Helix Gap, the settlement Vert had described as a ‘small mountain hamlet’ turned out to be a fair bit larger than advertised. The poor visibility of the storm had hidden what was actually quite a sizable town, considering it was nestled up in a mountain valley. Most of the buildings were white, constructed with timber frames and straw thatched roofs, and a lot of them had quaint little balconies attached to the upper floors.

The town would have resembled a much smaller and less modern version of Canterlot, if it wasn’t for the fact it was positively teeming with strange plantlife Luke had never seen before. This place certainly hammered home that Equador was a planet unmistakably alien in comparison to Earth.

Large violet and pink spotted mushrooms, their caps the size of small cars, littered the lush green lawns running along the sides of the cobbled walkways. Thick, dark green creeper vines that were way too animated not to have magic of their own hung from the balconies, playfully grabbing at anyone that happened to stray too close. Various other bizarre types of foliage of varying colours, including an ominous-looking red plant that looked suspiciously like a venus flytrap, lay dotted around the lush green lawns surrounding the buildings. There were very few fences—everything was quite open plan.

The locals consisted mainly of earth ponies, a lot of them loggers that worked in the forest in the next valley over, though there were a few stray pegasi flitting through the air. Predictably, the unfamiliar sight of a whole bunch of beautiful unicorn supermodels accompanied by a tall, otherworldly creature strolling through the middle of their town was one way too juicy to ignore. Luke could practically feel their stares.

Today was one the few free-days of the shoot, where all staff were relieved of their duties and could go and sightsee to their heart's content. Luke would have been perfectly content sitting and having a few beers with Vert and Tank, perhaps, but Fleur had fluttered those devastatingly pretty eyelashes of hers, nudged his hand with her pouting snoot a few times, and sweetly reminded him that he said he would accompany her.

Now, he was awkwardly shuffling through a backwoods mountain town with an exclusive clique of supermodels that had clearly been trying to out-do each other in the looks department. A sea of silky manes and tails, perfectly trimmed and shaped hooves, expertly brushed coats, magically lengthened eyelashes and dazzlingly pretty smiles surrounded Luke, making him feel as out of place as he had on his very first day at J’adore.

It wouldn't have been so bad, if they weren't all desperate to be his new best friend. Despite what the tabloids sometimes said, these ponies weren't stupid. They loved their jobs, and they wanted nothing more than to build close social ties with their boss. In other words, Luke had to suffer Fleur’s second-hoof stardom, and all the attention that came with it.

The narrow stream flowing lazily through the middle of the town had thick clouds of what looked like steam emanating from its surface, several small critters he didn’t recognise occasionally breaking the surface as they swam.

Luke squinted, carefully edging closer to the bank. They looked like axolotls, but they were covered in bright pink fur. Some of the cloud wafted over his hand, and he had to snatch it out of harm’s way to avoid being burned. "Is this… hot water?" he gasped, stepping back from the stream.

Fleur paused, as did the large entourage of supermodels accompanying her. "Oui, mon amour. Zis stream flows from the ‘ot springs up at Vanity Point."

"Vanity Point is a volcano?"

Fleur nodded, the stylish, navy blue silk scarf embroidered with white skulls she was wearing shifting in the breeze. The locals weren’t all that accustomed to seeing a mare wearing a platinum spiked choker collar with a dirty great siren-rock embedded into it, after all. They wouldn’t have known the true nature of the sapphire, of course, but she had still opted to cover up, so as not to upset them.

As usual, any fashion choices Fleur happened to make were mimicked far and wide by the models on her staff. Nearly all of them were wearing scarves as well.

"Most of the springs are too hot to bathe in, but the ones that aren’t are often booked solid for months," Viola Terracotta commented, the thick middle-eastern accent rolling off her tongue. She had gone for a black scarf that went well with her blood red coat and bleached white mane. "Of course, anypony working for J’adore gets priority booking."

"We’re partnered with Sparco? Ermagherd! How did I not know this?" nattered another model Luke didn’t know by name. This one was wearing a yellow scarf that complimented the warm orange of her coat. She practically stared at Fleur for confirmation.

Fleur gave the mare a bemused look. "Viola says so. If you don’t believe ‘er zen go ask Pony Resources. Zey will be able to tell you better zan I can."

"I had a Sparco wheel for my car back on Earth. Y’know, because race car," Luke chuckled. A few of the supermodels forced a laugh, glancing at each other for non-existent context, but most of them just stared at him with looks of confusion. Luke scowled, stuffing his hands in his pockets and idly kicking a pebble into the boiling stream. "Screw you guys. That was funny."

One of the weird furry axolotl-looking things popped up and spat the small rock back onto the grassy bank. "The fuck?" Luke muttered, amid several soft giggles and gentle ‘aww’s from the models. "What is that?"

Fleur smiled at the small creature, which leapt out of the water and began a lazy crawl along the bank of the stream. "It’s a Kepler. Zey’re native to the mountainous regions. Zey like the hot springs, can withstand very high temperatures, and are quite fond of stargazing on clear nights."

"Aww!" a charcoal-coated mare squeed, flicking her black and purple striped scarf over her back and leaning in for a closer look. "Just look at his little legs! So cute!"

The Kepler paused, tiny little tongue flicking from its mouth. A second later, it had scrambled back into the stream so fast Luke would have missed it if he’d blinked.

The orange mare tutted. "Ræves! You scared him off!"

"Pfft! Nah, he’s just a lil’ shy guy," the mare dismissed with an idly waved hoof. "Look at his lil’ legs go!" she chuckled, her bright, hazel eyes following the kepler leaping upstream like a salmon, a happy grin on her muzzle.

"Hey, was it you that sang the Peggy Lee song at the nobles ball?" Luke asked her, the familiar tune popping into his head. That’s where he’d last heard it. On YouTube. Wait…

"Who’s Peggy Lee?" the mare asked, her muzzle scrunching up adorably.

Luke considered her for a moment. What had Fancy said her name was? Oh, yeah… Ræven. "An old wartime singer from my home planet," he answered. "How… How do you know that song?"

"Ooooh! That’s strange, ain’t it?" Ræven giggled, her face lighting up. "Maybe-" she began, the orange mare beside her letting out an audible sigh and rolling her eyes, "-it's some weird parallel plane of music culture between Equador and your home planet? Like, there’s a connection between the two dimensions and songs released in one world—if they’re awesome enough—make a quantum leap through the dimensions so the ponies or the hyoo-mans get to hear the awesomeness-"

"Ræves, filly—stop. You’re letting the weird out. Look at him. He’s totally weirded out," the orange mare interjected, bumping a forehoof to Ræven’s shoulder.

"Nuh-uhh! Luke, you totally get where I’m coming from, right?"

Luke squinted at the pair of them. He opened his mouth to ask them if they were pulling his leg, but a stone-faced Fleur beat him to it.

"Eet is a spell, Luc. Oldest unicorn party trick in the book." She did not look amused.

"A spell? What are you-" he paused, a positively horrifying prospect suddenly rearing its ugly head. His gaze flicked back to Ræven. "Did you get that song from my memory? Are you trying to tell me unicorns can read minds?"

A wave of gasps and mutterings swept through the crowd. Every pony with a horn positively cringed at those words so much Luke immediately regretted blurting them out. Even the locals suddenly looked noticeably uncomfortable.

Fleur levelled Luke with an awkward look. "Luc, please do not say things like zat in the middle of an earth pony town. No, we cannot read minds. Zis spell merely hones in on and interprets the magical traces left behind by music. It doesn’t matter where the music comes from—all music is a form of magic. Zis is something non-users of more obvious forms of magic never consider. But with zat said-" she turned to Ræven, "I see what you are trying to do here—but don’t. Zere is no conventional magic where Luc comes from, so little Canterlot filly tricks like zat just come off as creepy."

Ræven’s resting happy face deflated somewhat, her ears flopping in unison. Luke almost felt bad for her. "Sorry, boss."

"Told you it was a stupid idea," the orange mare muttered.

Fleur, apparently done with admonishment, resumed her slow cantor, the locals parting to let her pass well before she reached them. Some of the stallions weren't even trying to hide their gawking. Luke followed, fighting to keep the scowl from face. The gaggle of supermodels, resuming their idle gossiping, practically clung to his every side.

"Wait, does that mean Fancy Pants did the same thing?" Luke asked, idly swatting away a creeper vine hanging from a balcony that tried to wrap itself around his arm. "The song he sang was by an artist called Nat King Cole."

Fleur raised her eyebrows at this. "I suspected it was not one of 'is usual pieces," she muttered in a low tone. The lack of elaboration was rather noticeable. Stopping in front of a bonsai tree planted in the centre of the town, she turned to address her models. "Okay fillies, Luc and I 'ave some business to attend to, but zere will be a luncheon later zis evening back on Le Tesson if anypony wishes to accompany-"

Fleur paused, a peculiar look on her face. Her ears swivelled independently for a second, eyes slowly widening. Luke glanced around for whatever it was that made her stop, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A few of the models had puzzled expressions as well.

After a few seconds, she appeared to regain her composure. "Remember, zis is one of only two free days of the unicorn range shoot, so if you wish to do any shopping, now is your chance." She beamed at them, but Luke knew her smile, and that wasn’t it. Something was… off.

Slowly but surely, some more reluctant than others, the gathering of supermodels dispersed into the small crowd of locals. One or two gave Fleur a questioning look, but omitted any actual questions they may have had.

Luke idly flattened the lapels of his suit jacket, waiting patiently for the last of them to get out of earshot. He was dressed as a bodyguard—an attempt to perhaps persuade the local paparazzi he wasn't as close to Fleur as the rumour suggested. It was a pointless facade, truth be told. Fleur was eligible for the full retinue of four Royal guards often assigned to VIPs by order of the princesses, as she had put it, but she had never utilised that eligibility.

Being a siren, she had no use for them.

"What's up?" Luke whispered.

Fleur turned to face him, and for the first time ever, something akin to fear was showing on her face.

It did not suit her.

Luke dropped to his knee, a palm finding her shoulder despite the multiple ponies with cameras still in fairly close proximity. "Tell me."

Pale violet eyes slowly drifted from Luke to the bonsai tree, its branches idly shifting in the breeze. Lips thin and eyebrows furrowed, Fleur snapped her teeth together. "I believe we are about to be rudely interrupted by an old acquaintance of mine."

As if waiting to be mentioned, a small pop came from the tree, which all of a sudden, had a face.

"You fish ponies always ruin my grand entrance. You know I like to make a good first impression," said the face, its yellow eyes rolling beneath long, wispy white eyebrows that matched the goatee hanging from its chin. "And acquaintance? Acquaintance, she says!Oh, you cut me deeper with that assessment than those little fangs of yours ever could!"

What the… Luke sprang to his feet. There were a lot of strange things in Equestria, but a talking tree took the cake a bit. It promptly uprooted itself, and with a single shake, all of its leaves fell off, fluttering into a plume of green that gradually fell away to reveal a bizarre creature that was around the same height as Tank, though quite a lot thinner.

It had the head of a goat, it's mouth bearing a solitary white fang around six inches long, but the rest of it appeared to have been haphazardly thrown together as an afterthought. All of its limbs, including its wings and its horns, were mismatched pairings taken from the various creatures of Equestria.

"Four thousand years I've known you, yet I'm still just the acquaintance! After everything I’ve done for you, you still treat me like an outsider," the creature huffed, flicking the last couple of leaves from his weird chicken-foot-like arm.

Did he just say four thousand years? Luke couldn’t even imagine living that long. Any trace of unrest had long since disappeared from Fleur’s face, which was now completely void of emotion. Luke was beginning to suspect that she, along with Celestia and Luna, were perhaps as old as time itself.

"I thought you’d at least have the common decency to introduce me to your consort," the creature added, idly waving a manticore paw in Luke’s direction.

In the blink of an eye, a wave of cold, calculated fury claimed Fleur’s features. Her maw parted slightly, her ears falling. That word. It was easy to see that hearing it spoken so casually hit her like a train.

It hit Luke like a fucking comet. How the fuck did this creature know? He dared not look at Fleur, his eyes glued instead to the mysterious entity standing before them with all of its mismatched limbs, sarcastic tones and unfathomable knowledge.

The creature paused. The grin on its face was revolting. It savoured the fact it had just smashed a metaphorical mallet into the fragile facade of casual relationship that both he and Fleur had been awkwardly pushing along for the past few months.

After a few moments of woefully uncomfortable silence, Fleur’s horn illuminated in its familiar pink aura, and the scarf she was wearing disappeared with a flash, revealing the sapphire in her collar. It glinted menacingly in the light streaming from the sun. When she spoke, her voice was nothing more than a defeated whisper. "If we are to ‘ave zis conversation… We will ‘ave it on my terms."

Luke was given no warning. An almighty BOOM rattled his consciousness, and his heart was suddenly at the pit of his stomach, then lodged in his throat, all in the span of less than a split second. Helix Gap violently imploded in a whirl of colour. A relentless upward motion and the rasping howl of air being blasted out the way filled every part of his existence for several seconds, until everything went black. By the time the rapidly approaching, cratered and pockmarked surface of white sand violently met his feet, his only thought was that he couldn’t breathe.

After what felt like minutes, but was probably only a few more seconds, air flowed once again into his lungs, but so did quite a bit of dust that had been displaced when he slammed into the ground. He rolled a fair few feet before coming to a stop, flat on his back.

Two other figures landed with him, the creature with grace, Fleur with fury.

"Discord. Meet Luc. As you so rightly said, ‘ee is my consort," she spat, growling the last four words with malice sharp enough to flay the cosmic skin from an ursa.

Luke damn near coughed up a lung, his chest burning. The air was present, but thin, and packed with dust. The sky was black. The sand was white. The sun still shone, but so did Equador, a pale blue dot on a vast canvas of nothing.

He was on the moon.

The fucking moon.

Thankfully, it had an atmosphere.

Fleur glared at the creature named Discord with all the intensity of a thousand superheated spears.

"It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Luke," Discord sneered. His face certainly suggested otherwise.

Before Luke even had a chance to say anything in response, Fleur spoke again. "Well, you 'ave met the human. You know what ‘ee is, and now, ‘ee knows also, which I’m guessing was the ‘ole point of zis little meeting. It is time for you to leave."

"Actually, my irritable little Prench murmaider, I sought an audience with none other than yourself. I must be going soft in my old age, because I come to you with a warning."

Fleur’s fangs shot from her mouth, her blue tinted gaze darkening. "Oui? And just what is zis warning?" she snarled, sounding more like a monster than she ever had had before. The tone sent shivers down Luke’s spine, but he ignored them.

The creature bent down, putting its face just inches from Fleur’s bared fangs, its large yellow eyes staring deep into the endless distant blue of hers. "Memento Mori."

Fleur let out a hiss that set Luke’s pulse on edge, forked tongue flicking from in between her fangs. Discord may as well have uttered the darkest curse known to sirenkind. The shock did not last long. "Don't fuck with me, Discord!" she screamed, her eyes and her sapphire burning the most menacing shade of deadly blue Luke had ever witnessed. She pressed her snout to his nose. Her horn ignited, and a number of strange runic symbols made of burning orange flames accompanied the aura.

Discord withdrew with a snarl of his own. The brown fur of his minotaur hoof and green scales of his dragon leg were cast in the deadly blue, but their colours gradually faded, turning a lifeless, slate grey. "Well, isn't this… familiar?" he chuckled, no longer able to move the lower half of his body. "Trust me, Fleur, you’ll want to hear me out. Being the connoisseur of chaos that I am, I sense a presence… in the near future. Something big. Something involving him," Discord seethed, pointing manticore claw once more.

"You leave ‘im ze fuck alone," the siren growled, though the demonic duality, not disguised in the slightest, did nothing to phase Discord.

He turned those large yellow eyes to survey Luke instead. "Do you know what you're getting yourself wrapped up in, hyoo-man? Do you really think you truly know this pony?" He turned back to Fleur, who was still trying her best to turn the rest of him grey as well. "You don't know this pony at all."

"‘Ee knows what I am!" Fleur screeched, the torrent of magic flowing from her horn was immeasurably powerful, but the spell looked vastly more complicated than any Luke had ever seen her cast before. Luke could practically feel the energy emanating from her horn. It sent tingles through his clothes, dancing over his skin.

"But does he know what you're capable of?" Discord probed, unperturbed by the fact half of him had been turned into stone. "Your ancient conquests put even my own to shame. I think he should be afforded the opportunity to find out, don't you?"

"Don’t listen to ‘im, Luc!" the siren called. Their eyes met, but there were fewer glyphs popping in and out of existence around her horn than before.

Luke's breath came raspy and shallow, the dust burning his throat. His gaze flicked from Discord to Fleur, then back again. Several questions came to mind, but there was a clear winner when it came down to which one made him the most curious. "What does Memento Mori mean?"

Discord smiled, and for once, it wasn't one quite so laced with vehement dislike.

"Memento Mori strikes fear into all those who are unfortunate enough to remember the days of the Old Kingdom," Discord proclaimed, an unreadable haze of emotion on his face. "It is the name of the shard you command, Luke."

"That’s enough Discord," Fleur growled, her horn glowing brighter than Luke had ever seen it. The few runes that remained continued to flash in and out of existence with increasing speed, the waves of power growing so much he was starting to feel nauseous.

Discord ignored her. "It means be mindful of death, for Memento Mori is, was, and always will be, death, for countless creatures of Equador and beyond. I may have been the ‘bad guy’ that the ponies pointed their hooves at in days gone by, but I could never hope to reach the despicable lows of the siren that stands before you now."

"I will kill you!" Fleur screamed, but even Luke could see the spell was beginning to fail. The sheer complexity of the incantation was readily apparent. The runes had disappeared altogether, but the sheer amount of energy blasting from her horn shone almost as bright as the sun.

Discord's mismatched legs erupted into vibrant blue flames, black smoke billowing from them in thick plumes, but he merely barked out a cruel, humourless laugh. "If anypony could find a way to end my life, I have no doubt in my mind that pony would be you."

The stench of burning fur, scales and flesh filled the air, prompting Luke to cough so much he very nearly threw up. Discord continued his tirade regardless.

"Her ship is not a ship at all. It’s as fake as the life she has sculpted for herself. Memento Mori has been living a lie for thousands of years. It will take its true form again, and when it does, I will not stand idly by when its relentless influence inevitably overwhelms your pathetic little mortal mind, and you command it to reduce Equador to a smouldering husk of death."

"I would never do that!" Luke roared between coughs, leaping to his feet and levelling Discord with a defiant glare. He had no magic, but he had words. "Fuck you! Even if I did lose my mind, do you really think Fleur would let that happen?"

Discord laughed, his cold, callous tone booming over the desolate wasteland of the moon’s surface. "She is a siren, and you are her consort. There are only two living souls in existence she truly cares about—herself, and you. Every other creature—every single one, is dead to her."

"That’s not true," Luke breathed, finally seeing the lies for what they really were. His chest rose and fell with the sheer effort of living, considering the hostile landscape.

Fleur had proved time and time again that she was capable of love not governed by her darker half. All of the ponies, minotaurs and various other creatures on her staff were testament to that fact.

Somnambula alone was proof enough.

Discord… Discord was just a cunt.

"I'm afraid it is, little hyoo-man," he laughed, completely unfazed by the fact he was burning alive. "If you need proof, I shall, of course, willingly provide."

With a snap of his claw, a portal encircled in blood red flames erupted a few feet behind Luke. "Let's see what she makes of Earth, shall we?"

Fleur screamed. A blood curdling scream, that almost caused Luke physical pain, and gave even Discord pause. The failed spell imploded around the base of her horn. It only slowed her for a split second, but that was all the time Discord needed to raise a flaming, blistered hoof and kick Luke in the chest, sending him barrelling backwards through space and time.

A loud boom, followed by the harrowing sight of an enormous trident made entirely of deadly blue light tearing Discord's burning flesh from his broken body was the last thing Luke experienced before the portal imploded.

His back hit something soft, and hauntingly familiar. A bed. His old bed. Which was in his old bedroom. Which was in his old flat.

Which was in London.

Author's Note

You can’t hang onto yourself.
You don’t have to try not to hang onto yourself.
It can’t be done, and that is salvation.

Memento Mori—be mindful of death.

Shit, this chapter turned out a little darker than expected. I should probably clarify that J'adore is not going to turn into a PoE (Pony on Earth). Things shall be explained in the next chapter.