The world was duality, and a singularity, as it was below, it was sideways, and upside down as well. The world was duality, but it had no sides, because sides inferred walls, or at least fences, and there were no fences, except in the minds of those who were so unfortunate to have not yet received the truth, via direct transmission from the mind of the Goddess.

The world was also a delicious shortcake, but that was aside from the point of the matter.

"Have you seen the carbuncle?!"

"Uh . . . What?"

"Pfft! THe carbunkle on the side of the warthog?! Is that so hard to comprehend?!"

"Uh . . . "

"Worthless!"

So many, trapped in a nightmare of normality, as Mr. Grayface told them to conform, to fit in and do what everypony else did. Poor, lost souls to a one, but they could yet be saved! For the Goddess could save them from this prison of blandy, plain boringness!

"Have you heard the Law of Fives?"

"What's that?"

"All things happen in Fives! Except when they don't, and even then, they do somewhere! . . . Probably."

"Riiigggghht."

"Pfft! You'll see!"

They'd all see, one day, when the Goddess returned! No, when she found her! She had to find her, it was the only way to save the world from itself, at this point. Even with the signs of her presence all around, too many refused to open their eyes to the glorious, polychromatic light of her passing, and stayed lost in the gray boring nothing of their daily lives.

Plus, maybe then she could ask her why . . .

Not important!

"Have you seen the light of the Sacred Chao?!"

"The sacred . . .Cow?"

"No! The Chao! The symbol of the GOddess' light!"

"What is wrong with you?!"

"Lots! Thank you for noticing!"

Honestly! So many in need of a good dose of Operation Mind-Fuck! If only she had a golden apple . . . she'd bake a Pie out of it, and give it to all of them! They needed some unity! And unity could only be found through Chaos!

"Hey, you! Yes, you! Did you know that God is a crazy mare?!"

"Freak!"

"Thank you!"

The Alicorn's Respite, befitting its chosen occupation as a place of rest for those weary Travelers who found themsleves staggering out of the Everfree Forest, and into a brand new world like none they'd ever seen before, saw its fair share of weirdo and strangers.

Sitting on the south-western edge of Ponyville, a few hundred yards from the edge of the Everfree Forest, it was caught between the largest confluence of wild magic, and the absolute strangest town in all of Equestria, so it was no wonder that weird things happened there at least once a week.

Pendragon had lived in this town for the last three years of his life, ever since he had wandered out from those trees, himself, confused, disoriented and a long way from home. He had seen all sorts of things, from the relatively mundane, like a stampede of rabbits, to the downright weird . . . like Vinyl Scratch showing any interest whatsoever in a male.

However, he had to admit, this one seemed to top them all. For what had to be the fifth night in a row, this weird pink mare with the flyaway mane and tail was bopping back and forth around the tavern, asking odd questions of the patrons and talking to herself in low mumbles.

He wasn't sure why this topped his list. In fact, it should have seemed to be amazingly mundane, but something about her . . . She was quite attractive, in a way, but more than that . . . there was a feeling that came off of her, as though there was something different about her. Like she had stepped out of another world. ANd, in a place where that very thing was considered normal, for anycreature to have a noticeable feeling of otherworldliness about them was something strange, indeed.

He heard a clink from beside him, and glanced over, seeing the proprietor of the Respite, a shale grey alicorn with a long blonde mane and tail, both of which were touched with a streak of bright bubblegum pink, a pair of teal eyes in a freckled face, wearing a skirt and blouse, with a piercing in her right eyebrow, and three in her left ear.

Muse was a bit of a weirdo, herself, the only other Alicorn known, other than the princesses, a title which she refused to accept, and somepony with a vaguely cynical and sharp edged personality.

"Are you calling me a bitch?" She asked in her east Trottingham accent, glancing up at the sky, and Pendragon frowned. She also had a tendency to talk to herself, from time to time. He glanced back at the strange pink pony in her frilly blouse and slashed wool pantaloons, a lute slung across her back, along with a panpipe and a small tambourine, every step she took causing the latter to jingle slightly.

He glanced back to Muse and gestured at the pink mare. "Relative of yours?"

She snorted, shaking her head. "Nah, just the author's waifu." She said, and Pen frowned even harded.

"What?" He asked, and she shook her head again.

"Nothing." She said, pointing to the pink mare. "I don't know much about her, aside from what she's talkin' about, half the time."

"You understand that?" He said, quirking an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "Much as somepony who's sane can understand it. Y'see, a few thousand years ago, there was this creature, called a Draconequus, a mish-mash of different body parts, half dragon, half pony, and two thirds whatever else he felt like. He called hisself 'Discord', up 'til he got a bit too fond of fuckin' with the ponies of Equestria, and so got on the wrong side o' the Princesses. Nopony knows exactly what they did. All they know is, they went into his Castle of Chaos, and then everything went back to normal, and he was never seen again."

While she spoke, she served a pint of cider to a griffin with a broadsword on her hip, and fetched a palte of pork and potatoes, setting it down in front of Pen with a nod. The man dug into the food while listening to her speak.

"Now, the self-dubbed 'Lord of Chaos' was gone, but believe it or not, there were ponies who felt he'd not been such a bad sort, and they started up this freaky cult that they called the 'First Church of Discordianism', or, sometimes, the 'Erisian Church'. See, apparently Discord liked to swing both ways, down to a molecular level. He'd make himself female, right down to the bits and all, and when he was like that, she called herself Eris." She waved her hand. "Anyway, the Erisians are . . . mostly harmless, if crazy people can be called that. They mostly believe that bringing a bit o' chaos into the world's not a bad thing, and hoenstly, sometimes I think they're right."

Pen chewed and swallowed his food, taking a drink of his cider, then glanced over at the pink mare. "Sounds a bit like something we had back in my world. She's one of these . . . Erisians, then?"

Muse frowned at him. "That . . . That is why I went through all that exposition, ya know?" She glanced up into the air again, a cross look on her face. "Honestly, at least you're being a bit more realistic about the level of your intelligence, this time. Good to see you accepting your place!" She said, and then shrugged and headed off to serve another customer.

Pendragon, with the ease of one who's dealt with things like this too often, shook his head and went back to eating and watching the cute mare bounce around.

She was small, just a bit taller than Rainbow Dash, who was only a hair and some change over five feet. She was slender, yet her hips were quite nicely full, something he could tell even through the loose, baggy pants she aws wearing. She also had the biggest, brightest blue eyes he'd ever seen, and seemed to always be grinning or laughing, or humming to herself, as though she was hearing music all the time.

The man felt something, watching her. Something he hadn't felt in a while. No, it wasn't the erection, he had those fairly frequently, and had sex often enough to deal with them. . .

"And I thought you were being honest!" Muse shouted from the other side of the bar, giving a sardonic laugh, momentarily distracting Pendragon. When he looked back, all he saw was the curly end of a pink tail vanishing out the door. Without a second thought, he scrambled in his pouch, dropping a handful of bits on the counter and rushing off to follow her.

Muse walked over, counting out the bits and finding he had overpaid by ten. She looked up and sighed. "You just can't quit chasing her, can you?" She said, then shook her head, laughing, and heading off to tend to her other customers.

Author's Note

Two in as many days! Don't get used to it. The internet is down at my house, but I already had this chapter basically finished. With nothing better to do, here it is! There's probably some typos, just let me know if you spot 'em and I'll deal with when I can!

Hope you enjoy! Harmonia Invictus!