The Alliance of Chaos

Chapter 14

CHIGA-CHIGA-CHIGA-THUD.

Twilight ran through the library, franticly searching for the source of the sound. As she walked past the bathroom, she skidded to a stop, and backed up quickly. The Spirit of Study was sitting in the bathtub, the shower head sitting on the floor broken as the hose spewed water in the bathtub, suds bubbling out over the rim.

“That’s not how it’s supposed to work, is it?”

“Umm... no, it isn’t.”

The Spirit of Study had been paired with Twilight for the time being. Applejack was with Perseverance, Rainbow with Victroy, Rarity with Grace, Fluttershy with Quiet, and Pinkie with Festivity. All fitting pairs. The other statues were staying at Canterlot, under observation of two guards at a time. Applejack had noticed that Applebloom’s behavior had changed a good amount, but was too busy orienting Perserverance to the changes of the world. Applebloom had begun to return to normal behavior, but it was slow.

You.... deny the generous offer we pose?

Mah sister may be protective at times, but ah still love her. I would’t betray her.

But... the knowledge of who you are. A concrete truth, stamped on your bottom for the world to see.

Who knows, ah met get one for being stubborn. Forget about it.

She doesn’t let you do anything. You want to do things, but she wouldn’t let you.

She just wants me be safe!

Applebloom lay in her bed, tossing in her sleep as the internal conflict was fought. Rebellion’s spell had begun to fade, and now she was back in control. She was guilty of leaving her sister inside a giant tree, and just walked off to the barn. She wanted to get rid of the thing, but Rebellion wouldn’t let her. He refused to release his hold, not risking the slightest lapse to secure his hold. She was a pair of eyes on the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. She could not be lost. She was a spirited young pony, and she was fighting back. She would go see Zecora tomorrow.

“You have been possessed, but the dark has been put to rest.”

“Yeah. Whatever it is, it won’t go away, even though ah keep telling it to!”

I can hear you.

Ah know.

“I can relieve the shadow on your heart, but only in part. You shall drive it away, leave it for another day.”

“How?”

“You have done this already, but you must keep your will steady. If not, you’ll surely lose, trapped forever by your blues.” The zebra walked over to her cabinet, her strangely quiet bangles shifting on her leg. She opened it, and pulled out a vibrant white flower in a pot. It resembled a bird’s face, nectar leaking out of its ‘eyes’.

“The Weeping Falcon is this flower, brings the user great power. If the potion should go awry, the victim shall surely die. Are you sure of this, taking such a risk?”

“If it means ah can finally be rid of this thing, then yes.” Applebloom said firmly, apprehension tugging at her mind. She felt Rebellion attempting to take advantage of this, but she knew that she could not let him back in. Zecora pulled a small dish out of the cabinet, the clear yellow nectar filling it. She carefully poured the nectar in her cauldron, suddenly cutting it off as a single extra drop threatened to escape. She started the fire underneath. The zebra went to another cabinet, and pulled out a sprig of the flower Heart’s Desire. She pulled the petals off and tossed them in. She rapidly rifled through several other cabinets. As she opened the last one, she gasped. “No... This is urgent! I do not posses the final ingredient!” She looked through a couple more shelves, frantic. “A timberwolf’s bark, to set the final spark!”

She ran out the door, her voice trailing behind.

“Applebloom! Search the other rooms!” She complied. She had seen the giant timberwolf, and knew what the bark looked like. She hurried through the rooms, but not before glancing back at the cauldron. Liquid had begun to creep over the edges.

Applebloom ran through the cabin, sorting through cabinets. She opened one in which a red box with golden trimming sat, griffins engraved into the wood surface. She ignored it, and continued through the rest of the shelves.

“I can’t believe it! She’s escaping?! How did you let this happen?” Said Discord, venom in his voice as he looked at the black coiled snake in the mirror.

“Thissss has never happened before. But I bring newsss that shall surely offssset this.” The image of Rebellion was replaced with the red box.

“That.... The Griffin Gem?”

“It is certainly the correct design. If the zebra has it, then we know where it is.”

“Twilight!”

“Yes, Discord?”

The speaker was a shadowy form, clearly a unicorn. Chains came off it, bound to nonexistent hooks in the air. It was a shell of Twilight Sparkle.

“Go look something up for me. The Griffin Gem.”

“That won’t work.”

“What do you mean?” Said Discord, pushing the mirror off to the side.

“The magical bindings are failing. The reverse energy cortex has begun to degrade, and my form is fluxing.” As she said this, she rippled like water, and then scattered temporarily. Her voice warped. Suddenly, she faded, leaving a skeleton in its place. Inside the ribcage, a purple gem was set in a metal chassis.

“Two weeks... The longest yet.” Murmured Discord, gathering the heap of bones. “Progress has been made.” Discord walked through his fortress, and deposited them in a cave of medium size. He walked out to a balcony of stone. A large cavern was lain out, changeling buzzin through the air, manticores sleeping on rocks, and two hydras looming over it all.

“Harmony.... A discordant harmony.” He said, thinking. “Looks like I’m not all chaos.”

“I have returned! Let us hope the mixture has not burned!” Said Zecora, managing to rhyme even under the circumstance. She tossed several strips of the bark into the cauldron, opening a partially healed cut on her shoulder. Apparently, she had had to wrestle a timberwolf for it. Suddenly, she stopped. “I took six wolves’ worth of bark, and yet the supply goes dark.”

“What do you mean, Zecora?”

“Somepony pilfered my supply, in the dark, on the sly.” She looked at Applebloom.

“Someone wants me gone?”

“Indeed they do, why I wish I knew.”

“Left... Down.... Grab that scaffolding!” The stallion wearing the artificial fiber suit quickly leapt up to a line of scaffold, as a thick spiky vine shot out of a vent, nearly enveloping him. The vine twitched around for several seconds, as if searching, and then retracted into the vent. The bars across the tunnel were warped. “Now, move your left back hoof back.... let go.” The stallion took a safe footing on the pipe. Vine let out a large breath, and them clamped a hoof over her mouth upon seeing the flowers below her. Her breath drifted down in a cloud in the frigid maintenance tunnel. The mist settled on the flowers, and they each opened, releasing puffs of cotton. She balanced on her back hooves, batting away the feathery seeds. When she was sure they had dissipated, she breathed in shallowly. They were in the Canterlot Waste Management Facility, rooting out all the toxic plants that had survived incineration. After a hundred years, they had bloomed profusely. The angled her horn at the flowers, and let out a jet of fire. The petals smoldered, and the flowers died. Her tattoo lit, and they dissolved.

“These plants are rudimentarily sentient. They are susceptible to reasoning. Use that against them.”

“Thanks for telling us.” Echoes came through the vents, several voices echoing through tunnels. “We already knew, though. We’ve become smart. Smart enough to realize- Why do we hate the world? Why do we continue our toxic ways?”

“So, wait, you’re willing to help?”

“In exchange for returning us to our our proper forms, and give us safe haven. A pair of eyes glowed in a vent to Vine’s right. “We are adapting to the cold in these tunnels, but that doesn’t mean we like it.”

The green form of a unicorn came from the tunnel. Its horn was a twig, and its mane was composed of vines. Two leaves formed ears, and the hooves were rough wood. “We speak for all the abominations you created in your rage. We want freedom. We want to be rid of the poison.” As it spoke, its teeth were revealed to be thorns. Its body was a membrane of leaves, woody vines visible through the cracks. Spores grew in several places, glowing ghostly blue. “We are connected to a tree growing within this facility. We are the result of a twig falling from it, and this twig rooted in deceased body of a unicorn. I am that unicorn, born of the unstable magic in the plants. I do not know where this is, but if we can get to it, we can also communicate with all the other plants. Since you were cut off from them, they lost their drive to kill. There leader was gone, and the tree proved to be the host of the consciousness.”

Vine smiled. “I know exactly where it is.” She yelled at the stallion, currently balancing on the pipe. “You there! Follow me!” He clambered back up, and followed her through.