a few steps back with her ears pinned to her head. “Why don't you have any other friends?”
“W-well, I-I don't need other friends. The only friend I need is you, nopony else.” She said with a huff, pointing her nose in the air.
“Suuuuuunnnnnnnnyyyyyyyyyy.” He droned out, crossing his arms. “I know I'm wonderful and all that, but you need other friends apart from me. Ooh! I know, you and Rose can be friends. Yeah! Great plan Entropy! Score one for me!” He said proudly with a large, cocky smile as the two mares exchanged looks. “Let's hurry to the castle!” Entropy bolted towards the castle leaving the two mares in a state of shock.
“My lord, wait up!” Yellow shouted before taking off after him, pouncing from the shadows and frantically flapping her wings. ‘Where in Equestria did she come from!?’ Sunset thought to herself as the two shot out towards the castle. With a sigh her thoughts were drawn to the prince. ‘You have to admire his carefree attitude. One of the things that I like about him.’
Once again, a thick, awkward silence drifted between the two ponies as they walked, like a morning fog from the sea on a particularly hot day. A cold, condescending glare kept Rose from speaking, averting her eyes every time they met with Sunset’s. Their hooves echoed on the surprisingly empty streets, the sun just about to be submerged under the horizon.
By the time that they got to the castle and passed through its gates, it had become dark. Candlelight filled the streets and homes of Canterlot. Entropy sat on the steps leading into the castle, kicking his feet as he read a book, waiting for his friends.
“Ah, finally!” Entropy said, slipping his book into his bag and standing up. “It took you long enough! Did you two become friends yet?” He said with a hopeful smile etched onto his face. “Ooooooohhhh, please tell me you did!” Not wanting to dash his hopes, Sunset spoke, albeit with strain.
“Yes, I think we made some progress, right Rose ?” She spat venomously, glaring at the filly.
“Eeep, Yes! T-the best of friends!” Timidly, she hid behind her mane, hoping to avoid further confrontation. Entropy, being the poor innocent soul he is, didn't pick up what was going on and instead smiled gleefully.
“Awesome! Come on! Let's go to the garden!” Entropy grabbed them both by the hooves and ran in a random direction. Fortunately, neither of them tripped from having to gallop on three hooves. The doors to the royal garden opened with a creak, scaring the birds from their perches, scattering feathers of all types and colours. Exotic flowers that neither of the three knew glowed with a slightly dulled light that matched their petals, stems and vines that lit up the garden in the twilight. Brightly-coloured fireflies drifted in the breeze, the harmonic buzzing of their wings filling the air with life and wonder, accentuating the bioluminescence. The two mares gasped in wonder, the lights reflecting off of their eyes as they passed back and forth between everything within the garden. It was as if they were viewing another world.
Entropy walked forward, patches of grass lighting up as his feet made contact before disappearing after a short moment. Hesitantly, the two ponies followed him, utterly tranced by the alien-like garden, silenced for its beauty. Strange and glorious smells filled their lungs as they breathed as deep as they could, lulling them into a sense of bliss. Leading them up a hill, Entropy sat down overlooking the small village of Ponyville, smiling sweetly to his friends as he patted the ground on either side of him. With a heavy blush, Rose sat down next to him as she hid her face behind her mane. Sunset followed suit, sitting on the other side of him and sending a hateful glare at Rose.
“W-woah.” Rose gasped out, holding a hoof to her face as she absorbed the sight before her. Ponyville was set ablaze with light from the street lamps, setting a warm glow from the village.
“Hm, you can't see much with your mane in the way Rose.” Entropy pushed a few locks of hair behind her ears and smiled as her blush grew deeper, the warmth from her face hot enough to light a fire. Rose's gaze remained on Entropy as he looked back towards the village, the silver-white moon poking through the mountaintops beyond the village. The three of them remained there for what had to have been hours, just watching the stars, bugs and animals that scurried about. Before they knew it, it was time to leave, having said their goodbyes and going their separate ways, leaving Entropy alone walking down a hallway.
“........W……..p.” A voice called out in the void of darkness that Entropy found himself in. He stumbled forward like the undead, as if he was wounded badly, mostly blind and deaf to the world. The sound of his own ragged breathing echoing in his ears, his heart thumping in his head. A warm sticky substance oozed from his side, staining his shirt red with blood as the wound stung from the cold, heavy air. He let out a bloodcurdling scream. He screamed bloody murder as he fell to his knees, loud enough to shatter glass, but no sound reached his ears, as if he had mouth to begin with.
“P…...Wa……….P!” It shouted this time. The voice sent shivers down his body, chilling it like ice as pins and needles spread throughout. But, strangely, it killed his pain, silencing his voice. 'W-who is that? Wh-what it? That voice, why- why does it sound so familiar?’ Entropy asked himself as he shakingly stood up, his breath and his blood the only source of heat in the cold baren void, causing goosebumps to form on his skin. Blood dripped from his lips as he held back a cough, grimacing from the taste. He hugged his arms as he continued to walk, footprints of blood following in his wake. A cold sweat formed on his brow, the salty liquid mixing with the metal taste of blood.
“Plea….as...!” Like a veil being removed, he could suddenly hear the voice clearly, if only for a second. It echoed in his mind, bouncing off the bony walls of his skull. Like an addiction, he grew obsessed with it, overriding any other thought he had at that particular moment. He wanted, no he needed , to know who that was.
“ WAKE UP!” The voice shouted, clearer and louder than before. With enough force to propel him through the void, beams of bright white light burned his eyes.
Entropy woke with a gasp, his heart pounding and his body doused in sweat. The first of the sun's rays crept into the room as it rose above the horizon. Swiveling, he planted his feet onto the carpet, feeling the threads slide in between his toes. He breathed in the rather stale air of his room as he calmed himself, resting his palms over his knees. Focusing his magic, he pushed open the window of his room as he walked over to it, letting the fresh air fill his lungs. He sat down on the windowsill and watched the ponies of Canterlot go about their morning routine. Well, what little he could see, anyway.
“What was that dream just now?” He asked himself, wiping his face with a hand. He lost himself in thought as he stared blankly at the floor, leaning against the side of the window. He shivered as the light from the sun passed over him, warming his body as the sweat-covered shirt clung to his frame. He sat there for a solid hour, trying to figure out what the voice was, who it was and why it was talking to him. It sound so, motherly and gentle, but so desperate as well.
With a heavy sigh, he stripped down as he walked to the bathroom, dumping his dirty clothes into the hamper in the corner. Today was the day he was supposed to meet with cadance, and he had to be at his best. So, shaking the thought of the dream out of his head, he stepped into the bath and let the hot water from the showerhead pour over him, warming him further.
Subconsciously, his hands drifted towards where the wound was, feeling nothing but smooth skin. He rested his forehead against the lukewarm bathroom tiles, the water cascading down his neck. With worried eyes, he turned the faucet off,mildly bugged by the squeak it made.
“Ugh, enough about that damn dream!” He shouted as he pounded the tiles with a fist before getting out and drying himself. Soon after getting out of the shower, Entropy was dressed in a light pink shirt and black tie, with a silver waistcoat and silver trousers with light gray shoes. It had been a few days since the whole Rose incident, and the bruise was looking much better. Less red and more yellowish-blue. The plaster came off in his sleep on the day he got it.
Humming a tune, the prince opened the door to his room and walked out into the hallway. He was greeted by a mostly empty pathway, the castle staff just getting to work, cleaning and dusting the vases. Entropy smiled and greeted everypony that he came across, which they returned.
“Howdy mom!” Entropy said, waving as he opened the door to the dining room. Celestia jumped, her fork embedding into the roof as it shot away from her magic, bits of tomatoes and lettuce dropping and sticking to her face. Tomato juice ran down the length of her horn as a single, lonesome cherry tomato was impaled. “Oh, uhm, oops?” With a smile, Celestia shook her head, using a cleaning spell before retrieving her fork.
“Good morning, my son. You're up early today, did you have a good sleep?” She asked gracefully as she continued to eat.
“Yeah, I had a pretty good sleep.” He lied, sitting next to Celestia. “I'm just really excited to meet cadance. Is she here yet? Can I meet her?!” He asked, fidgeting in his chair as he looked to her with stars in his eyes.
“Yes, yes, in all due time. She only arrived last night so she may be asleep for a bit. Now will you calm down for just a few seconds?” Her serious face was betrayed by the mirth in her voice.
“Okie, doki.” He said with a mock salute, immediately sitting still as the chair wobbled slightly. Breakfast had already been served, as evident by the plate of eggs, lettuce and cucumber slices and a side plate of toast with butter spread upon them, accompanied by a glass of fresh orange juice.
Gorging himself on the food, Celestia could only watch in a stupor as bits of food were sent flying this way and that, clinging to his face and hair. She gave him a deadpan stare as Entropy gulped down his juice sloppily, shaking her head as it trickled down his chin.
“For goodness sake, Entropy.” Celestia muttered, Facehooving as he stopped momentarily, giving her an innocent, questioning stare before shrugging and finishing off his drink. “Entropy, please don't act like that, you're not a slob.”
“Oh, hehe, sorry.” He smiled sheepishly before Celestia cleaned him up with a spell, using a cloth to wipe away any remaining residue left behind.
“What's gotten into you? I mean, I know you have your spouts of randomness, but this is far from normal, well, your type of normal. I get you're excited for meeting Cadance, but still, that's no excuse.”
“I know, but I just can't help myself!” He shouted rocking back and forth. With a exasperated sigh, Celestia prepare herself to scold him before the doors opened once again.
“Morning, aunty.” A pink pegasus yawned out, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her mane and tail was comprised of three colours, a moderate shade of violet with light rose and pale gold streaks. Her cutiemark depicted of a diamond Heart wreathed in golden lace. Her brilliant light purple eyes caught the sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows in such a way that it captivated ponies around her.
“Good morning my dear. How was your slee-?” Celestia was cut off as Entropy hopped off of his chair and ran towards Cadance, sliding to a stop a few inches from her.
“Hiya!” He beamed, waving his hand in a large arc around him. Taken aback by his sudden appearance before her, Cadance fell onto her flank with an 'oof' in surprise.
“Uhm, hi?” She said cautiously, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, with a look of realisation, she wrapped Entropy up with a tight hug. “Oooh! You must be Entropy! It's so good to see you!”
“Agh, you're choking me.” Entropy weezed out, his face turning blue.
“Oops, sorry!” Cadance release him with a sheepish smile as he breathed in lungfuls of air. “I've just been so excited to see you! I could barely fall asleep.”
“Really?! I've been excited to meet you too!” With stars in his eyes, he began to laugh, with Cadance following his lead.
'Those two are the exact same.’ Celestia thought with a sigh and a smile. 'I can already tell they'll be good friends.’
“Wow, Canterlot looks different from the last time I saw it.” Cadance said out loud with a thoughtful expression on her face, looking at the different-coloured buildings. “Oh that reminds me, how is Shining Armor doing?”
“He's been doing good. He's still a trainee, but from what I've heard from captain Cross, he has potential to even surpass the likes of him and the ponies above him.” Celestia replied, keeping an eye on Entropy as he raced on ahead of them, running to the next place that he wanted to show them. They had already visited his school, the comic book store and were on their way to Doughnut Joe's. “But, having said that, he still has much to learn. Though I have to ask, why the interest in him?”
“Oh, uhm, no reason really. I was just, uhm, well he just crossed my mind is all, ehhehehe.” She said, with a heavy blush that spread from ear to ear.
“Hmmm.” Celestia hummed, amused by her actions.
“Come on, slowpokes! It'll be nightfall by the time we get to where we are going!” Entropy shouted, cupping his mouth.
“Yes, yes, we're coming dear!” Entropy watched with a grumpy face as they trotted a bit faster than before. 'That's not any better.’ He thought, crossing his arms and tapping the stone bricks beneath him.
“What are you so impatient for, En?” Sunset asked, speaking up out of nowhere. Entropy jumped from the sudden voice, leading him to fall on his behind with a filly-like scream.
“Where'd you come from!?” He shouted as he stood up, inches away from her face.
“Uh, out of my home, duh.” She pointed to a house directly behind her. “You've seen it before dummy, now answer my question, idiot.”
He harrumphed before answering. “If you must know, I'm heading to Doughnut Joe's with mom and Cadance.” he crossed his arms and turned away from her, sticking his tongue out at her.
“Again? You gonna get fat if you keep eating there. Wait, who's Cadance?” Entropy jabbed a thumb in their direction as they caught up with him.
“That would be me. Hello! Are you one of Entropy's friends?” Cadance asked, sticking a hoof in front of her.
“Erm, yeah. Names Sunset, good to meet you.” Sunset said, shaking Cadance's hoof with reluctance.
“Hey, Sunny! You want to come with us? Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaaase?” He nagged, giving Sunset the best puppy dog eyes that he could give. With a sigh she caved in and nodded.
“Fiiiine, I'll have to cancel my plans for the day but-”
“Yes! Come on Sunny, Candy! Let's go! You too mom!” He shouted as he ran down the street away from the dinner.
“Wrong way, dummy!”
“I knew that!!”
“Wait, I'm confused, who's Candy?” Cadance asked as she cocked her head.
“Knowing him, that's his nickname for you. Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Eventually.” Sunset shook her head and followed after him, Cadance following suit. “Tartarus, I've unknowingly been calling him ‘Em’ every now and then.”
“Huh.” Cadance hummed as she rustled her wings.
“Hey wait!” Celestia shouted after them, trying her best to catch up. “I have got to stop eating so many cakes.” She gasped out, unused to the exercise. “Great idea you had, Tia. Use less magic, you said, get more fit you said. Now I'm left behind.” She gasped once more before gaining a second wind, galloping after the trio.
It had taken a while but, eventually, she caught up to them, bursting into the store with a grunt. Immediately, everypony unused to the princess bowed respectfully to her before being dismissed. Celestia slumped into the table as she sat next to
“What? I'm just like everypony else you know, I get tired.” Celestia grumbled, taking note of the stares that she was receiving from the occupants. A long silence ruled over the group before the door opened, a royal guard made his way towards her before saluting.
“My princess, can I have a word with you, in private?” He asked seeking a look the group around her.
“Sure.” She sighed, standing up before flexing her wings as she trotted alongside him. “I won't be long, my little ponies.” As she walked off, Entropy fixed her a cold vacant look as she strolled over to the bathroom.
“She better not be sneaking cakes in there.” Sunset facehooved from the stupid remark.
“Entropy, we're at a bakery, she's going to eat fatty foods anyway, you idiot.” She fixed him a ludicrous stare. “Besides, she's going to talk with a guard, not stuff her face in secret!”
“Yeah, well then you obviously don't know my mom. And for your information, cakes are way fattier than doughnuts!” He snapped at
“Is he always like this?” Cadance whispered to Sunset, cocking an eyebrow.
“Pretty much, his antics keep on switching. At times he acts like a grown up, while at other times he's just a kid.”
“Am not!” He spoke up, blowing a raspberry in her direction.
“See?” She spoke with a monotone voice, as if she had to deal with this on a daily basis. “You sort of just get used to it. Just think of him as a poorly written character in a story.”
“That hurts, ya know?” He fixed Sunset with a deadpan stare. “That really hurts.”
“Oh, cry me a river.”
“Fine, I will.”
“Fine!”
“Fine!”
They harrumphed in unison, turning away from each other before bursting in laughter, wiping tears from their eyes. Cadance sighed, shaking her head. 'What a strange duo. Heh, they really are well suited for each other.’ She thought with a smile, thinking of the ways that she could pair them up together. 'You're can really feel the love that they have for each other, regardless of it's only child like.’
“Alright, so what are we ordering?” Celestia asked as she sat back down, a noticeable dollop of pink frosting in the corner of her mouth.
“Moooom.” Entropy growled, glaring at her. “What's that in the corner of your mouth?”
“Hmm?” She dabbed her mouth with her hoof, her eyes widening at what she saw as she drew it back. With a sheepish smile, beads of nervous sweat rolled down her forehead as she turned to her son. “Would you believe me if I said toothpaste?” He didn't reply, the pillow thrown off of her face was enough of an answer.
Entropy sat alone in the dimly-lit archives of the castle, frantically flipping through a worn book, determined to seek the answers he was looking for. The dull light above flickered, forming a migraine in the back of his head. With an exhausted sigh, he sat back and leaned against his chair, focusing on the flickering light as he thought back on what happened yesterday.
Entropy grinned as his eyes sparkled with stars, hopping from stone to stone, avoiding the cracks in the masonry, arms pressed against the back of his head. Cadence and Celestia had to go back to Canterlot to do something, which was explained to him, but he quickly forgot about it. The mountain air quickly grew cold as the sun hid behind large, cotton like-clouds, prompting the two to huddle close for warmth.
“Ugh, if I knew it was going to be cold this afternoon, I would have brought a scarf or something.” Entropy shivered, rubbing his arms frantically.
“En, it's close to winter, you should know better. You're lucky I brought an extra scarf.” She scoffed, levitating a red and orange scarf to him.
“Why would you bring an extra scarf? You're ninety-nine percent fur.” He accepted the scarf and wrapped it tightly around his neck, using a part of it to hide his nose and mouth from the biting cold.
“Incase this one gets damaged or lost, you fool!” She wrapped an exact copy of the scarf around her own neck. “You really are an idiot if you didn't think of that.” With a scowl etched onto her face. A giggle left him, his breath steaming out.
“Huh?” Out of the corner of his eye, Entropy saw a figure standing in an alleyway clouded with shadow, its pure, milky-white eyes the only part that was visible. The figure looked much like himself, despite having no features that could be seen. It was bipedal and as tall as his mom, maybe a bit taller. Knowing it had been spotted it gave Entropy a disheartened wave, before it backed up and walked out of sight, vanishing behind a bend.
“Hey wait!” He shouted, running after the figure, as Sunset sent him a questioning stare. His shoes squelched against the wet, mossy cobblestone alleyway, sending shivers down his body from the disgusting sound. 'Can it be?’ He thought as he turned the corner from which the figure disappeared behind, slipping on a strange mix of moss and ice and almost slammed his head against the hard stone walls, dirt and greasy grime staining his sleeves. He shook off the pain and stood up, slipping slightly before continuing the chase after the familiarly-shaped figure. His legs burned and he found it difficult to breath in the icy air after a while, but he kept on running after it.
“Found, you.” He said, in between gasps of air as he eventually caught the figure, after what he thought to be hours of running. The figure had its back to him, finding itself trapped as walls of stone surrounded it in all directions. The figure turned and looked at the prince, sadness caught in its pupil-less eyes as they watched each other. “Who are you?” Silence ruled over it as it shook his head, shrugged his shoulders. “it doesn't know who it is?” Entropy asked himself Slowly, it began to fade away, strange black particles flowing off of it like steam. “What are you?” It's eyes lit up, as if clarity crossed it's mind.
“Human.” The figure finally said in a guttural, ghostly voice. It's body breaking apart until nothing remained, leaving Entropy in a stupor.
“Human?” He repeated, rolling the name over his tongue a few times.
“Is that what I am? Human?” He asked nopony in particular as he brought himself from the sudden flashback. He repeated the foreign name over and over again, trying to make sense over what it meant. 'Am I the only one of my kind? If that's true then where did I come from?’ His thoughts were interrupted when a stack of heavy books dropped onto the table beside him.
“That's every book that even remotely describes what you told me. However there was nothing on record about this 'human’ thing you spoke of.” Sunset said, sitting beside him as she picked a random book and flicked through it. “I asked the princess if I could access the restricted area, but she denied my request. Sorry buddy.”
“It's okay, Sunny.” He slouched in his chair, leaning his head on the open book in front of him, using it as a pillow. “Question, am I crazy? I mean, shadow creatures and creepy dreams aren't a good thing are they?” He watched for her reaction, barely moving his head.
“Its weird, yeah, but I don't think you're crazy. I've heard much worse stories. It could just be a case of magical build up, or your matrix is responding to an outside force that's stimulating it, thus seeing weird things. I've heard that someponies can even view the memories of others if the stimulation is just right.”
“Have you ever had it?” She shook her head with a saddened gaze.
“‘Fraid not, my friend. It seems you're the freak of this little duo.”
“Gee thanks, that really helps my problem.” He said with a deadpan stare, to which Sunset replied with tongue sticking out. With a smile, Sunset returned to her research, occasionally glancing over at Entropy as he did the same.
'I wish I could help him more.’ She thought, breezing past pages of the thick book held in her aura with ease. Entropy sighed as he closed the book he was reading, setting it aside as he levitated another over. His aura flickered slightly, trying to compensate from the taxing use of magic. He grunted as his spell gave out, plopping the book onto the table with a heavy thump.
“Why does that happen with your magic so much?” Sunset asked, as she rested the book she was reading down. “It's expected with newcomers of magic, but the amount of times you have practiced that spell alone is enough to mostly master it. Why does yours give up?”
“I don't know, Sunny. Another thing that's wrong with me I guess.” He said with a nonchalant shrug, barely focusing on the book in front of him.
“Hey, do me a favour, would you? Turn and face me.” With a sigh, Entropy pulled himself from the book and focused on his friend with a raised eyebrow. Her horn lit up with magic, it's blue glow encasing Entropy fully. “Alright, now try to lift up that book again.”
“Eh? What's that supposed to-”
“Just do it, please.” She cut in, sending him a harsh glare. With a sigh, he lifted the book up once more holding it up as long as he could before it fell back down, leaving him in an exhausted state. “How did I not see this before?”
“Hmm? See what?” He asked in between pants.
“The reason you can't do spells properly is because it's being blocked!”
“Blocked? But why?” He asked, just as confused as Sunset. “Uuuuuuuuuuuugh, why does this stuff only happen to me!?!” He shouted, leaning too far back on his chair and falling onto the floor in a crumpled heap.
“I don't know. But I will find out!” With a determined look in her eye, she bolted from her spot and out of the archives, leaving Entropy to bask in his confusion.
“Entropy, you've been moping about all day, what's wrong?” Celestia asked, washing down her lunch with a glass of cider. Entropy poked at his pasta with a fork, watching the tubes of wheat deform under the pressure while leaning onto the table, resting his head on an outstretched arm. “Are you worried about something?”
“Kinda.” He replied, distant as stabbed the slightly cold food. With a concerned look, Celestia draped her wing over him, nuzzling his neck.
“Speak to me, please.” She begged, looking into his eyes with her own pleading ones. With a frown, he let go of the metal fork, wincing as it clanged against the plate. He sat up, smiling from the warm contact from her wing.
“It's just. I don't know what's happening to me anymore. My magic is being weird, I'm seeing things I don't understand and I'm freaking out!” Tears leaked from his eyes as he vented to his mother, quivering as he let his stress pour out as his mother held him in her wings. “So many things are happening and I don't know what to do, I'm so confused and scared.”
“Hey, shhhhh.” She cooed, rubbing his back gently. Tears stained her fur as he let out built up stress and worries. The two sat like that for a while, with Entropy just crying into his mother as he explained what was happening. Eventually, albeit hesitantly, he pulled away from her comforting fur and heat, wiping away and residue tears from his face, blowing his nose with napkin.
Celestia's wing never left his back as he gained his composure again, taking a long gulp from a glass of water, choking slightly as it dripped down the wrong passage, making his eyes tear up again. After the vent, the two made small talk, to take a break from the heavy stuff and to cheer Entropy up, if only slightly.
With all things said and done, and with his belly stuffed with reheated pasta, Entropy made his way from the dining room and up the stairs to his room. Too emotionally drained to study or to research what he is, he collapsed face first onto his bed with a heavy sigh, kicking off his shoes as he turned his head to watch the setting sun. His eyelids grew heavy and before he knew it he fell asleep.
“A….r.” A faint voice spoke up as Entropy regained his bearings. Startling him as he recognized the voice as the same one that screamed at him in the other dream he had. The void he found himself in was dark and fuzzy, as if looking through an unfocused camera. 'Here again?’ He thought, taking a quick note of his surroundings. He checked himself over, no wounds or blood or sweat, his toes dug into the carpeted floor. A strange anxiousness ran through him. 'No, something's different, but what?’
“Asger.” A gentle, motherly voice whispered in his ears. Tears pooled in his eyes, small streams trickling down his cheeks and dripping off of his chin. 'What? Why am I crying?’ Entropy thought, wiping away the tears as quickly as they formed, softy sobbing as he did so. A gentle knock rasped against the wooden door that had formed out of nowhere, steadily growing more and more clear through the fog. “Asger, wake up sweetie.” Her voice, from what he could tell, vibrated through his body as the walls also started to refocus, spreading out from the door like a ripple on the surface of water.
Scared, Entropy backed away from the door, slipping on something hard and cold, causing him to fall and hit the back of his head against something. With a grunt, turned to look at the bedpost that he hit, rubbing his head as he watched it slowly form into a bed with blue sheets and a large lump covered with a purple duvet. The lump groaned as it lifted a part of its duvet, revealing dull brown eyes that slowly scanned the void around him. A brown arm extended out from the opening, waving around as it searched for something, patting the air. Eventually it's hand struck something hard and thick, the fog like substance forming into a nightstand, clock and a photo frame with a picture Entropy just couldn't quite see. It's fingers wrapped around the face of the clock, it's pulling it into under the covers with it.
“It's seven o'clock on a Saturday mom, whyyyy?” The lump groaned in a tough, masculine voice as he threw the clock out, grumbling as he tried to go back to sleep.
“Yep, and what could be a better way to wake up on a nice sunny day!” His mom said cheerfully, ending it with a giggle. “Now get up or I'll come in there with a bucket of cold water and dump it on you!”
“I'll call child services!”
“You do that, but you'll never find a better mom than me~.” She sang as she walked off somewhere, presumably towards the kitchen. With a long, drawn out sigh he sat up, exposing his shirtless chest. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he crept to the edge of the bed and planted his feet onto the floor, scratching his thin beard that barely started to grow. He stretched his arms out wide, yawning as a few joints popped. With a few smacks of his lips, he stood up, easily as tall as Celestia. Suddenly the empty, black void was vanquished, replaced by a blinding white one, albeit with a warm, comforting glow.
“What in Equestria?” Entropy muttered, as the brown being pushed his red curtains open, filling the room with warm sunlight that somehow passed through the whiteness. Each wall was painted a different colour; one was an ocean blue, one was a forest green, another was a strange shade of buttermilk, and the last one was just plain white. It was a strange assortment of colours; Entropy, however, found it strangely pleasing as a warmth of familiarity spread throughout his body.
Entropy took a look around the room, eyeing the device that he slipped on. A long, rectangular shaped object filled to the brim with buttons laid on its side, a glass bead pointing directly towards him. Next to the door was a thin black box with a glass screen that reflected the human behind him, but not himself. The box stood on a hollowed stand, which contained a thick white rectangular box, two white devices that looked like it was meant to be held by his hands laid next to it, along with lots and lots of green cases. On the far wall, a small desk, papers and books scattered along its surface, with a red lamp that oversaw them along with an unpowered lava lamp.
“Meh, I've seen better days.” Asger said with a shrug, his eyes bright and full of life. He scratched his bare legs, straightening his underpants before turning to a set of drawers next to the nightstand and opening one of the compartments. Pulling out a baggy looking black shirt with the words 'Fallout 3’ printed onto it and a pair of jeans, with a pair of socks. Awkwardly, Entropy watched him get dressed and, as he guessed, his shirt was a size or two too big,for him, limply clinging to him. A ‘ding’ drew the attention of both of them towards his desk, a hand-sized rectangle lit up with the date, time and an image of a cartoon-like man with his back to the screen stood on a rooftop, looking over a city, his black and white hair fluttering in the breeze. Three red tendrils sprouted from his back, framing text that scrawled over the screen, which happened to be just a name, Justin.
“Fucks that asshole want now?” Entropy asked, walking over to the phone. 'Wait, what? How do I know what that is?’ Suddenly, his vision flashed white for a few moments, jumping a few feet in the air as the other human brushed against him, finding himself to be locked in place. His hand reached out, grabbing the device and tapping on the screen with experienced dexterity. 'Am I in…his body? The fuck is going on!? Why am I so tall all of a sudden? What the fuck does 'fuck’ mean?!’ Involuntarily, he tapped onto an app, displaying various text messages under different names. Asger clicked onto Justin's bubble, popping up sentences sent by each other. His icon was a white guy with orange dyed hair, his blonde roots showing as he stuck up two fingers with his palm facing the screen.
{Sup dude, you up yet?} Was the message sent.
[Unfortunately, mom woke me.] Asger tapped across the screen with ease.
{Ha, you doin anything today?} He replied moments later.
[Probably, she didn't wake me up for nothing. I hope. My sister came home yesterday so it's probably something to do with that.]
{Young or hot one?}
[Dude, fuck you.]
{Heh, alright alright. If you're not able to come over I guess I'll find something to occupy myself.}
[You're gonna whack off to my sister aren't you?]
{Maybe}
“Heh, ass.” With a smirk, he slipped the phone into his pocket. 'Okay Entropy, keep calm. Somehow, you're inside this guy's head now. For some fucking reason.’ His body walked towards the door. As his hand gripped the knob, his vision went white and found himself in the kitchen, fixing himself a bowl of cereal, the windows still surrounded by the white fog. ‘Aw sweet, honey puffs!’ Entropy thought, his metaphorical mouth salivating as the smell hit his nostrils.
“Morning, Azz.” A small voice from behind him spoke up as the sound of a chair scraping across the wooden floor reached his ears. Asger jumped from the sudden voice, before calming himself and turning his head. A little girl, roughly nine or ten, slumped in her chair, a sleepy smile gracing her face. Her hair was done up in a ponytail, which dripped over her left shoulder. She wore a pink sweatshirt with a blue jay on it, the rest was blocked by a white table, however, both Asger and Entropy could see her toes poking out.
“Morning kiddo, want a bowl?” Asger asked shaking the box of cereal in his hands.
“Yes please.” Being the big brother that he was, Asger brought his own bowl to her, placing it onto the table with a spoon resting next to it. Lazily, she opened her eyes, revealing strange baby blue eyes that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight.
“How'd you sleep, squirt?” Asger asked as he made himself another bowl. Entropy took this moment to survey what he could see, which wasn't much. White cupboards lined the walls above a black marble countertop that glistened in the light. In his peripherals, a stainless steel kettle rested next to a socket, unplugged. As strange as he found it, he decided not to dwell on it, figuring that he would more than likely recognise more things that he had never seen before.
“Alright I guess, woke up a few times.” She responded, snapping Entropy from his train of thought. Asger sat down in front of her, smiling at her dopey expression as she ate.
“You should see your face right now, you look like a sleepy chibi.” Asger said with a spoon in his mouth, reveling in the sweet-tasting cereal. 'Yeah, that's Marria for you, small 'n cute.’ She responded with a raspberry, poking her tongue at him. “Your face will stick like that if the wind blows.” She poked her tongue out further. “Fine, don't say I didn't warn you.”
“Good morning, you two!!” Asger's mom said with a beaming smile as she burst through the door, a basket filled with dirty clothes held in her hands. She proceeded to throw them in the washing machine for a cycle. Neither of them moved to see her, both siblings groaning in unison from their mothers cheery attitude, their distaste for morning people clear to anyone. “Now now, that's enough of that, you two. Today's a great day,after all!”
“Yeah, yeah, we know. It's Akeely's graduation tomorrow, she'll be liberated from the evil bonds of high school.” Asger said with a spooky tone, wiggling his fingers at his mom as he turned to face her. The deadpan stare he received was more than worth all the gold in the world. Her coffee coloured eyes told the story of disappointment as she shook her head, to which he he smirked in return. With a sigh, she returned to what she was doing, straightening her red blouse as she filled the kitchen sink with hot water, throwing dirty dishes into it with a splash.
Wiping her hands on her yellow shorts she turned to Asger. “Could you go and see if she's awake, please?”
“Sure.” He stood up, drinking the leftover milk in his bowl before dumping it into the sink. Once again, Entropy's vision flashed white, dazing him for a moment before shaking it off. In a metaphorical sense. His vision was replaced with Asger leaning against the wooden door frame, poking his head inside the room with a dastardly smile.
“Hiya, sis.” The sudden voice made his older sis scream in fright, backpedaling from her mirror and drawing a thick trail of lipstick up her bronze coloured face.
“Oh, fuck you asshole!” She shouted, lobbing the lipstick off of his forehead, leaving a red dot. Asger threw his head back in laughter as he rubbed his head, smearing the makeup. “Ugh, now I have clean up. You knob-jockey, you're like a goddamn mouse!” As he continued to laugh, Entropy noticed that she wore a shoulder length, purple jumper with ripped denim jeans, her dark emerald eyes scowled at him as she fixed herself. A small, cute looking mole hung inches above the left corner of her mouth, the only blemish on a otherwise perfect face.
“Sorry, couldn't help myself. Mom was wondering if you were up, I guess I'll go and tell her.” He began to turn away from her, the white fog began to ascend the staircase and from down the hallway, blocking his view.
“Wait!” She shouted, tripping over a pile of clothes that he didn't notice before. On that note, the fog began to form inside her room too, warping everything other than him and her. Suddenly, Entropy found himself the one in control. He blinked for a few moments, getting used to the extra night before looking back at his sister.
“Uh, I uhm, what?” He said wobbling as Akeely watched with a questioning stare.
“I've been struggling with this stupid fucking graduation speech thing, I don't want it to be the usual speech that every other damn student says, I want mine to have a point, not like the 'we’ve come so far’ type shit, right?”
“Wait graduation speech, what are you talking about.” Entropy scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Without someone else at the wheel this time, he doesn't have any clue what to do or say, only taking guess's.
“Tsk, for fucks sake duuuuuuude, have you not been paying attention? Well it doesn't matter, it boring any way. I'm guessing mom told you about my scholarship to state, right?” She asked sitting down on the springy bed. “I don't know how to feel about it. I mean, it ain't a bad thing, obviously, it's just-”
“What, that's great, congrats, I mean- well, it's awesome!” He had no idea what he was saying, but he knew a scholarship is a big deal.
“Heh, thanks. But that's the thing. I don't know if I want to go.” She said hesitantly, as if she was afraid of his reaction.
“What?”
“Look, I.” She paused, thinking it over in her head. “I'm not going to sugar coat it or hide it or anything. I'm thinking of not going, ever. Period. Not to any school what's so ever. I'm thinking of just forfeiting the money.”
“Alright, and what are you gonna do instead?”
“I don't know. Travel the seas, explore the world. Move somewhere and get a job, learn on the job, yadda yadda. Look, one of this things i love about you is the face that you don't care about a lotta things, family and friends not included. You don't care what people think about you whether you're the brightness light in the room or a cold person that doesn't take shit from no one. So I'm gonna ask you this and I want the truth, no bullshit. Should I stay and study, or take a chance and leave?”
A silence filled the room as the white fog grew closer around them, leaving the bed and the two of them in a small clearing, everything else being consumed and erased. 'I, I don't know sis.’ He thought to himself as he stared at her.
“Well you have to decide, Entropy.” Time froze as Asger, a direct copy of Entropy's current form strolled out of the fog and into the clearing with them, standing directly next to Akeely. “If it eases your mind, nothing you say will affect the real her, she already made her choice.”
“You- i- what the fuck is going on?” Asger chuckled, evolving into a bellowing laugh.
“Jeez, not even an hour and you're already swearing. Fucks sake, guess even D’ ain't perfect.”
“D? Who's D? Can you please just tell me what's going on!?” Asger held a hand up, shaking his head.
“Everything will be explained in due time. And in time you'll remember a lot, maybe not everything, but a lot.”
“Remember? What are you talking about.”
“Where do you think you are, Entropy? You're in a memory. How else were you able to remember things that you haven't even seen or heard before. Such as the phone or swears.” He shook his head again, scoffing slightly. “Geez, if I knew I'd be a moron, I'd never taken D’s offer.”
“Well, azzy?” Akeely asked, tilting her head as the copy faded away into nothingness.
“A memory? This is my home? My real home? My real family?” Entropy whispered as he stared at the spot where the copy vanished.
“Azzy?” His sister stood up, concern written on her face as he lost himself in her eyes.
“I-- I don't know, sis. This isn't something that I can decide for you. If i influence you in whatever way, it'll be my fault if it doesn't work out for you.”
“Jeez, way to make me feel guilty for asking you.” She laughed, walking up to him. Taking the initiative, Entropy hugged her, feeling….happy, along with a hundred of other emotions, strangely content for whatever reason. “Uhm, what's this about Azz?”
“Just happy to have a sister like you. And know that whatever you choose I'll support you no matter what.” Tears welled up in his eyes, despite the strange and conflicting thoughts he was having about this situation. He knew that, whether or not it was real, he wasn't the only one of his kind. Even if he was the only human in Equestria, he knew three others in his heart and in his dreams.
His vision, despite blurred by the tears, he could clearly see himself I'm the distance. Smiling gently as he walked backwards, letting the fog eat him up as it grew closer and closer to Entropy.
“Love you sis.” His vision went white as he slowly woke up from the dream, hearing birds in the distance.
“I'll see you again someday, Entropy. It's only a matter of time.”
Entropy woke up to find that his face was buried into his pillow, said pillow was drenched in tears. Rearranging himself in a sitting position, he stared blankly out the window, the recent events playing clearly over and over again in his mind.
“Well, shit.”
Entropy stared at the hypnotic lava lamp that he teleported into his room, once he learned how to that is. It took immense amount of power and concentration just to get over the 'limiter’ as he dubbed the magical block on his matrix. The teleportation of the lamp almost hospitalised him, apparently the spell almost tore his heart into thousands of pieces.
“Ugh, that was painful. Lucky for me Sunset was around, huh?” He asked the lamp, watching the blobs float up and down, bouncing off of each other. He learned that day to never ever go beyond his limiter, especially without Sunset or his mother around.
It's been four years since his dream and since then nothing had happened. No other dream about his 'past’ nothing to do with Asger. He's been left with more questions than answers, with every day that passes, with every hour, more and more questions poured into his brain. Propping his head up with a fist, he dragged his across the warm glass, following a particularly large blob as it floated to the top.
“What...who am I really?” He asked himself as he opened his window with magic, replacing the stale air with clean, fresh air. He leaned away from the lamp, lifting and resting his feet on his desk as he cupped the back of his head with his hands. “More importantly, who the hell is this ‘D’?” A hard knock drummed on his door, scaring him from his thoughts as he tumbled to the ground, cursing as he hit the ground with a hard thud.
“Just a minute.” He groaned as he sat up, rubbing his back. With a painful crack, he stood up and dusted himself off, shaking his head as he quickly walked over to the door and opened it. Rose stood on the other side, her mane done up in a bun, a pink hair clip holding her bangs out of her face, a pink flower in a sea of darkness.
“That sounded painful, you okay?” She tilted her head up slightly so that she could see his face better. He'd suffered another growth spurt, making him the tallest in the class and making him just short of being eye level with the adults. With a huff, he nodded, leaning around the door to pick up his coat that was meant for the more colder months of the year.
“Yeah, just fell over my chair, Christ that hurt.” He said as he wrapped himself up. He noticed that Rose was dressed up in a forest green sundress that rested tightly against her barrel. A more appropriate attire for the beginning of summer.
“Who's Christ?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.
“Absolutely no idea.” He strolled down the hallway, resting his hands in his pocket, leaving her confused. Snapping out of it, she quickly caught up with him. “So, what's the plan? Since it's the holidays 'n stuff.” She shrugged, blushing out of embarrassment from the deadpan stare he gave her. “Well, You're useless huh?” He joked, patting her hair, smiling from the soft squeak she made. “Well I guess that means we'll just walk around till we find something, huh?”
She smiled and nodded, leading Entropy to do the same. A sudden thought breached his mind as he quickly patted his sides, the soft clinking if bits reassured him. 'Thank goodness I didn't forget my bits.’ With a mental chuckle and a shake of his head, the two of them made their way to the main doors, the guards saluting as they walked past. It was midway through autumn, so the cold air wasn't that bad, but the sudden chill sent shivers down his spine. Snuggling deeper into his coat, he breathed in the autumn air, watching the orange leaves drift along with the breeze.
“E-e-excuse me, young lord?” A stallion stuttered behind him. With a confused hum, Entropy turned to look at the pony as he straightened himself. A young-looking guard stood motionless, saluting Entropy as a lock of multi-blue-coloured mane hung in front of his face, the rest of it hidden behind his golden helmet, a white horn jutting out. His coat was the same as the other guards in the castle. His cutiemark depicted a blue shield with a purple six-pointed star in the centre. Three white, five-pointed stars were above the shield. It was obvious that his special talent was in defensive magic. “Private Shining Armor, at your disposal. I've been tasked to follow you.”
“At ease, Shining. There's no need to work yourself up.” Entropy chuckled, noticing the stallion relax rather quickly as he quickly brushed his mane out of view. “You're new the the royal guard aren't you?”
“Yes sir!” He saluted, before cursing under his breath as he relaxed. “I finished training not that long ago.” He said with a proud smile.
“Cool, you can help us decide where to go then.” Entropy said nonchalantly as he made his way to the gates, Rose plodding along beside him. Stammering, Shining quickly caught up to them, listening and answering any questions. Captain Cross watched the trio as they walked from the castle balcony his one good eye watching for any excuse to rip into the newbie as they made their way out of sight. With a sigh, the old stallion sat on his haunches.
“Your son sure has grown, princess.” He said, turning his head to face Celestia as she sat down next to him. “And not just in maturity either.”
“I see you noticed too, huh?” She giggled, watching the pegai push their clouds around for an oncoming storm. “It's a strange thing to witness, I wonder how big his species grows?” She asked herself, lifting a hoof to her chin. Allowing a small smirk, Cross shook his head.
“Who knows, he could be as tall as you one day.” A small chuckle left him, his tired eyes concentrating on a leaf as he thought about what he was going to say to her. “Listen princess, I'm getting on in my years, I've been a captain for a long time and I've stuck by you whenever you needed me, but, I can't go on anymore.” Celestia gave him a questioning stare, but otherwise said nothing, motioning with a hoof for him to continue. “I'm hanging up my armor, setting my sword down. Yadda, yadda.” He waved his hoof around. “I'm just too tired. I'm not a spunky, arrogant teen anymore.”
“Are you sure, captain?” She asked, placing a hoof on his shoulders. He nodded, staring her in the eyes.
“Yeah, the world doesn't need me anymore. They need a pony like Shining Armor, he's got the devotion that I don't. Unlike me, he could go beyond the rank of captain.”
“You do realise that I could've promoted you countless times, right? You could have been a Major general by this point, all you needed to do was ask.”
“I know, but like I said. I'm not as devoted as I once was.” He took off his helmet, letting his navy blue hair fall over his dead eye. “Besides, I've been looking forward to my retirement for a long time.” He stood up, walking towards a pair of doors. “It's been a fun ride princess, till next time.”
“Goodbye, Cross.” Celestia watched as he left, thoughts running through her head a hundred times per minute. A cold chill run up her spine as she snapped her gaze to the sky with hard, cold eyes.
“....Well since I couldn't make it to your tenth birthday, I was thinking we could, I don't know, have a picnic somewhere?” Rose blushed, looking away from Entropy. The blush went unnoticed as he took another bite of the steaming hot blueberry pastry, humming from the taste. “I could give you a late present while we relaxed.”
“Come on, you don't have to get me a present, but a picnic does sound nice. Oh! We could do it In the statue garden! It always has a great view!” He smiled, holding the pastry in his magic as he turned to his companion, raising an eyebrow at her as she missed a step and nearly fell on her face, a scarlet blush spreading from her cheeks to the tops of her ears.
'D-d-d-do it in the garden!?’ She thought, staring at the ground with wide eyes. 'No, he isn't thinking like that, right?’
“Yo, you alright, Rose?” Entropy asked, concerned as he held a hand against her shoulder, inches away from her face, causing her blush to deepen in colour. With a nod and a hum, she quickly looked away from him concentrating on anything other than Entropy. With a shrug, he turned to the armor-clad stallion who stood stiffly, a sentry scanning the environment while also keeping an eye on the two. “You alright there Shiny?” Taken back a little, Shining Armor snapped to the prince as if somepony slapped him across the face.
“Yes, my Lord!” he saluted before resuming to scan the area.
“Uhm, oookay.” Without hesitating, Entropy devoured his treat before taking off back towards the castle leaving the two in a cloud of dust, laughing at their wails and pleas to slow down. He made it to the castle gates in record speeds and, albeit breathless, walked proudly through. As he entered the castle shortly after, he waved down a member of staff and relayed his plans to the pony, who nodded and began to prepare for the picnic. He walked back outside, and with a skip to his step, made his way to the statue garden, weighed down with a blanket under his arm.
Halfway down the path he spotted a strange, mismatched creature that was somewhat familiar to him. A smorgasbord of different animal parts, some of which he couldn't quite describe. Frankly it kinda hurt his head as it tried to make out what it was. It had the head of goat with a deer antler and a goat horn; a long, thick noodle-like body ending in the tail of a dragon. It had a lion's paw and a eagles claw as well as a lizard’s leg and pony leg. It's mane was styled like a zebra's with big bushy eyebrows and goatee. It also had a single, sharp tooth.
Entropy dropped the blanket in freight as an ominous laugh permeated through the air, seemingly coming from everywhere. Something brushed against his back, causing him to spin around and began to back up. An unearthed root tripped him up, smacking his head against the statue, a thin trickle of blood leaking from his head. Groaning, he looked up from his position, scaring himself greatly from the rather evil looking face of the statue. He crawled backwards from it, gasping for air as he kept his eyes on it.
Once he was far enough away, to his standards anyway, he took a moment to compose himself, reassuring himself that it was just a lump of stone. Something shimmered within the vegetation that consumed the base of the statue, piquing his curiosity. With a calming breath in and out, he slowly walked towards the vegetation, making quick glances to the statue every now and then. With a deep breath, he grabbed a handful of the plants and pulled them away from the stone, tearing leaves and branches to get to his goal. The bright golden plate shimmered in the sunlight, blinding Entropy ever so slightly as he read the title of the plate.
‘Discord, the spirit of chaos. May his reign of terror never come to pass again.’
“Discord?” He said to himself. As he stared at the statue. “Why does that sound familiar?” A shiver ran the length of his spine as he could hear laughter drift along the wind. Something wasn't right with this statue, like he knew there was more to the cold stone than meets the eye. Floating the blanket towards him he slowly walked away into a clearer area, far away from Discord's statue, occasionally passing glances at it as he walked.
Regardless if it was just a statue or not, that thing creeped him out.
Entropy sighed as he stretched on the rooftop, soaking up the spring sun and listening to the teachings that his mother gave Sunset. He'd been 'spying’ on them for a few years, picking up things here and there. Ways to reduce blowback chance, increasing the overall magic pool, and so forth. Of course, the two knew that he was spying on them and even invited him to learn, but, he denied, opting to take the 'cooler’ and ‘stealthier’ option.
Pushing the sunglasses onto his brow, he stared blankly at the spires of the castle, watching birds make nests in the holes that couldn't be patched up. He thought about telling Sunset about the dream he had long ago, but figured she already had enough on her plate, what with her studies. ‘Being mom's student is hard enough. He thought, as he slowly tuned their conversation out. 'She doesn't need my problems and worries.’
He closed his eyes and let out a longing sigh. What he was yearning for, he didn't know, he only knew that he wanted it. A sense of understanding he guessed, something that would show him what was happening to him.
“One can dream, huh?” He asked nopony in particular, sitting up and cracking his back, before sliding his sunglasses back onto his nose and beginning to walk towards the window that he crawled out of. Sliding through the opening, he landed onto the tile floor with a thud. His saddlebag was stuffed into the corner under the window, which he himself had heavily modified to fit comfortably on his back. Rummaging through the backpack, the name he had so proudly given it, he pulled out a journal that he was writing in, and with a single white quill, he opened the journal to a blank page and began to write.
I've been thinking about that damn dream again, no matter what I do I just can't push it out of my head. What the hell does it mean? On another note, Sunny has been acting weird recently. She's more… controlling I guess, more commanding. I don't know what's going on with her. It's like I can't do anything without her knowing or without her approval. Hell, she's shouted at Rose a good few times when she thinks I'm not around. Maybe it's stress? I don't know. I-
“My lord?” Somepony asked, causing Entropy to jump and press too hard onto the page, breaking the quill in his hands and spilling the ink in it and smudging the page. “Oh my, my lord, you should really be careful with that stuff.” Entropy mentally sighed, as he turned to face the pony who was speaking. A noble mare called 'Silky Sky’. A mare that ever since his eleventh birthday tried to get on his ‘good side’ by sticking to him like glue. Although that's only when Sunset isn't around, like right now.
“Oh, Miss Silky. You gave me a fright there.” He said as he began to dab at the spilled ink with a handkerchief as Silky began to trot over to him. 'Happy’ with his work, he folded it up, and shoved it back into his pocket. “What can I do for you my dear?”
“Oh nothing my lord, nothing at all. I was just wondering what you were doing in such a, ugh, dirty and dank corner of the castle.” She visibly shivered, as if the words were just as disgusting. Packing away his things, Entropy met her half way, taking her hoof in one hand and gently kissed it. Earning a short giggle from her. “Oh my, since when were you a charmer, hmm?”
“Ah, ah. One question at a time.” He sang waving a finger back and forth. “ As to your first question, I was basically sunbathing on the roof.” He shrugged, slugging his backpack over his back. “As to your second question well, I'm twelve now, I know how to appreciate beauty when I see it.” Resisting the urge to throw up, he smiled as she giggled, lifting a hoof to her mouth as she did so.’Ugh, how does mom put up this this crap.’ He thought as he let go of her other hoof.“May I ask what you are doing in the castle?”
“Well i was on my way to see-.” And like a light bulb, he switched off. Paying little to no interest to her. 'I don't have the time to care about power hungry nobles.’ He sighed mentally nodding every now and then, 'ohh-ing’ and 'ohh-ing' as she talked. He trudged along side her, considering the pros and cons of defenestration when he was suddenly teleported about a thousand feet in the air.
“Huh?” He stood frozen in midair for a few seconds, blinking in a comical fashion before plummeting to the ground, screaming like a filly as he waved his limbs back and forth. His backpack was torn from his back, spilling their contents all over the castle grounds. “What the hell?! Did I just teleport?! ACK!” He coughed and sputtered as he got a face full of cloud, passing through with a 'pomf’. The wind stung his face as he picked up speed, threatening to tear his skin.
Concentrating, Entropy cast a levitation spell on himself, slowing down fast enough for him to collect his thoughts. “Ooookay, what just happened? I know I didn't cast a teleportation spell, especially considering the last time I tried to teleport something.” He shivered at the thought and held his chest, remembering the painful sensation. A flock of birds squawked above him, pulling his attention from that particular memory, his eyes widening as he took in the scene before him. As he stared beyond the city spires, he saw vast, tree-riddled mountains that pierced the heavens with their snow-blanketed peaks, the light glinting off of the powdery tips of the smoky mountains.
In the distance, he could barely see the the docks of Fillydelphia, black blurs leaving and entering the port city. Managing to calm himself down properly, he adjusted his spell slightly, allowing him to pass through the air gently, as if he were a balloon tied to a stone. It put some stress on his matrix, but nothing like it used to be. 'I guess practice does make perfect.’ He thought to himself, making himself drift towards his mother's chambers.
“Okay, now that I'm not going to die anytime soon, what in Equestria is goin' ON!” He shouted to the heavens, waving his arms comically. “I know my magic has been acting weird lately, but still! This is really freaking random, even for me.”
“Hohohoho, it is strange isn't it?” A feminine voice said, knocking him from his ramblings, instead searching for the disembodied voice.
“Who's there?” He asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. Suddenly, the castle rumbled and rocked, cracking and breaking. Flag poles fell, colliding with the ground below as the castle... transformed into a blank face, sort of resembling his own face, the white stones melding and knitting together, simulating what he could only guess to be flesh. The white stone faded into a bright pink as 'eyes’ formed and locked onto him.
“Hello!” the face beamed cheerfully, as the rocky mountain twisted acting as a neck for the face getting a better look at him. Entropy could only stare in shock and disbelief, not fully comprehending what was going on. It stared at Entropy in confusion. “Hellooooo~, can yooooou heeeearrr meeeee?” It drew out its words, speaking loudly.
“Wha-, what the hell?”
“Hey! Watch it sailor! I'll tell Tia on yooouuu~.” It sang, winking at him.
“What are you? What's go on?!” He asked, keeping himself still in the air with his magic.
“What I am is of no importance, at least, not yet. As to what's going on, well….” The world around him faded to black as he lost control of his magic. He fell with a high pitched scream, falling into an endless void, the velocity making his stomach twist and turn. He landed with a quack onto a bed-like floor that squeaked, barked and various other sounds with each step. The checkered blue and pink pattern messed with his eyes, dazing him momentarily. “This is a sort of…test. ” It said, echoing within the limitless space he found himself in.
“Test? What kind of test?” Silence was the only answer he received. “Oh come on! You can't just drop this on me!” A sigh left him as he awkwardly walked along the 'Ground’, picking a random direction, the random noises quickly irritating him. “Okay, so I must be having some sort of very vivid dream. Realistic dream? Oh ponyfeathers, I don't know anymore. More to the point, when did I fall asleep? Can somepony pleeeease explain this to meeee?”
“Well, you're right about one thing. You are having a dream.” Sunset spoke, popping into existence with a flash of magic. Entropy's scream was less than manly. Landing on the ground with a beep, he scrambled away from Sunset, leaving a cartoonish after-image of white cloud.
“W-wha? Sunny, what are you doing here!?” He pointed an accusing finger at her from his defensive stance.
“What do you mean? You wanted somepony to explain.” Sunset said almost robotically, tilting her head to the side, never blinking.
“Well, I-, Gaahh! I'm so confused!” He gripped the sides of his head, shaking it side to side, before coming to a realisation. “Wait, you're here because I asked somepony to explain?” She nodded, saying nothing. “Okay, so that must mean you're not actually Sunset, right?”
“Correct, I am a mental construct created by your wishes. Basing my form off of your friends.” She blinked. 'Okay, totally not creepy at all.’ Entropy thought as he relaxed somewhat.
“Okay, so there's no point freaking out about this stuff, I guess. Take it all in my stride. Even if it does weird me out. Alright, ignoring the sorta contradictory thing goin on, why the hell am I doing this test? And what do I do?” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“As to first, I'm afraid I cannot answer. Not because I do not know, because I am prevented from doing so. As to the second, it's simple, anything.” Entropy's mental gears stopped turning, failing to comprehend. Fulfilling its purpose, the image of Sunset vanished in a reverse flash, leaving him once again alone.
'Anything?’ He repeated mentally, scratching his chin. “Is it really that simple? Woah, okay, I'm way too accepting of this.” He deadpanned. “Whelp, better start with some lighting I guess. Ahem, and God said, let there be light!” He proclaimed in the darkness, cupping his mouth with his hands.
Nothing happened.
“Damnit God, you failed me!” He slammed his foot, ignoring the ‘fail trombone’ tune. ‘Wait, who even is God?’ “Ah, rats.”He sighed disappointedly, snapping his fingers. Suddenly the ground rumbled and shook, knocking Entropy down onto his butt. The ground erupted not two feet away, a huge flood of multicoloured rats bursting out like a geyser, spraying the rodents everywhere.
“Oh for the love of-! I didn't even mean that . For crying out loud, dream, pick your rules and stick to them! Dirty, stinkin, cheater.” He pouted and crossed his arms, glaring at the ever flowing river of rats. Before long, an epiphany reached him and he tore his gaze from the rats to his hand. 'I summoned them by snapping my fingers, right? So what if I…?’
“Begone?” He questioned, snapping his fingers, his eyes widening as every rat disappeared. “Okay, so I have to snap them to trigger it. If only magic was like this.” Ensentuating the statement with a snap.
“What would be the fun in that?” A clone of Entropy said as he stepped out from behind him, dressed up in a classic, French, black and white maid outfit with little frills and showing off a little muscle. Entropy stared at the clone in shock before signing and making the 'i dunno’ sound.
“I guess it would be easier, you know, to snap and do whatever you want.” Leaning back, he fell onto a plush bench that appeared, sort of resembling a chaise longue.
“Easy things that come to you are bad my friend, at least that's what I believe.” Another clone said as it appeared dressed up in a full black suit and glasses, writing something onto its clipboard. The first close went about dusting nonexistent shelves. “I mean, think about how proud you felt when you learned how to do magic.”
“True. I guess.” The suit clone snapped it's fingers, a copy of this chapter flashed onto his clipboard as it was being written. “Man, none of this makes sense.” Entropy groaned rubbing his face.
“Sense? Where's the fun in making sense? Order and harmony. Peace and friendship. Such a thing, while good, can also be bad.” Entropy blinked, unfazed about the fact that he was now upside down dressed in a pink tutu and having a tea party with himself in a red silk dress. The clone in front of him was- “And another thing you! We're not clones you prick!”
“W-what?”
“Nothing, nothing, just teaching what is basically our God not to disrespect us.” The….other Entropy said, in fact let's call him red, humming a small tune. 'Ooohhh-kay?’ The original thought as he rubbed the back of his head. “Anyway, what's happening bub, looks like something's eating you, and it ain't Sunny….well, yet anyway.”
“I don't know, this all feels….familiar, like I've been here before. In this... endless void.” Entropy said taking a long, spanning look around the place as he found himself. “Wait, what did you just sa-”
“In any case,” Red continued, ignoring the original, “the feeling of déjà vu will pass, it's most likely from Asger when he was here. Now, how about some music?” Adjusting his dress, Red snapped his fingers, a group of Entropy's im mariachi band, complete with sombreros and ponchos as a few more tables flashed onto existence. Some were upside down and floating, while others were sideways. Each of them was filled with two or more Entropys, each varying in clothing to suits with ties to skimpy dresses that left nothing to imagination. Some left their seats and began to dance as the band played, some shape shifting and playing pranks on each other.
“Okay, I know I said I didn't care anymore, but this is messing with me baaad.”
“Why should it? We only exist because of you. You're mind is subconsciously creating us.”
“I know!!” The original Exclaimed, as shown by the exclamation marks. “It's just super weird!”
“I guess, by your current idea of normalisation, this is weird. But to us, it is chaos!” Red laughed, throwing his arms up in the air, spinning in a swivel chair. “And that's completely different!” 'How in the hell is that different?’ He thought as four candles jumped onto the table, before lighting themselves on fire. Another Entropy appeared, dressed in a full piece waiter suit with a bushy moustache, holding a silver tray, two wine glasses somehow balanced off of each other but never touching the tray. Next to the glasses was a bottle of clorox bleach.
“Messieurs, a bottle of the finest bleach, made in nineteen sixty-six. I do hope you enjoy.” The two glasses and the bleach floated towards the two before sitting in the table, the bottle pouring the clear liquid into the glasses by itself. “If you need any assistance, please give me a call.” And with that he vanished.
“Ahh, some good old vintage bleach.” Red sighed blissfully, swirling the liquid along the lip of the glass, taking a whiff of the aroma before gently nursing it, sorta like one would do with a good scotch or whisky.
“Is it even safe to drink that? It smells like a hospital wing.” The original said, poking the glass. Red shrugged as a downed the remaining liquid. He hummed with caution as he picked it up and took a swig. “Huh, kinda fruity.”
“That's the beauty of chaos, me. Anything can be everything. As long as you wish it to be.” With a piercing crack, Red took a large bite out of his glass, humming in delight from the 'taste’. “So, you gonna try something?”
“W-what do you mean?”
“Well, I mean you haven't really tested out your ‘powers’, have you? Well, apart from a failed attempt to create light.”
“Hey! I'm doing my best here! This isn't exactly how I'd thought I'd be spending my time, ya know!” Red said nothing, flashing the original a snug smile, irritating him to no end. “Grr, fine!” He snapped his fingers, changing the scenery of the void. Multicoloured strands of light and magical energy wove together, creating a chaotic sky. Gold, gray, purple, the background never stayed the same, always switching at least three colours at a time. Rocky, stone staircases sprouted from the ground like thick trees, sometimes leading to a door, sometimes leading nowhere. Some were as small as mice, some were as large as mountains. A large chunk of the ground was ripped out, floating high into the air as liquid chocolate materialised and carved its way out of the floating chunk, flowing further up as it burst out of one side, rounding back down towards the ground, the tip of the stream fading into nothingness before it touched.
A huge, life-like version of himself rose in the distance, easily taller than MT Canterlot, dressed in a green gown and tiara. holding a flaming torch in the air and holding a book of some sort close to his chest. Red whistled in astonishment as he stroked his beard that had just appeared.
“Nice touch with the statue of liberty. Veerry niiiice.” His beard vanished in a puff of red smoke as he drew out his words. He clamped his teeth around the stem of the wine glass, crunching on the shards before chucking the remainder of the glass away, unfazed by the explosion that followed suit. “Yes, I think it's almost time.” He smirked, his voice suddenly turning dark and sinister. With a snap, every Entropy disintegrated before the original, who looked on in horror. The waiter from before grabbed onto the originals shoulder with a vice like hand, staring him in the eye with desperation as he whispered.
“.....I don't want to go….” The desperation in his voice shook the original to the very core as he disintegrated into a pile of ash.
“W-what…..what did you do!?” The Entropy shouted at Red as the world returned to its original state, the blank void sending chills down his spine. He could no longer tell if he was upside down or not, but then again, he guessed it didn't matter anymore.
“Nothing. At least, not yet. On another note, congratulations, you passed the test. Goodbye for now, it's time to wake up.” Suddenly, Entropy felt his left side go numb. And upon checking what was going on, his left fist collided with his face.
His world went white.
Entropy sat up from his spot on the hard tiled roof, breathing hard as the last of the sun’s rays descended upon him. 'How long have I been here?’ He asked himself once he caught his breath, watching the brilliant orange orb slowly dip down past the horizon. ‘Jeez, that's the first thing I ask? Not the whole freaky dream and whatnot? Man I need to get my priorities straight’ With a sigh, he charged up a teleport spell and vanished with a bright flash, appearing in the Canterlot archives. Grabbing a book at random, he sat on the nearest chair and crossed his legs on the table, ignoring the fact that he teleported without so much as breaking a sweat.
“Man I feel weird today.” Entropy rubbed at his chest, feeling the remaining magic from his spell dissipate. “Wait, that's right! What the hell!?” Quickly realising what had happened he scrambled from the desk and onto his two feet, he quick checked himself for any wounds. “Huh? Wha- but I just teleported, shouldn't I be in pain….or...something?”
Humming to himself, he decided to test his magic. Focusing on the book that had fallen to the ground, his matrix flared as magic pooled into the spell and, with a flash, the book teleported back onto the table opened on a random page. He gasped as he did another. Nothing. No pain in his chest, no feeling of being torn open, just the feeling of drained magic, which quickly refilled as it drew in the magic around Entropy.
“Woah…” Was all he could say. “Okay, so I'm what, fixed now? Man, more questions than answers right now, huh?” He asked rhetorically, knowing full well that he'd probably never get his answers. “Oh man, I gotta show Sunset. But where is she?” Thinking for a moment, Entropy glanced at a nearby clock. “Hmm, considering the time of day, I'd say she's on her way home; heh, mom's teachings sure do go on for a while.” Snickering to himself as he shoved the book back in its place in the bookshelf, he watched the twilight sky grow darker and darker from the window on the far wall when suddenly an idea leaped into his mind. “Oooh, I'm so gonna get into trouble for this.”
With a dark smile creeping onto his face, he took off towards the window and with a gesture from his hand, the panels flung open. Boosting his speed with magic, he quickly closed in on the open window, smiling at the still-warm air and planting a foot onto the base of the frame, launching himself out of the castle. He sailed through the air as his clothes whipped around his body, catching the wind. The whole of Canterlot was lit up in a brilliant darkish purple light, accompanied by the bright street lights and the soft orange light from buildings.
“WOOOO-HOOOO! HA HA!” His heart pounded, adrenaline surging as he ‘flew’, gliding over the gates of the castle before he began to lose altitude. A few ponies looked up to the sky as his shout reached their ears, but quickly went back to what they were doing as they could barely see anything. Smiling to himself, he used levitation to keep himself afloat, his new-found freedom with his magic spurring him on. A short 'fizz’ drew his attention as the aura around him flickered and buzzed.
“Uh-oh.” In the blink of an eye, the aura failed and he began to fall towards the stoney ground and this time, unlike the dream, he didn't have long to go before he hit the ground. Panic quickly set in as he tried and failed to power up the spell again and again, but ultimately failed, his mind unfocused. “I shoulda had back up plan!” His scream was cut short as he suddenly stopped, his nose only a millimeter away from being squished as his whole body was consumed in Sunsets magic.
“Are you bucking crazy!?” Sunset yelled, dropping Entropy as she stomped over to him. He landed with an ‘oof’, dazed as his head collided with the stoney ground. “You moron! What in Tartarus made you jump out of the Celestia damned window!?” The ponies that had gathered quickly dispersed from the cold, angry face the Sunset was giving Entropy, deciding to live rather than face Sunset. His collar became enveloped by her magic, pulling him towards her, their foreheads pressed tightly against one another, glaring straight into his soul. “Well!?”
“W-w-well, m-my magic felt different so I thought it test it a little?” This was obviously not the correct answer.
“Test it a little? Test it a little!? You jumped out of the castle!” Sunset raised a hoof, ready to clonk him over the head when suddenly he made a squeak and teleported a few feet away from her, landing on his butt. Shocked into silence, Sunset stared at her friend, before rushing over, checking him over, forgetting his reckless behaviour. “You idiot! What do you think you're-, what?” She asked herself, her magical checks showing no danger. “But- I, when you, what?”
“That's what I was about to tell you. The 'Limiter’ is gone. I teleported from the roof to the library without any problems. Nothin at all.”
“But, the last time you teleported something you nearly died! How come it’s different? Why's the 'Limiter’ gone?” She paused, double checking his matrix, staggering back from the strength it had. “And why has it gotten so strong all of a sudden?”
“How the hell should I know, Sunny? I just know that it happened.” Sunsets eyebrows furrowed, but otherwise ignored his choice of words, she always does when he says random stuff like 'hell’. He decided it would be better to not tell her about the dream. He didn't know why, he just didn't, like it was an unspoken law. “But I really want to test out my magic now, wanna come?” He sprung from his spot on the ground, stars glimmering in his eyes.
“As much as I'd want to I've got...friends to see. Yeah, that's right! We're gonna hang out and do stuff. Mare stuff. Stuff you wouldn't understand, so yeah. See ya!” She quickly made her way to get away, but was stopped by Entropy.
“Sunny, you and I both know you don't have friends. Mostly from your lack of trying. What are you really gonna do?” She flinched, having been caught in her lie before sighing.
“Fine, I'm going to go and study for the next semester test for Celestia’s school. Besides, I don't need any friends, I've got magic. Anything else is nothing compared to that.”
“Jeez that was harsh, considering I'm right here! You two-toned harlot! Haven't you learned anything from mom? Friendship is magic, after all. You can study anytime at all, just take a break and socialise, it’ll be good for you!”
“Hmph, I've got better thing to do that to socialise and have friends, Entropy! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to re-re-read advanced transmutation. Good day to you!” She vanished with a pop, leaving Entropy alone on the streets.
“Damn him!” Sunset shouted, slamming her door behind her with such force that it shook the dust that had collected on it's frame onto the ground. “Who does he think he is?! Telling me what's good for me. He doesn't know a thing about what's good for me. Doesn't he get it? I don't need friends. I don't want them. The only one that I do want is him! Him and power is all that I need in life. I deserve magic.”
She pulled a book about transmutation and sat down on a pillow with it, trying and failing to read it. “Still, I'm proud he can finally use magic properly.” She sighed out, closing the book and setting it aside, staring at the ceiling. “He's such a fool. Doesn't he know friends only weigh you down? It's better to have no friends, and yet I'm stuck with him as one. Heh, what kind of hypocrite am I?”
'Am I wrong?’ She thought to herself, glancing at the black sky before her eyes narrowed, focused and cold. 'No, power is the only thing that matters in this world, nothing else. I'll become god-like, unstoppable.’ She flicked her gaze to a poster of her mentor, a dark ominous smile crossed her face.
‘Able to rival Celestia herself.’
Entropy sighed as he sat on his balcony railing, kicking his legs back and forth through the gaps. Staring at the mare in the moon, his thoughts running a mile per second, questioning Sunset. '...Besides, I don't need any friends, I've got magic.’ Her words repeated in his head as he raised a hand up to his face, surrounding it in his magic, watching it flicker and fizz in and out of existence.
“Magic is nothing with your friends, Sunny. Who's gonna lift you up when you fall? Who's gonna support you when times are tough? Nopony is gonna like you if all you care about is power.” Arcs of magic danced along his open palm, crackling like an open fire. It felt weird to him. There were now times were he could use magic without fail, then there were times were it would stop working when he was in the middle of something. “Somethin’ ain't right. I don't know anymore.”
He teleported into his room near the entrance, noting that he expended more magic than he needed, causing a burn mark in the shape of a circle to engrave itself into the floor. 'Hmm, I can definitely still use magic, even if I did overcharge it.’ He thought while pulling a book from the bookshelf, cleaning the mark with another spell. The book quickly floated over and rested on his open hands. 'I can still levitate stuff as well. Maybe it was because of my weight that the spell failed?’ Using a newly-learned spell, Entropy quadrupled the weight of the book, roughly about the same weight of an earth pony. Grunting from the mental strain, he found that he could still lift it, if only at a slower pace. He held it in place for half an hour while he practiced other types of magic, but at no point did the spell fail and drop the book.
“Huh, this is so strange. Maybe I should bring it up with mom?” He looked towards his window, noting how high the moon was in the sky. “Maybe not, she must be asleep by now.” A shiver crawled down his spine, the cold, mountain air flowing through the small gaps between the window. Hugging his arms, he strolled towards the fireplace in the far wall, blowing the dust from its mantle and placing fresh wooden logs in the firepit. “Jeez, I always forget about this thing.” With a snap of his fingers, something he often did with fire magic, the logs lit themselves in a brilliant orange blaze before he knelt beside it. He raised his hands to the flame, enjoying the warmth.
Pulling over a few pillows and blankets, Entropy laid down beside the fire, watching the flames dance and lick at the stone frame, in a hypnotic trance. His worries and thoughts were pushed to the back of his head, locked in a cage with its key thrown away. For now, at least. He yawned as he heard three taps from his door.
“It's open!” He curled up on the floor, a blanket lazily draped over his body. He didn't say a word as the door opened and somepony trotted in, pausing for a second before humming and curling around him, draping a long feathery wing around him. “Hey, I thought you'd be asleep, mom.”
“I should be, but I can't fall asleep. To be honest I've gotten used to you sleeping beside me when you were younger, it's kinda hard to fall asleep without somepony there.” Celestia spoke in a soft, mothering voice, also caught in a trance by the flame. “Speaking of, mister , Shouldn't you be in bed?” Celestia said with a giggle, poking his stomach, smiling as he laughed softly.
“Yeah, but I have a lot on my mind at the moment.”
“Ha! Try living for thousands of years, then come to me about problems.” The two shared a laugh before quieting, simply enjoying one another's warmth and company. “But in all seriousness, what's troubling you, my child?”
“Well other than my magic acting weird, I'm worried about Sunny, who is also acting weird. And don't even get me started on my strange dreams. One second it's a life I've never had and the next it's the most strange and the most random thing ever.” Entropy sighed, snuggling against her fur, finding it harder to keep his eyes open. “I don't know what's happening to me, and i doubt the people reading this chapter do either…”
“I wish I knew how to help you. If only Lulu was here.” She said absent mindedly, as she rested her chin on his head. “Wait, ‘of this chapter’? What do you-” Her words trailed off as she listened to the soft gentle snore of her son, ignoring his choice of words and instead listening to the sound of his heartbeat.
Entropy once again found himself in the body of Asger, sitting on a concrete ledge overlooking a small park-like area, with a large willow tree in the center. He sighed in bliss as he smelled and tasted the fresh cucumber slices in his sandwich, going well with the peppered ham slices. His legs thumped the brick wall beneath him, the child in him laughing with glee. Normally at this time, he'd be in class, however it was a free period before lunch so he decided to have it now, rather than later. It wasn't long until he was joined by his friend.
“Shouldn't you be in class, Justin?” Asger said, his bored voice making Justin smile.
“Yep.” Was all Asger got
“Of course.” Asger sighed, shaking his head as he offered his other sandwich, which Justin quickly snapped up. “You'd better be glad I ain't the class rep. Otherwise I'd report your ass.”
“Report what? That it’s ungodly tight?” He said with a full mouth, wiping the cucumber juices from his mouth
“Pfft, you wish.” The two shared a laugh as they turned their attention to the sky, following the cotton balls of clouds as they slowly drifted away. Entropy noted that the two enjoyed each other's company, content to stay silent as the the bell rang, indicating the start of the lunch period. He watched as the area was quickly filled with people of all types, however, for whatever reason Entropy couldn't explain, their faces seemed to blank. No features or wrinkles, just blank slates. This didn't seem to bother Asger, in fact, he waved to a few as they left the building.
“So, what's your plans for tomorrow?” Justin asked, chucking the crusts into his mouth.
“Haven't got a clue. Mom needs some help working out the finances, but other than that? Fuck all.” Asger laid back onto the tiled floor, staring straight at a patch of cloudless sky, letting his mind wander. “What about you?”
Justin shrugged, laying next to him as he took out his phone, opening the music section and dragging his finger up the enormous list. “Well, I've got work at the local mechanic but other than that, nothing.”
“Wait, you still listen to Eminem? Jeez, 2008 called and they want their edgy music back.”
“You can talk, mister Skillet!” Justin snapped, jokingly. “Besides, it's not like you don't listen to him.”
“Alright, that's fair.” Was all he said as Justin tapped a song title, soft music playing shortly after. Asger waved his foot to the music, humming along to it. “I am such a fool to keep on chasing after nothing great..” He sung, the warm sun casting its beams on his face. Justin laughed as he listened to his friend singing along, following him shortly after.
Soon after, however, the bell rung again, signalling the students to return to the building. Asger let out a defeated sigh as he sat up, popping his back. “Jeez, has it been forty five minutes already?”
“Fraid so. Man I'm not looking forward to the math test…” Justin trailed off, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he picked up his phone.
“Dude, don't worry. You're gonna ace this.” Asger gave a reassuring pat to the back. “Besides, it ain't exam term yet.” Slinging his own bag on, he made a move towards the door, his friend following shortly after.”
“Ugh, don't remind me dude.” A tired, blank expression crossed his face, as if in a complete catatonic state.
“Hey, come on. Get rid of that expression. Tell you what, we'll stop by your favourite food place, my tre-” Asger didn't get to finish his sentence before being roughly turned to face his friend, the vice-like grip on his shoulders preventing him from even shifting.
“You meeeeaaaaan it?!” Justin's face was replaced with a hyperactive child’s, his eyes lighting up with stars in them. Letting out a long sigh, Asger nodded with a sincere smile.
“I'm probably gonna regret it, considering how much you can eat, fatass, but yeah. And I'll pay for it.”
“Haha! Yes! Free food! Hahahahaha!” He began to dance on the spot, still clinging to Asger’s shoulders. “Ooh I wonder what i should get. Ramen with spicy pork? Pizza? Burgers!? Oooh the endless possibilities!” He sprung from his spot and ran down the steps, vanishing from Asger’s vision. He shook his head, closing his eyes for a brief amount of time, letting out a puff of air.
“Today's gonna be looooooooooong.” Asger smirked as he popped a joint in his neck, sighing in bliss from the strange relief.
……
“Now Sunset Shimmer.. For your final test, you shall need to wow us. Give us the best you got.” One of the three examiners droned, finishing the previous pony’s test score with a flick of his quill. His cold purple eyes glanced over to a pony by the stairs, sitting on his haunches and staring into oblivion as his burnt fur continued to spew smoke.
“We're looking forward to seeing if you can top your “synchronized dancing cats” piece from last semester. That was a dazzler!” A cream-coloured mare said, tucking a lock of her brunette mane back into her bun, adjusting her wire frame glasses, her bright blue eyes staring intently at the young orange mare.
“As Princess Celestia’s own pupil, we expect big, big things today!” A lemon-coloured mare said gleefully, tucking her quill into the clipboards holder.
“Well you'll certainly see that.” Sunset said smugly, levitating a few seeds out of her pouch, strutting towards a dirt filled pot that sat upon a wooden podium, with an occasional glance towards the orange bleachers. With an effortless whistle, Sunset dug the seeds into the dirt.
“Oh! Looks like she's going to do a growth spell...classic! But is it enough?” The stallion said in wonder, his eyes widening.
“Let's hope it turns out better than Juniper Berry's attempt.” The three examiners openly cringed with a horrid shudder as the three glanced over the young stallion currently screaming his head off.
“GAH! Get off me!” Juniper shouted as as he struggled against bonsai tree-turned monster, its branches creaking and leaves rustling in unbridled rage, struggling to scratch and bite at the blue-coloured stallion.
With a smirk, Sunset struck the pot with her magic, filling the seeds with raw magic. The pot shuddered and wobbled before shattering, sending chunks of flying across the room. Massive roots shot out, covering as much ground as it could. Five small stems sprouted from the earth's surface growing in height at a tremendous speed, thickening and melding together to form a single tough stem. The giant plant burst through the roof of the school, rapidly wrapping its vines around the closest buildings, cracking and shattering multiple glass windows. Chunks of the ceiling clattered and shattered against the floor, thankfully missing everypony in the building. The fresh forest mint green-painted walls caved in on themselves, falling apart as they were impaled by the roots.
“I see somepony passed their mid-term.” Celestia said with a smile as she walked past the school, sneaking off towards her favourite bakery.
“Bravo! Wonderful!” The ponies cheered, stamping their hooves against the floor, avoiding getting the shards stuck in the frogs of their hooves. A banner smacked one of the examiners as it fell, its string snapped. He collapsed into the ground with a comical thud, stars swirling around his head.
“Thank you, thank you! It was nothing!” Sunset bowed, soaking in the euphoric praises. 'Oooh, yeah. I could certainly get used to this.’ Sunset thought, a devilish smilecreeping onto her face.
Later that day, Sunset found herself sitting alone in the park, ignoring the common rabble around her and plowing through her book collection like there was no tomorrow. Several groups of ponies chatted amongst each other, laughing and playing. In the corner of her eye she could see the new guard Shining Armor playing with a young filly, to what she could only assume was his sister, beside the pool with Princess Cadance. An odd sight, one would guess. Sunset was soon approached by a group of unicorns who were in her class and were, to Sunset, a little too eager. One had a two-toned white-and-blue mane and tail with a soft blue coat and an hourglass as her cutie mark, known as Colgate. Another unicorn had a pink mane and tail with a white coat, three pale blue stars were imprinted onto her flank, known as Pale Marble.
“Sunset Shimmer! That vine you made was amazing!” Colgate said, hopping from one hoof to another I'm glee.
“Really exquisite!” Pale Marble said, smacking Colgate upside the head to calm her down.
“Would you like to come have lunch with us?” A mint green unicorn mare said as she trotted up to the three, her eyes a light golden colour. Her cutie mark was that of a golden lyre, and her name was Lyra, yet another mare in her class.
“Hmpf, I have better things to do than socialise. I'm going to re-read “Advanced Elemental Magical Practices” and then practice for my advanced summoning spells exam. What are you studying for? Nothing, that's what.” Sunset scoffed, annoyed that her studying was disturbed as she walked the road to the castle.
“Well she wasn't very nice.”
“She's right full if herself, that's what!”
“Her loss, I'm awesome!”
The group of unicorns bickered back and forth to each other, so upset with the arrogance that Sunset displayed that they didn't notice the prince pop into existence behind them.
“Hiya guys!” He said with a smile as he gestured to them. The lot of them screamed at such a volume that it actually sent ripples through the nearby pond, almost popping Entropy's ear drums. “Jeez guys! Watch the ears!”
“Where'd you come from!” The mint green mare screamed, practically knocking Entropy into his butt.
“I teleported! I need to get my magic under control and this is the only way! Please stop yelling Lyra!” The mare gave a sheepish smile, chuckling nervously.
“Hehe, sorry.” Entropy sighed, shaking his head as he looked towards the whole group.
“So, as I asked, what's goin on?” He asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
“It's Sunset! She is such a-a-a,” Colgate, the one who had the hourglass cutie mark, if Entropy remembered correctly, rolled her hoof the air, searching for a word. “Entitled ninny! That's the word I'm looking for!”
“Wait, what? What's wrong with her? I know she's a little to focused on her studies, but she's never really thought that she was better than you guys.” The group deadpanned.
“Oh pah-lease,” Colgate over pronounced, giving him an unconvinced look. “I mean, you're around her twenty-four seven! You must've noticed her snobbing everypony any chance she gets! The only time she even acknowledges us is when she's with you.”
Entropy stared to the side, seemingly lost in thought. ‘Are they right? I mean, I know she has some problems with friends, and she has been acting strange lately, but she isn't that bad. Is she?’ Entropy glanced to the road leading to the castle.
'I really, really need to talk to sunset about this.’
Princess Celestia and her student were walking down one of the many halls of the castle, taking in the odd shade of purple that streamed through the stained glass windows, which were illuminated by a blazing torch on either side of the hallway, repeating every few windows. 'It seems that no matter how hard I practice, I just can't get it the same way as you, sister.’ Celestia thought, her hooves thumping against the soft red carpet as the two continued their journey.
“...Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia began after a few moments of silence, “I have heard that you're not getting along well with the other students. We've talked about the fact that personal relationships…” Sunset cut her off with a small scoff.
“Personal relationships? Who needs Anypony? The most important thing in life is to be the best.”
“We've talked about friendship and it's importance before, and we've discussed that you need to start opening yourself up to new friends. And remember that talk we had about humility?” Celestia's voice became slightly hostile, upset that her student cares little for her friends.
“I remember how boring it was,” Sunset said, callousness dripping off of her tongue.
Celestia hummed in disapproval as the two came to a set of dark blue doors with light blue highlights, its handles, and hinges made of pure gold. Celestia opened the doors with her magic, letting the torchlight flood into the mostly-vacant, dark room. Pictures hanging from the walls described scenes that Sunset couldn't quite make out. Ancient relics were displayed in various spots within the room, ranging from weapons to tablets with fading detail. And in the center of the museum-like room stood a mirror. Its frame was made out of stone, shaped like a horseshoe and embedded with sparkling amethysts and jewels. The steps leading up to the mirror had horseshoe imprints carved into the base all around them
“Look into this mirror and tell me what you see.” Celestia said as she stopped in front of the mirror, watching her student curiously.
“A beautiful pony that has nothing but power and potential,” Sunset said, smirking as she batted her mane a little. Celestia sighed, refraining from facehoofing.
“Care to try that again with our talk about humility has been taken into account?” Sunset grunted, puffing air out of her nose.
“I see a pony who isn't powerful enough,” Sunset stomped her hoof glaring at the floor, “somepony who could be great, powerful….” She stared directly into her reflection's eyes, imagine a regal crown atop her head with large wings jutting from her back. “Somepony who could rule Equestria.” A thick maliciousness crept into her voice, causing Celestia's eyes to widen with fear.
“Maybe we better move on…” She said hesitantly, draping a wing over Sunsets body, nudging her back towards the door. Sunset spotted something shimmered in the corner of the mirror, making her stiffen.
“Wait, what was that? I thought I saw…”
“Oh it was probably a trick of the light. Our lesson is over for today. For tomorrow, I want you to reflect on the discussion we've just had.” Celestia said quickly, pushing Sunset further out of the room. Curiosity getting the better of her, Sunset sneaked another peek before the doors slammed shut.
Day after day after day, Sunset nagged Celestia about the mirror, trying to milk every drop of information out of her as she could, with every attempt that failed, she only got more and more frustrated and angry. She couldn't sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn't study without knowing about that mirror. It plagued her mind every second of every minute. She just had to know. She even tried to persuade Entropy to ask for her, to which he reluctantly declined. On a particularly cloudy day, the two were eating at a picnic where she once again asked about the mirror.
“You know what's fascinating? Mirrors… about the one in…”
“Sunset Shimmer, enough! We've been over this, we will get to the mirror and many other lessons in due time...when you're ready.” Celestia has had enough. She didn't mean to snap at her student, but there was only so much she could take before she started to get angry. Sunset let out a huff as she stomped away, leaving Celestia to her thoughts as it started to pour rain.
“I am ready.” She muttered under her breath, failing to keep her anger in check as she stomped back towards the castle, glaring at any who would dare to step in her way. The staff of the castle avoided her like the e itself. “Why won't she tell me anything? I have proven myself to her countless times! I have every right to learn about it.” She clenched her jaw, grinding her teeth together as she walked down one of the halls when an idea popped into her head.
“That's perfect! There's bound to be knowledge of the mirror in the library! But can't do it alone, I need somepony to help me. But who do I trust? Who can I trust?” She thought to herself as she walked, charging her horn for a teleport. “Of course…”
Entropy focused on his levitation spell, channeling magic through his entire core as he planted his feet on the ceiling. He wobbled slightly, waving his arms frantically before stabilizing himself. He let out a shaky breath as he looked up the ground. Exerting more magic, he focused on three other objects in the room. A thick book of Equestrian history, a wooden chair, and a large magic-absorbing crystal. Starting with the book, Entropy lifted it to his face, shifting it around so he could read it, before flipping to a random chapter and began to read whilst he lifted the chair and slowly took it apart piece by piece.
“One thousand, five hundred years before the Nightmare Moon incident, Equestria and Griffonstone waged a long and bloody war. Three of the major Griffon clans, the Valkyries, Firestone and Thunderclaw, united under one banner to fight against Equestria.” He repeated out loud as he pulled the joints with a pop, organizing the individual parts of the chair from size. Applying extra force, he scraped the dried glue off, floating the dried bits onto a nearby table. As he applied glue to the joints and dowels, he lifted the crystal, grunting at the sudden pull on his magic reserves. “Despite the total military force each of the clans had combined, they were no match for the two princesses of dawn and dusk, nor their magical might.” Beads of sweat collected on his brow, dripping onto the page with a pitter-patter as a headache started to grow. “Putting up a fight, the stubborn griffons did their best against the princesses and their forces despite the clear advantage that the ponies had. Eventually, after a good three years of fighting, the princesses overtook Griffonstone. However, instead of keeping their land, the princesses returned the land the griffons with the intention of making peace with them. After half, a year of negotiating the two races came to terms with each other and now live together in peace.”
“I think it's safe to assume that I'll pass that test coming up.” Placing the re-glued chair and the book back down, he now focused on the crystal, beginning to feel its prolonged effects. He let out a sigh, poking and prodding at the crystal with his magic, noting that it was barely half full. The pull on his magic grew more and more powerful, enough for the aura around his body to begin flickering.
Deciding to not get a broken nose, Entropy dropped the crystal onto his bed before slowly lowering himself into the ground, landing onto his feet with a heavy grunt. He panted, wiping the sweat from his forehead before laying down on the ground. He sighed again, stretching his limbs and curling and splaying his toes and fingers, medical exhaustion setting in. ‘Man, doing these exercises are getting tedious. Doing basically the same thing over and over again in slightly different ways gets pretty boring at times. Wish I could test out some new spells instead of trying to increase duration. ’
“Entropy!” As if answering his wish, Sunset burst into the room, the door slamming into the stone masonry with such force that it practically fused the two together. Letting out a totally stallion-like scream, not filly-like at all, Entropy responded by flinging multiple objects towards her, including the freshly-glued chair and half-charged crystal. The crystal shattered as it impacted the shield, sending chunks everywhere as the chair broke apart.
“Watch what I'm doing!?” He shouted, holding firmly onto his chest. “You don't just burst into somepony’s room shouting at the top of your lungs! l could have seriously hurt you if it wasn’t for your shield!” Taking a moment to calm down, and with a flick of his hand, he used his magic to collect and clean his room from all the debris and shoved it all into a trashcan. Sunset scoffed and rolled her eyes before taking his hand in her magic, pulling him out of his room and down the torch-lit hallway, much to his annoyance as he tried to pull back away from her.
“Whatever! I need your help like right now.” She said, ignoring his protests and struggles as her magic held on tight. Giving up with a sigh, Entropy chose to walk beside her as to avoid tripping. “The princess showed me a strange mirror a few weeks ago, it was faint at first but as she ushered me away I could feel something emanating from it. Every time I tried to ask about it, she just shoved it under the rug and changed the topic. My bet is that it's something she wants to be hidden from anypony that isn't close. And I bet that I can't find something about it in her personal library, more than likely the forbidden dark magic section…”
“What!? Are you cra-.” Sunset quickly jammed a hoof in his mouth, leaving muffled mumblings as he tried to talk through her hoof. She hushed him in a harsh tone as she glanced left and right, looking for any patrols. After a moment of silence, Sunset removed her hoof and gestured for him to keep it down. He spat out a lump of dried soil mixed with spit. “First off, clean your hooves damnit. And secondly Are you crazy? You know we can't go there, there are hundreds of potentially dangerous spells and knowledge that, in the wrong hooves, could bring about total annihilation!” He quickly clamped a hand around his mouth as Sunset raised her hoof again with a glare. The two looked back and forth before sighing from relief. “Why do you need my help anyway? I have no interest in getting into trouble in the first place.”
“You won't get in trouble, you don't even have to enter the section with me, I just need you to be a lookout, that's all. I swear it on my life.” She pleaded, giving him the hardest puppy dog eyes she could must her. He caved in immediately, shaking his head with closed eyes, taking a moment to collect himself.
“Fine! But I swear to my mom I'm gonna give you a piece of my mind from the way you've been acting recently and you are gonna darn well listen, understood?”
“Yes!” She whispered with a hoof pump, a victorious smile plastered across her face while she did a little dance, her clops echoing throughout the torch-lit hallway. She stopped midway through with a heavy blush as she realized what she had done. “Shut it!” She sushed with a venomous tone as he opened his mouth, making him giggle as the two continued on their route.
The two made their way down the winding white corridors of the castle, dodging the patrols of guards that seemed to be everywhere; their golden armor clinked and rattled with every step, unbeknownst to the kids that were outsmarting them. Eventually, after taking many small detours to avoid potential exposures, and many of the castle staff, the pair made it to Celestia's personal library. The same one where even the most trusted pony must be accompanied by a guard, or Celestia herself at all times to avoid dangers. The large, intimidating stone doors loomed over the two of them, forcing them to pause. With a dry gulp, they opened the heavy doors with their magic, small enough for only the two of them to slip in before closing it with a dull thud.
Taking a moment to breathe it all in, the two marveled at the sheer size of the huge, two-story circular room they found themselves In. Rows upon rows of stacked bookshelves lined every inch of the walls, the books varying in color every now and then, ranging from golden to maroon. In the center of the first floor, two sets of four bookshelves lined the space before them, converging on a singular stone bust of a unicorn with sapphire eyes rested on a pedestal, its eyes seeming to follow them as they crept around the room. The shelves in the center had various objects that were not just limited to books inside them. A strange multi-colored cube made up with smaller cubes rested on one of the shelves; a series of scrolls rested on top of it, collecting dust. It seemed familiar to Entropy, capturing his attention for a while before he forced himself to look away. The musky, enticing smell of the old books, scrolls and ink flooded their noses, a blissful sigh escaping their lips as they reminisced on past lectures. Making themselves as small as possible, the two made their way through the huge room, keeping their heads on a constant swivel.
The room trailed off into an opening on the other side of the room, leading deeper into a dark, inky abyss. Presumably into the section that they were looking for, or at the very least leading up to the second floor of the library. Nodding to each other after a brief look, the two snuck towards the opening, ducking and hiding behind the central bookshelves. Lifting a fist in the air, Entropy motioned Sunset to stop as he pressed his body against his cover. Following his lead, Sunset lowered herself down as far as she could as the two went silent. In the distance, barely audible clinking echoed through the dark passage, followed by heavy hooffalls.
Slowly, the gentle flickering of torchlight approached out of the darkness, softly lighting up a stoic-looking guard, glinting off of his armor. The guard stopped suddenly, a few meters away from entering the main room, his gaze roaming across the room with a suspicious look as if he knew they were in there. He hummed before turning to the right, disappearing from sight as he ascended a flight of stairs. The two let out a collective sigh, stepping out from their cover and continuing at a hastened pace. The two remained cautious as they entered the dark entrance, keeping an eye out as they passed the stairway. Cursing under her breath, Sunset lit her up her horn, creating a small dim light at the tip. Not bright enough to illuminate the hallway, but bright enough to see a few feet in front of them, or at the very least to make sure they don't trip on anything.
The hallway suddenly grew frosty, cold enough to turn their hot breath into vapor. A sense of foreboding flooded their minds as they created shapes out of nothing. ‘It must be a defense mechanism or some sort of spell, the hallway knows we don't have permission to be here. I have to move on! I have to find something about that mirror!’ Sunset thought to herself as she walked, a twisted mix of arrogant bravery and determination seeping out of her as she quickened her pace, leaving Entropy to catch up.
Bravery, arrogant or otherwise, was not something Entropy was feeling at the moment. The hallway played tricks on his mind, making him believe that something was in that hallway with them. His footsteps seemed to echo twice with every step, and he could swear that he could see faces in the darkness. Unknowingly, he walked closer to Sunset than before, his irrational fears getting the better of him; it took all the strength he had not to hold on to Sunsets withers for some sort of support.
Eventually, the two came across a weirdly simple wooden door with a sign nailed to it that had the words ‘Dark Magic, No Entry.’ Gently, Sunset pushed the door open with a crack just wide enough to look through, but not enough to enter. From what she could immediately see, which was not much, she could tell that another pony was in there, by the sounds coming from the desk to her immediate left. From the sounds that the pony was making, Sunset could tell that they were a mare, but that's about it.
“Well that's just great, there's somepony in there.” She whispered to herself as she turned away from the door, ignoring worried and fearful expression. “How am I going to get past her? I don't know any spells that can knock a pony out.” She looked down the hallway they came from, scanning it in thought.
“W-well, that sucks. Guess it's all for naught, huh?” He said, glancing left and right, trying his best to act brave. “I think we should head back now. It's a shame that you prioritize some spells over others. Unlike you, I have at least some knowledge to perform knockout spells…” He quickly clamped his mouth shut with his hands, looking on in fear as Sunsets eyes sparked.
“Awesome! Where did you have the time to learn something like that? Nevermind! Use it, quickly!” She whispered, pushing him towards the door with a crazed smile.
“What, no! I'm not getting into even more trouble if we get caught. Besides, I've never tested the spell out, for all I know, it'll make that pony even more alert, or it could only last a few minutes, or worse, seconds!” He whispered back, desperately trying his best to convey how bad this plan could go.
“Please Entropy, I'm begging you! I need to find out more about that mirror! I swear I will do whatever you want without hesitation as soon as we leave, and for the last time, we're not going to get caught. I'll even hang out with you and you're friends I swear to Celestia.” She begged, holding his hands in her hooves.
“But-” He cut himself off as she gave him a pleading look, whittling down his already caving resolve. “I, but….fine….” He said with a sigh, approaching the door with his palm stretched out. He angled himself to get a clear view of the pony. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the complicated spell, picturing the math-like equation in his mind. Slowly, his palm lit up in his aura, a transparent halo formed around the pony and with a twitch of his fingers, the pony let out a loud yawn, her head swayed this way and that before the pony rested it on her hoof. Soft snores left the pony shortly afterward. Entropy dropped his arm with a sigh, before fully opening the door to allow Sunsets light in.
“Nice one!” She said, barging past him as he followed her in. He marveled at the size of the room before him. It was much smaller than the center room, but it was nonetheless big. ‘Sunset Shimmer, enough! We've been over this, we will get to the mirror and many other lessons in due time...when you're ready.’ Celestia's words rang in her head as she strolled over to one of the many bookshelves while Entropy walked over to a globe of the world covered in cobwebs, spinning it on its axis whilst stealing glances at the now-sleeping pony. She was a purple-furred unicorn with a gray mane styled in a bun.
“Not ready? I'll show her not ready.” She said to herself stopping at a random bookshelf. “You'd think this place would be better guarded, huh Entropy?” she spoke openly, startling him.
“I suppose, but I'd think that hallway would be a good deterrent by itself.” She hummed in agreement before pulling books out of the shelves, flicking through them quickly before dumping them on the ground. A good five minutes passed as she continued to dump the books before Entropy turned around and spotted them. “Sunset! Be careful! You have no idea how much those books could be worth, not to mention the potential danger!” He shouted, before scurrying towards the books as she was dumping more and more out, swiftly gathering them in his magic before stacking them.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Oooh, now what do you have hidden within I wonder?” She said to a brown, wrinkled leather-bound book with a sickly looking face on its...face, the words 'Necronomicon’ stitched with a main like material on its spine. It's bulbous yellow eyes seemed to stare directly into his soul, it's yellow teeth seemed to move on its own as if trying to speak to Entropy. “Nothing on the crystal mirror yet, but a few of these spells will come in handy.”
“Ugh, I can't look at that thing, but I can't look away either…, please put that thing down, face down if you would.” He said with a shiver, an overthrowing fear consuming his mind.
“Ugh, fine. You big foal.” She chucked the book down on the floor beside her, shaking her head as the leather scraped against the floor as it slid. This was the one book that Entropy did not want to touch with his magic. Sunset pulled yet another book out, skimming through the index page until something caught her eye. “Ah! Here we go! The Crystal mirror…” she flipped through the pages until she reached the page that had the mirror on it, finding a well-detailed diagram of the mirror along with written notes. Entropy, who was now also curious, crouched beside her as she began to read a passage from the book. Unbeknownst to the two, the spell on the pony had worn off. Quickly spotting the two, the mare slowly crept out of the room before galloping down the hallway.
“Every thirty moons, a portal will open to….another world?”
“That's not really for you to know, now is it?” Celestia's voice said sternly, surprising the both of them. The two quickly turned around to find the princess, along with two guards standing behind them, a not quite angry, not quite disappointed look etched onto the princess’ face as she raised her wings in intimidation.
“How dare you keep this kind of magic away from me! You know that I'm ready for this, that I can be great!” Sunset shouted, slamming the book down onto the ground.
“Sunset, please….” Entropy said weakly, trying to calm his friend.
“You could be great.” Celestia's voice easily overpowered Entropy's as she glared at Sunset. “I thought I saw compassion and sincerity in you, but it was nothing but ambition. You're being selfish, you need to step back and reflect-”
“I'm being selfish?” She shouted, picking up a book that she had a read through and threw it at Celestia, who deflected it with magic. Seeing the possible threat that she was in, one of the guards leaped to her defense, before being held back by one of her hooves. “That book right there says I could be as powerful as an alicorn princess. I could rule here! It's selfish of you to keep me from my rightful place!”
“I deserve to stand beside you and be your equal, if not your better.” She boldly proclaimed while standing over the book that had, for whatever reason, opened to the exact page she was talking about. “Make me a princess.” She demanded while she looked over to Entropy. “You agree with me, right?!” Before he could even begin, Celestia spoke up.
“Don't you dare bring my son into this! Being a princess must be earned, I've been trying to teach you everything you need to know, but you have turned from it! Every time you say you 'deserve’ to get something without the effort. just proves to me that you are not ready.” She said with a stern voice, glaring harshly at Sunset. “Sunset Shimmer, I am removing you from the position of my pupil. If we cannot get past this, your studies end here. You are welcome to stay in Canterlot, but you are no longer welcome in the castle.”
“We'll never get past this because you aren't seeing how great I deserve to be. Is that really all you have to say to me?.
“No, the guards will escort you out.” She turned her gaze to Entropy, who quivered in fear from her. While it did break her heart to see her own son afraid of her, she had no choice. “As for you, Entropy, both you and Sunset are hereby forbidden to talk with each other until further notice. You are also grounded until I see fit to ungrounded you. I don't know why you decided to help her and I don't care. I'm disappointed in both of you. Guards, escort Sunset out of here and take my son to his room.”
“This is the biggest mistake you'll make in your entire life.” Sunset declared as both she and Entropy were dragged out of the room and down the hallway.
“One of many,” Celestia muttered as she looked to a tapestry depicting her battle with her sister.
The guards pulled the pair along, much to the dismay of Sunset who grumbled and glared at the floor, rage and hate taking up all of the space in her mind. 'How dare she deny me my rightful power! I won’t stand for this, I will become an alicorn, somepony even stronger than Celestia herself!’ An idea hit her, her face twisted into a dark smile as she looked to the two guards and then to Entropy. Without a moment of hesitation, she headbutts both of the guards and grabbed Entropy in her aura, ignoring his protests as she galloped towards the mirror room with the guards on her tail.
Faster than she thought was possible, she made it to the room, preparing a magical attack as she dropped Entropy on the floor. With seconds to spare, the guards galloped into the room and were promptly knocked out by the attack, toppling them to the ground, unconscious.
“Sunset what are you doing! We're already in enough trouble!” Sunset said nothing as she quickly trotted up to the mirror, passing a hoof through the glass. The portal was active. “Sunset, please! Just stop!”
“Stop what!? I deserve this! The amount of training that I've been through, everything that I've been through. It's not fair!”
“Not fair!? You're taking things for granted! You're already powerful! You don't need to be able to rival mom for ponies to think that. You don't need to become more than what you're already are, mom knows what she's doing. Tartarus, she's older than both of us, older than all of Canterlots history, she knows what's best!
“She doesn't know a thing! You heard her, she's forcing us apart! She's the one who's all for friendship and such, yet she's forcing my friend away from me! She's forcing me away from you . Aren't I a friend to you…?”
“Of course you are but-”
“But nothing! None of us deserve this. If you're truly my friend, come with me.” She held out a hoof, beckoning Entropy towards her. “In here, we could be together, we could continue being friends. You can even help me become a better person while we're in there.” Her words compelled him to move forward, with each step he got closer to her, the more he believed in her words. “It doesn't hurt whatsoever, see.” She waved her hoof around while it was still inside. “You'll follow me….right?”
“I-I…” he looked at the mirror, at his reflection, then to her and her hoof. ‘If I follow, I could keep her out of trouble...right? I could help her, keep her safe. But what about mom...what about Rose?’
“I'll go first, see you in a bit.” With that, she leaped through, disappearing without a trace. Timidly, after a few seconds of silence, Entropy lifted his hand to the mirror, passing through it like it was water. Tingles ran up and down his arm as his hand disappeared, he could feel the magic on the other side of it, condensed together as if it was water or something similar. Before he could take another step, Celestia burst in.
“Entropy wait, please!” Her sudden voice caused him to tense up, his head snapping to her. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared desperately at him. “Please don't go through, I can't lose somepony else close to me.” She stepped forward, walking past the unconscious bodies of the guards and stopping a few feet from the steps leading up to the mirror. “I don't know what she's told you, but going through there won't solve anything. Because the truth is I don't actually know what's on the other side. Both of you might not even end up in the same place. And if something were to happen to you...I will never forgive myself! I've already lost my sister, my mother and father and now I've lost my student, I can't lose my son.”
Tears fell from her eyes without restraint, his eyes widened as he pulled his hand from the portal. Just as he pulled his last finger from it, the portal shimmered, locking and returning into normal glass, catching the very tip of his middle finger, snipping of a tiny piece of skin. Ignoring the pain, Entropy ran towards Celestia, pulling her into a tight hug, apologizing as he sobbed into her coat. The guards woke up with a groan, rubbing their heads in a daze as they tried to remember what happened. Wiping her tears from her face and quickly nuzzling her son, she made her way to the guards.
“She took us by surprise, princess. We're sorry.” One of them groaned, shaking his head. “Never rushing into a room with a unicorn without a plan again.” He mumbled.
“Shh, it's fine. If you're feeling up to it, would you please help move the mirror to a safer place?” She asked gently, as the guards pulled themselves together, receiving a nod from the both of them. The four of them made their way to the throne room, with Entropy helping to push the mirror, who earned a thanks from the both of them.
It didn't take long for them to reach the empty room, and while it wasn't long, it was very boring to Entropy. The empty room was eerily quiet, too quiet for Entropy's tastes as he was rarely in this room during the night. Pushing the mirror to one of the pillars close to the throne, the guards placed the mirror next to it and swiftly hung it up.
“Why hang it in an even more prominent place? Shouldn't you hide the mirror princess?” One of the guards said as they wiped the sweat from their brow.
“No...I want it here…to remind me. Also, maybe she'll come back... someday.” Something triggered within Entropy, clenching his hand into a fist as he snapped towards Celestia.
“You think she'll come back after what you said?” He said through grinding teeth, glaring at his mother much to the shock of everypony. “None of this would have happened if you didn't show her that damn mirror! Or if you actually taught her something about actual trust and friendship! If you were actually a good teacher she would still be here!” He didn't mean to snap at her, or speak with such venom in his voice, but he couldn't help it. “If you were actually good at being a princess, then maybe I wouldn't hate you so much.”
“Young lord, wait!” On other Guards spoke out, stepping towards him as he walked out of the throne room, only to be stopped by the princess.
“Leave him, he needs some time alone,” Celestia spoke softly, staring at Entropy's back with sorrowful eyes. “I know he didn't mean what he said, he's just angry. At himself more than likely.” She blinked the light away as he teleported to someplace within the castle grounds. 'Yet another failure on my part, huh sister?’
The night air filled his lungs as he let out a pent up sigh, already regretting his choice of words. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he began to walk in a random direction, pausing every now and then to watch the flowers sway in the breeze. Only for a moment, however, as the world seemed to have lost its vibrant color, now only a shell of its former self. He let out a yawn, his eyes beginning to droop. It had been a long, very long chaotic night, full of ups and downs that came just as quickly as they passed.
He brushed past a statue, the cold stone caught his eye for a moment before he continued to walk. Soon enough, he found himself standing directly in front of Discord’s statue, its eyes seeming to follow Entropy as if it was alive. But that couldn't be so, right? No living thing could be made of stone.
He sat down in front of the statue, crossing his legs over each other. He felt as though he was...drained, devoid of what he should be feeling. He didn't know what he should be feeling. Did he feel anything?
“I'm tired….” Entropy said out loud, his eyes no longer it's vibrant brown shade, now just a dull shell of its former self.
“I should have come with, Sunny…”
Entropy said as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
Author's Note
hey guys hope you enjoyed the chapter sorry for the long wait and please comment your thoughts of the chapter and what you think of it
