The massive crystal chamber hummed, a gaggle of creatures looking at the leyline reactor with sunglasses on. The depths of the Last Light islands were one of the most protected areas in the world, housing their trademark reactors. Off to the side, two unicorns sat, looking at the see-through pillar as blue energy swirled in their depths.

Arcane looked at the reactor with a critical eye, another unicorn at his side waiting patiently. The heat sinks of the room bled the excess thermal energy out into the air and ocean, heavy-duty magical dampeners making up the tiled ceiling and roof.

Considering the heat energy was minimal, it was an efficient design to say the least, almost all of the conversion being from leyline magic into useable arcane power in this plane, along with electricity. It was like a hydroelectric dam, just with leyline energy, a passive method of producing power.

But this smaller reactor had a specific purpose, one Toxic had respectfully asked Arcane’s help with.

“And it won’t be used regularly?” the chaotic unicorn asked, Toxic Shield shaking his head firmly.

“No. This is only a protective measure. If there’s a threat from Limbo, a shield infused with Chaos magic is one of the few things that would be able to contain it. A polar opposite magic,” he said firmly. A glowing green gem set inside of a necklace softly pulsed as the unicorn spoke. It was a far cry from the older models, the enchanted gem functioning to mitigate the painful effects of Toxic’s natural voice to anyone in earshot; you’d barely know it was coming through the translation spell with the newer versions.

Director Shield had explained the overall function a few times to Arcane, and it made enough sense. Mally trusted Toxic, and Arcane had never sensed any ill will from the unicorn. And, the Organization had agreed to not use the reactor for anything outside of the specific, narrow functions. Once the Limbo threat had subsided, it would be dismantled. Toxic also promised that current operations would be shared with all other nations, the research not being restricted to just the Organization. That was good enough for Arcane.

Last Light had, in return for Arcane’s help, codified future trading routes, economic, and diplomatic ties to Entropy. Even if they were in their base stages, the foundation was laid, and the terms were certainly agreeable.

Toxic wanted to help; a once-mortal unicorn doing the best he could. Arcane could appreciate that. But, on the off chance something went into left field…Arcane could always just make the reactor vanish if the terms were broken. It was his magic, after all.

The magical shields around the circular chamber rippled, white energy coursing through the pillar-like structure rhythmically. It quickened as Arcane stared at it, the unicorn nodding. He still was recovering from his burnout a day ago, but this was a simple matter. A minor tweak. Discord had even helped with double-checking the safeguards on the chaos end of things.

“Stand back,” Arcane said firmly, magic flickering from his horn. It shouldn’t be difficult. It was the secret that Discord had told him, after all.

There is order to Chaos.

Multicolored energy infused into the reactor, the crystal chamber thickening as the material grew. Arcane grinned, the leyline energy smoothly mixing with the chaotic magic.

It’s not repelled by it at all. It’s working with it.

Somehow, that made the unicorn’s heart lift. Chaos magic, what he was, wasn’t rejected by the magic of this world. It wasn’t a polar opposite, just another force to guide life.

And this will help keep this plane safe.

The multicolored energy hummed, the various scientists looking at their readouts with a flurry of affirmative nods.

The crystals around the containment chamber stopped growing, the magical minerals firmly encasing the inner core of the reactor with an additional layer of security. The magic inside was stable and didn’t so much as fluctuate when Arcane added and subtracted some of his magic.

Perfect.

“There you go. The chaos magic isn’t able to go into the leylines; this type of energy only exists here,” Arcane said. “No danger to the leylines. And if containment is breached, it’ll all turn into cotton candy. Those shield emitters can link to the reactor from anywhere on the planet. Well, in theory.”

Toxic held out his hoof, the other unicorn shaking it.
“Thank you, Arcane. Really,” he said softly. “Having a shield against what’s coming…I hope it’s never used.”

“I’d be content with that.”

“I won’t keep you. I appreciate the stop-in to kick-start things. I’ll keep you in the loop if any further development is needed. We’ll just be fine-tuning the shield projectors. Then it’ll just be tests, nothing more. We won’t so much as scan the failsafe you put in. I take no offense to that precaution.”

“Sounds good, Director,” Arcane said with a firm nod.

“I won’t keep you. Thank you again.”

Arcane vanished with a puff of magic- but something interrupted the teleportation. He could have punched through, maybe.

“This is too far, Arcane,” a familiar voice said.

The unicorn rolled his eyes, resolving the scene in front of him. The two Fates had wanted to keep it as some nebulous, cloud-like landscape. Instead, cobbled stones splayed out from Arcane’s feet, a simple castle courtyard erecting itself around him and the two surprised mares in front of him.

He wasn’t going to be at their mercy, speaking on their terms. Arcane’s magic sparked across the ground; he could leave if he wanted to.

“Too far? I’d say I’m perfectly within your rules,” the unicorn said with a huff. “As I told Toxic, there’s no danger to the leylines, no danger to the mortals, no danger to, well, anything. It’s a shield only. And outside of that chamber, it’s not interacting with this world’s magic.”

“We can’t have chaos magic constantly be in this world! That’s against…” Clari’s words drifted off as Arcane grinned, a bit of an unhinged smirk making his fangs show.

“The rules?”

Fide glared at him, the taller mare shaking her head.
“We can’t explain why, it just doesn’t feel right! It shouldn’t be allowed; it’s not ok!”

“Because of Discord? Is that what this is about?” the unicorn asked. “Is it because you think chaos magic is inherently bad? Or are you afraid of what I can do if I really wanted to?”

It was only for a second, but guilt flickered across the Fate’s faces. Arcane could only chuckle.

“You all like to act so above mortals, so far removed. And yes, I know Fide you married one, well, Varti was once mortal at least. But that doesn’t count. You’re so much like us.”

“You’re not mortal.”

*WHUMP*

The displaced air rushed away, magical energy dumping into the ground underneath Arcane’s hooves. Fide took a cautious step back as the cobblestones underneath Arcane abruptly melted. The unhinged rage in the unicorn’s eyes made the powerful mares pause as he stared at them.

“Don’t you dare dismiss me like that! I was, once. I didn’t mean to change! But I’m making do,” Arcane growled. “And I told you and Harmony my answer to your rules. And I’ll tell you again. Your rules, not mine! We need a shield against what is coming, and this is how we power it!”

The two Fates looked at each other silently, an unheard conversation taking place. Arcane slammed a hoof down onto the stone and cracked it.

“You don’t get to decide when I can’t help creatures!” he said, tears abruptly welling up in the unicorn’s eyes. “Not after what I went through!” Arcane looked up at them, gaze narrowing as a fierce snarl slid onto his face. “This plane is under my protection! As much as I can give it!”

“Your protection? No, it’s under ours,” Fide countered. The mare almost seemed scared- but Arcane brushed past that.

Out of the corner of his eye, Arcane saw Harmony’s frame flicker into focus. She remained silent, simply watching the exchange. He didn’t blame her for tuning in.

“Oh, is it now?” Arcane asked with a sarcastic sneer, armored breastplate wrapping around his chest. “What have you protected it from? Genuinely? You’re on thin ice with me as it is. I understand why you didn’t reveal my location for the greater good. I agree with it. But that doesn’t mean I trust you!”

The chaos unicorn couldn’t help but laugh.

“So. You protect this realm? Ok, then name a threat! If you truly are protecting this plane, then tell me what you’ve fought off! I haven’t heard of anything, but I’ve been out of the loop for a while.” He began to pace back and forth, eyes never leaving the two mares. “What have you protected it from? Enlighten me! The Stairway Company? Tirek? A rogue changeling hive? Mercenaries? The overgrowth of the Everfree? Discord? The King of Shadows? WELL?”

The two fates stared at him, uncomfortably shifting on their hooves. Now the stallion was certain there was more at play. The two mares were very uneasy as they now avoided his gaze. He got the sensation they weren’t alone, that it wasn’t him they were worried about, but Arcane couldn’t stop himself.

“All of those were handled by mortals! So, what have you protected them from?! Tell me!”

“We protect this realm with others, by making sure things are in balance…” Clari’s words drifted off as Arcane laughed.

“Your idea of balance is flawed and childish at best. Try again.”

“Childish?! What we do is necessary!” Fide said with a snort, glaring at Arcane.

“I never said it wasn’t necessary. I only said it was flawed,” Arcane countered. “Ok then. So, let’s get our rolls straightened out for the next thousand years, shall we? You seem to be fine with letting me talk. Alright then. So, listen!”

An odd warmth pushed down any anxiety in Arcane’s chest, words easily flowing from his mouth. Where the confidence was coming from, the unicorn wasn’t sure. Some of the magical threads and sparks spiraling around his body began to shift to bright gold.

“This dimension isn’t under your protection, it’s under your guidance. I’m not going to interfere with that. But you’d better learn how to live with me because I’m going to be actively protecting this world and the creatures on it!”

“You can’t fix everything, Arcane,” Fide said softly.

“Can’t, and won’t are two different things. Didn’t you see my interview?” he replied. “I could force everyone into a mindless existence. I could go back in time and erase evil villains from ever existing. I could bring back the dead! I could erase death and pain!” he took a few deep breaths, shaking his head.

“But I won’t. I never will, because that’s wrong. You keep acting like I’m some petulant child without limits when I’ve been restraining myself my entire life. I know there are rules, and I have my own. They’re just different from yours.”

“Not bringing back the dead is a low bar for someone with your power, Arcane.”

The hatred in Arcane’s eyes made Fide clamp her mouth shut, the mare wincing as he glared at her. Chaos magic made the entire area quiver, the leyline energies yielding to Arcane’s will for a split second. The fact he was able to even control them a bit seemed to make the Fates uneasy.

“You dare mock me?” he hissed. “I have rules. I won’t bring back the dead. I’ll avoid killing if I can. I won’t magic away big mortal issues. I’ll work through existing structures to fix what’s wrong with this world. And, bear with me because I know this might be new to you…but I won’t ignore the suffering of creatures! Not like you or Harmony. Not like any other so-called Guardians, Gods, or whatever you all call yourselves! I don’t think you deserve those titles. They all imply protection, love; empathy.”

He knew he was being a bit unfair, but Arcane didn’t care. These so-called Guardians had gotten on his nerves for the last time. Between suffering from nightmares and physical pain daily, the unicorn’s patience was threadbare.

“I know I can’t ever get rid of everything bad in this world, not while letting creatures live their lives. There will always be evil. But I can rip out the festering groups that you refuse to tackle, that you ignore. I can make an environment where every evil leader who is making plans knows there will be someone watching.” The unicorn grinned, a rather sinister expression making the two Fates glance at each other with a bit of worry.

“No. I can’t fix it all. But I can be the monster under their bed. Before, they just had you. And they were right to not pay you any mind. You let them run free. You’re nothing to fear. You hide behind the promise of balance and harmony, using mortals to do your dirty work. But now they know that if they cross a line, there’s a chance I’ll show up and make their life a nightmare. Now, evil creatures have something to fear. Me.

You claim to care so much about the creatures here. But I know your story. I know how you treated Toxic Shield and Gelliana in the name of your “balance.””

Another wince from the Two Fates let Arcane know he was on the right track. Either they were content with letting him vent and monologue, or he wasn’t wrong. Or perhaps both.

“You know, I’m going to be a bit bold,” Arcane said, voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. His gaze drifted to his hooves in thought. “I don’t think you really do care about the creatures here. Not individually. Not like a normal creature does. You care about them as a whole. If individuals have to be sacrificed to make sure everything plays nice, you’re okay with that, as long as it doesn’t upset the balance.”

His eyes lifted, and the neutral expression on the Fate’s faces made him snarl, anger glowing in his breast. They didn’t deny it. Their eyes widened as shimmering portals appeared behind Arcane, chaos magic showing the images of hundreds of creatures in rapid fire.

“These are the creatures I’ve saved. I don’t know all of their faces or names. But I care about them,” Arcane said, his voice quivering slightly. The symbol in the center of his breastplate glowed, the chaos magic coursing over his frame like a river.

“Nobody was there to help me when I begged for mercy, for a miracle. So, if I was you, I’d start thinking of a different way to run things, because I’m not going away. I will never let someone suffer as I did!”

His fangs showed, the pony starting to smirk at the two Fates, their expressions impassive. “If you could have easily stopped me, you probably would have. Don’t expect it to get any easier. If you won’t help me protect this plane, then I expect you to get out of my way.”

He took a deep breath, noticing the stones underneath his hoof were glowing.

“Maybe next time, try treating me like a living creature instead of a malfunctioning machine. From what I can sense, Harmony over there is your same level of power, but she’s allowed more leeway to operate,” Arcane said with a barely contained snarl. “I may not have experience, but I’m not some common unicorn, nor am I a child. A bit of common courtesy would be nice. Maybe start with the acknowledgment that I might actually have feelings? A low bar, but you three don’t seem to even be reaching that. So, next time, keep that in mind. Because if nothing else, you will respect the power that I have. Everyone will. I won’t be ignored!”

“That sounds like Sombra,” Clari piped up, and Arcane simply waved a hoof dismissively.

“Sombra was a megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur. I could take over the world with barely any effort,” Arcane snorted dismissively. “I could force every nation to bend to my whims with barely a thought. Instead, I’m creating a city to serve as a home for refugees, and helping creatures in my spare time while recovering from trauma. If actions speak louder than words, then look at mine!”

He smirked at them, chaos magic wrapping itself around his frame, and began to punch through the magical never-land the two Fates held him in. The stallion wasn’t going to be anyone’s prisoner. Not again.

“It’s not just about us!”

Clari’s words made Arcane pause, the magic stilling.

“What?”

“We told you about the other Fates when we apologized. They’re watching all of this as well. Watching very closely,” Fide said slowly.

“Ok, and?”

“You wouldn’t like some of them.”

The fearful and soft, worried tone of Clari made Arcane pause. There wasn’t any fear in his heart at hearing her. No, there was the beginning of a terrible, uncontrollable anger.

“Why wouldn’t I?” he finally asked, the two mares looking up at him. What made Arcane’s emotions stay in check was that the Fates were looking at him as a peer. Sincerity now radiated from their demeanor instead of marked indifference. They looked worried, and that made his anger towards them shift.

“We’ve messed up, ok?” Clari admitted, now not able to look at Arcane any longer. “I won’t hide that. We’re still trying to change how we perceive what’s the best way to balance things. But we’ve done the same thing for thousands of years, and it’s hard! Mortals, creatures like you have born the consequences of us being slow to learn. But sometimes when we want to help like you do, to try and change how we’ve done things, we’re stopped.”

“Stopped?” Arcane said slowly.

“We are forbidden. We are not the most powerful. And our failures have caused…uncertainly concerning our competence.”

Arcane almost laughed in agreement. But Fide’s grave tone made him pause.

“They would stop you? They have stopped you?”

The two nodded once, and that was when Arcane’s anger tore through his mind. It wasn’t just these two who had failed him. And it wasn’t even just about himself anymore. Some unknown cosmic entities seemed to think allowing widespread suffering was balanced?

Life has suffering. That’s why we also have joy. But to let widespread pain and agony spread when you could do something about it…that’s not right.

“So. It’s not just you two who have failed in learning what balance is, but all of these other Fates?” he asked slowly, an almost malicious, fanged grin spreading across his face. “Alright. I assume they’re listening then. Here’s a question for everyone to chew on.

You’ve got the Elements of Harmony, right? Well, what about an Element of Chaos? Because I’m not going anywhere. Life has pain in it, but if you are ignoring a chance to help others, that’s just wrong. In my book, if these Fates are stopping me, or you from helping others, then what does that make them? It certainly doesn’t make them heroes. It doesn’t even make them a force of good in this world. Would that make them villains?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle, the stallion’s piercing gaze not leaving the Fate’s.

“Oh, now that is a chaotic question indeed. I hope they’ve been listening very, very closely. And I hope they’ve been watching what I do to unrepentant villains.”

The chaos magic shattered the illusion, whisking the unicorn back to his home as he chuckled, but more out of frustration than mirth. Arcane didn’t know how to feel. He felt so out of place, yet at the same time, he started to see a place for himself in this world. If there was an overwhelming force against change, against helping mortals in a public manner, that needed to be balanced.

Maybe I’m not a mistake.

Reappearing in his living room, the unicorn promptly face-planted into a beanbag, letting out a soft groan. Had he been cocky? Rude? Snarky?

Absolutely. And it felt amazing. But there was a lot to unpack from their brief conversation.

“I don’t want to be mean. But they don’t care about me. If they won’t treat me as an equal, then I’ll demand it!” Arcane muttered to himself.

“Just don’t go full Sombra on us, and I think we’ll be good,” a familiar voice said. “May I come in?”

“Discord? Sure.”

Opening the nearest wall as if it were a door, the Draconequus stepped out, wiping away a few tears of mirth.

“I overheard your little exchange, and, my spunky little unicorn, I’m impressed,” he said, suppressing another chortle. “That was gutsy.”

“Was I wrong?”

The Draconequus floated off the floor with a hum.
“That’s a tricky question. Your delivery was something to be desired, but you weren’t entirely wrong, no.”

“Could they have destroyed me? Will they go that far if I don’t stop?”

The serious question made Discord visibly pause, the chaotic god frowning.
“I think it’s time we have a chat. Your place, or mine?”

Arcane opened a portal to his dimension, the two of them stepping inside. The immediate area was a pleasant meadow, the grassy hill floating through a purple, star-spattered galaxy above them as Entropy gently floated in the distance.

“Today is a good day. I’ll probably crash tomorrow, so it’s as good as any,” he said with a sigh.

“Well, to answer your question, could Harmony, Fide, and Clari, guardians or fates, whatever they call themselves, destroy you? Technically…I don’t know,” Discord admitted. “If they teamed up together, at your current level? Maybe. But I can’t think about how they would. They’re not a threat to me, because I’m not a threat to them. You’re unique; not a threat just yet. Instead, you’re someone that messes with their precious little balance. In time they could perceive you to be a danger, but at the moment, destroying you or me is just not an option for them, and likewise me to them. They probably wrote your little monologue off as just a childish rant, as foolish as that is for them to do.”

“I won’t stop.” Arcane’s words made Discord grin.

“I never said you should. Personally, I think they’ve forgotten that a world in complete balance and harmony is, in fact, not balanced. You need something to counteract that. Something like you. They are largely against direct intervention. You are. It’s rather natural if you think about it.”

Arcane couldn’t help but smile, sniffling as an abrupt wave of tears welled up in his eyes as he took a few deep breaths.

“How can I be stronger? I don’t want to fight them. I just want to be able to stop them from preventing me from saving someone. I want to have a countermeasure against them.”

Discord’s expression darkened.
“Would you ever attack them?” His tone was disturbingly calm and serious.

“I’d never strike first. I’d only want to keep them from interfering. But if I had to guess, you’d stop me if I was going to attack them first?”

To the unicorn’s surprise, Discord nodded, rubbing his brow with a wince.

“Correct, but things aren’t that simple,” he said with a sigh. “I overheard that last bit. Those two are right, there are other Fates out there. Dozens, hundreds, if not more. The fact that Clari and Fide are under increased scrutiny due to their mismanagement of what they perceive balance should be is troubling. Very troubling. These other fates; I don’t know them almost at all. Well, I know the de facto leader. We didn’t get along when we met.”

“Oh?”

“She can be…” Discord let his words drift off. “Difficult. When you get really old, you can let your past cloud your present. For example. Our first meeting in thousands of years was her lecturing me how my love for Fluttershy was horribly inappropriate, and saying all sorts of nasty things about my wife.” A familiar, almost malicious smirk twitched onto the chaotic god’s face. “So, I encased her hooves in concrete and sent her to the bottom of a chocolate milk lake for a while!”

Seeing Arcane’s stunned expression, Discord waved a set of claws franticly. “It didn’t hurt her! You can’t kill them like that. But it made her really annoyed to be stuck somewhere totally out of control. That’s something worse than pain to someone like that, to be powerless and at the mercy of someone else. I made sure she experienced that feeling for a long, long time.” He averted his gaze with a cough. “I can’t say it was one of my finer moments, but I don’t regret it. For her and the other fates, I just don’t ever interact with them because I don’t disrupt things enough.”

“And I might?”

With a nod, Discord spun a claw, a thousand different creatures being arrayed in front of them; the Fates, Arcane assumed.

“Yes. And if you tried to attack them, I’d have to stop you to prevent a wider conflict. You aren’t alone in your thinking. There are other powerful creatures such as Fates who think like you do. Apparently, Clari and Fide are trying to learn as well. But they’re the minority, yielding to the majority of letting things coast by…for now,” He stuck out his tongue. “It’s so boring. But it’s a balance I would have to chime in with. We don’t bother them; they don’t bother us. And yet now things are churning. They’re taking notice. It’s nothing like a life-and-death civil war, but rather a massive disagreement. A tipping of the scale may be in the mix. But we’ll see.”

The Draconequus giggled, waving a claw to Arcane. “But I think that’s a very good thing. You just need to be ready. Many of them are not as nice as Clari or Fide. Those two at least talk and show themselves, misguided as their view of balance may be. Other fates may strike first and apologize later.” He then let out a rather loud groan. “Quite annoying, honestly. We both want what’s best for the world but have different ways of going about it. That’s the true balance of everything. Yet we all want what’s best for Equestria and every other land.”

“They have yet to prove it,” Arcane grumbled. “But you said “us types.” You’ve implied I’m different, a shake-up of the status quo?”

Discord landed on the ground, standing next to Arcane.
“Oh yes. And that brings me to the next bit of news. A bit of a doozy, but at the same time, not. You know how I’m a Prince of Chaos?”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think that makes you?”

The unicorn’s eyes widened, Arcane sitting down.
“Wait. Waitwaitwait. What are you saying, Discord?”

The Chaotic God spun a claw; a golden crown hovering above his head.
“A gaudy thing, isn’t it? You have one made of pure chaos magic as well. I saw it when we first met. When you screamed on that glacier months ago it appeared.” The Draconequus’s eyes were remarkably piercing as they locked onto the unicorn. “You are able to harness chaos magic as I am. That makes you a Prince of Chaos as well. There have never been two coexisting in the same plane. Users of chaos, that is. Usually, one wins out. This is quite new indeed. And it presents another weight to throw the scale off balance.”

Arcane could only stare, the unicorn shaking his head.
“The modifications, is that why I’m…?”

“Oh goodness no!” Discord interrupted. “The experiments just sped up a natural process. Regrettably, I might add. You were born this way. It’s part of you through and through. And the Chaos magic responds to you in a remarkably peaceful way. It’s a bit freaky, really. I’m used to it being all over the place. It’s more like a river to you. Most unnatural, and it seems to present itself to you in an almost animalistic way.”

“Would you say it’s chaotic?” Arcane said, Discord smirking.

“Touche. But to touch on your other question, there aren’t specific countermeasures. We don’t use spells like others do. It’s just the amount of energy you can control. You have access to the same amount of magic I do; the only difference is that I’ve got thousands of years of practice under my belt, and a body accustomed to chaos energy.” Discord pulled out his waist and snapped it back to punctuate his words. “I haven’t wanted to push you with the exercises to try and lessen the toll on your physical body. I don’t know if you’ll ever adapt to it, but there are ways to blunt the impact and begin to adjust to it all.”

“Well, I think we need to start those lessons,” Arcane said, holding up a bandaged hoof. “I’ve tried to go slow, like you said. And yes, I agree with having waited for a few months. But I need to learn how to control all of this. How to use more power, and how to control it. I don’t want to rip my body apart if I need to use more magic,” his eyes narrowed. “And I promise not to use any of this knowledge to attack first. But I won’t ever be at the mercy of another creature again. That includes all of these Fates, or whatever they are. If they want to stop me, I will fight. So, I would like your help to learn how to get more power the right way, rather than experimenting. Because I’m going to try regardless.”

Discord’s expression softened, a glint of respect shining in his eyes as he bowed formally.

“We’ll start this evening then. How about that?”

“Can we start now?”

The chaotic god grinned, waving his claws as he pulled them into his dimension, a massive gymnasium erecting itself around them.

“Indeed we can, my little pony.”

*A few hours later*

“Good. Notice how the pattern is stable? You can run an infinite number of those loops within your body,” Discord instructed, looking at Arcane with a keen eye.

The pony stood on the cobblestones, eyes ablaze with a painful amount of light. Outwardly, he looked the same. Yet Arcane could see the magic moving within his body from an odd, surreal third-person perspective.

The figure-eight loop of energy swirled within his chest, chaos magic dumping itself into the pattern. It swirled around, occasionally seeking to spike- and yet it was easily brought under control.

There’s so much!

“Try opening another pattern in your leg. Remember, don’t think about forming it into a shape, only that it moves around and returns to that same path. If the magic stops moving, that’s the problem and what leads to your injuries. If you keep it moving, even in a pattern within you, then you will always have control.”

The Draconequus’s eyes widened in surprise, a magical circuit immediately springing into existence. Then another, and another. A dozen looping pathways circled within Arcane’s body, the pony starting to chuckle.

“This. Feels. Awesome,” he said, beginning to laugh. “It’s not breaking out! It’s all stable!”

“Take it easy, Arcane. If one of those breaches, it’s going to hurt.”

Discord wasn’t surprised too often, not when it came to chaos magic. Yet he had to admit, Arcane’s affinity for the energy took him off guard. The looping magical circuits migrated together, layering on each other as they continued to absorb chaos magic.

He just replicated that technique a dozen times. And the patterns are stable. That was fast. The Draconequus mused.

The chaos magic liked Arcane, that was the only thing that made sense to Discord. The stallion had a willpower that should be the polar opposite of what chaos magic did, and yet it yielded to his desires easily.

It seemed to appreciate the unicorn. That was a word Discord would have never assigned to the odd magical force. In fact, the Draconequus would never have thought it’d act so kindly to another user, if at all.

“I’m going to try something,” the unicorn muttered. “So, watch out.”

“Watching.”

Arcane crafted a small ball of metal, eyes narrowing as he focused on it. Discord couldn’t help but chuckle as the pony shoved one of the patterns of magic into it-

The object exploded; the detonation powerful enough to shred a city. Thankfully, the chaos shields held as Arcane stared in shock.

“Inanimate objects can only hold so much,” Discord said. “Living things are more flexible.”

“I want to have a battery. If I need power and can’t focus enough for a pattern…”

“Well, you’ll have to dial in the magic then. The more resistant to magic the material is, the more chaos energy it’ll be able to hold if I had to guess.”

Arcane nodded, the patterns within his body slowly dissipating. One of them lashed out, a magical bolt of energy punching out of the pony’s side as he lost focus.

The stallion let out a hiss, focusing on the energy patterns as they continued to fade. Only once they were gone did he summon a magical bandage to accelerate the healing of the wound.

“That was stupid,” Arcane muttered.

“But now you see. Lose concertation, and it could kill you. Unlikely, but possible,” Discord warned. “And you don’t need a bandage. Your body has enough energy to heal itself instantly- or not take any damage at all, even from Chaos.”

“I know I know. But I can’t just suddenly “believe” I’m invincible! I know that’s how you do it, but it doesn’t work like that. I need to use existing stuff first,” the stallion hissed. The wound underneath the bandage was already closing. It was at least a small step towards not having his body act like a mortal one.

“Bit by bit then. I think that’s enough for today. I’m rather impressed, to say the least,” the chaotic god admitted. “I didn’t think you’d get even close to mastering one of the loops, let alone a dozen.”

“I’ll just keep hoping that’s a good thing.” Astral wobbled on his hooves, fatigue starting to set in. Discord waved a claw, a portal opening back to the pony’s home.

“It certainly is. We’ll keep up these lessons, but go get some rest for now, Arcane.”

The pony paused, his ears flattening. There was one thought that had continued to nag at his mind. He had mentioned it to Discord once before, but…

“Discord?”

“Hmm?”

Arcane forced the words past the lump in his throat.
“Creatures died because of me. Because of this magic when I was held at the Company,” he whispered. “Could I have prevented it? If I knew how to do this? If I had tried harder?”

To his credit, the Draconequus didn’t immediately respond, lips pursed in thought.
“No,” he finally said firmly. “From what I understand, your state of mind and magic back then, even if you had known how to use these energy loops and managed to contain them, the Company’s…efforts would have broken them. There’s absolutely no way you could have controlled your magic back then with your current magical mastery. Even if you had known how, you just weren’t at that level of control yet.”

The chaotic god’s demeanor and tone then softened.

“Stop blaming yourself, Arcane,” Discord added, the serious tone rather off-putting. “As someone who has used chaos magic since birth…there is nothing you could have done to stop what happened. No matter how hard you might have tried, it wasn’t on you. Those deaths are not yours to feel guilty for. And I’ll repeat that as often as you need to hear.” The Draconequus then awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “Um. Fluttershy also wanted to say something along those lines. But she’s better at this than me.”

Arcane looked at the Draconequus, finally nodding and taking a deep breath. The ghost of a smile now managed to worm its way onto the pony’s face.

“Thank you, Discord. Tell Fluttershy I said hello, will you?”

“Anytime. Take care Arcane. And I will; our home is open to you if needs be.”

The stallion stumbled through the portal as Discord faded.
“I can’t thank you enough,” Arcane whispered, then managing a soft grin. “And that’s Prince Arcane to you.”

Discord’s chortle echoed in Arcane’s ears as he bellyflopped into a beanbag with a rather loud sigh. A few hours of practicing the energy loops with Discord had left him more drained than an entire day of stopping disasters.

Different magical muscles, I guess.

He doused himself in water, at least rinsing the sweat off before magicking the moisture away. As he tried to relax on the beanbag, a sorry-looking plant caught Arcane’s eye. He had started a nice little garden of the things, pots starting to dot the home here and there.

This one was wilted. He didn’t know why, as it should have been in perfect condition.

It was a passing thought. The stallion summoned up an energy loop- an itty-bitty one. With a glance, he carefully sent it into the wilting plant. Before his eyes, the plant brightened, turning a healthy green as a week’s worth of growth manifested. It stabilized, happily thriving.

The energy loop is stable.

Yet it only lasted a minute. The energy loop faded as the arcane magic was depleted. The plant immediately withered. Yet its new foundation from the growth due to the loop now seemed to prop it up slightly, and the leaves and stems didn’t look quite as sad as before.

Well. Isn’t that interesting?

Arcane abruptly found it difficult to keep his eyes open, the pony curling up on the beanbag with a sigh. If he could sleep, he’d absolutely take the opportunity.

Author's Note

Spicy chaos unicorn is being spicy.